By Richard Rolke May 16 2007 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/
The idea of motorists lined up at a toll booth certainly makes for good imagery, but Vernon’s demands that Coldstream help pay for the Middleton Road extension ring hollow. Yes, thousands of Coldstream residents enter into Vernon every day using Middleton Way. And yes the city’s $2.1 million project will make it easier for them to do so. But to suggest that Coldstream tax dollars should be pumped into the adjacent jurisdiction is unrealistic. If the shoe was on the other foot, the barrel-laughs from Vernon would be deep and intense. And quite honestly, there is no reason why Coldstream couldn’t be asking the city for help. How many Vernonites benefit from Coldstream roads when they are heading to Kal Beach, Friesen’s Country Tyme Gardens or Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park? And then there are those zooming along Kalamalka Road to reach their jobs at the glass plant or Tolko.
The bottom line is the Middleton Mountain extension is firmly within Vernon and, as a result, the sole responsibility of its taxpayers. There is absolutely no ducking this one. And we should point out that at the same time Vernon council wants to download on to Coldstream, it whines about having to pay for upgrades to Vernon Jubilee Hospital and Highway 97 because those are provincial jurisdictions. I have always supported the city’s opposition to local tax dollars going into projects within the provincial mandate. But if it’s going to pursue that route, it must be consistent, and demanding cash from Coldstream is way off base.
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