NORD looks at growth

By RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff Oct 06 2006 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/
The North Okanagan is one step closer to tackling economic development on a regional basis. The North Okanagan Regional District board agreed Wednesday to investigate the feasibility of establishing a full-service economic development function. “It’s a very good move. We’ll see a lot of benefit from it,” said chairman Stan Field. “It’s so important to have a regional function because only half a job has been done.” Currently, economic development is only in the hands of the Greater Vernon Services Commission. The goal is to extend it to cover Lumby, Armstrong, Enderby, Spallumcheen and the electoral areas. Discussions must be held with GVSC. “If they support the regional function, they’d have to reconsider rescinding the service provided by GVSC,” said Brian Reardon, NORD administrator. Wayne Lippert, Vernon director, isn’t worried about economic development shifting from GVSC to NORD. “We’ve lost a lot of business because we don’t have a comprehensive plan regionally,” he said. “Lumby, Enderby and Spallumcheen have the land (for industry) but Vernon has the amenities such as shopping malls.” One issue to be resolved though is whether tourism and marketing remains with GVSC or would become part of a new regional function.“We haven’t defined if tourism is part of the process and we will define that during the referral process (with member communities),” said Reardon.Lippert says tourism and marketing could possibly become part of a new function but points out that any discussions to date have revolved purely around industrial land. “We don’t want tourism to drop off the table,” he said. Dave Forai, Greater Vernon’s economic development manager, believes tourism and marketing could fit into a regional initiative. “The benefit is everyone would qualify for dollars for marketing and familiarization tours, not just Greater Vernon,” he said. NORD staff hope to have a report on economic development before the board in November.

Areas uniting on emergency services
After a few years of separation, there’s a move afoot to bring regional emergency services under one roof. All jurisdictions within the North Okanagan Regional District were showing interest Wednesday in having an emergency preparedness initiative that ties all of them together. “We did have that at one time until a couple of municipalities opted out and the rest of the regional district couldn’t afford it,” said chairman Stan Field. In 2001, the City of Vernon and the District of Coldstream withdrew from NORD’s emergency program. At the time, city officials questioned the scope of the plan as well as the finances and stated that they could provide a more cost-effective service on their own. Because Vernon was the largest financial contributor, the program collapsed and each individual community was forced to develop its own emergency preparedness plan. However, a change in politicians and views has led to the possibility of bringing each plan together under one umbrella. “The sooner we get on with this notion, the better we’ll all be served,” said Jerry Oglow, Armstrong director. Oglow pointed out that Vernon is key to every community’s plan because it is in the centre of the region and has numerous resources available. Wayne Lippert, Vernon director, isn’t sure how a regional initiative would look, but he supports looking at it. “There’s certainly room for partnerships for services and do we possibly contract them out?” he said. Lippert is aware of the city’s role in NORD’s previous program falling apart. “It’s been put into history where it should be. We’re in a new era. It’s about time we worked together,” he said.