Casa Loma wants out of incorporation (Westbank)

By Special to The Daily Courier Monday, June 25, 2007 http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=50707

Casa Loma wants out of incorporation, and has informed Westside regional directors Len Novakowski and David Knowles of its intent. “My direction right now is to contact the minister and see if there‘s any mechanism or way to secede from this,” said Robert Hardy, president of the Casa Loma Community Association. The Casa Loma poll reported 200 in favour of amalgamation and 27 in favour of incorporation in the June 16 governance referendum in which incorporation was the overall victor. Casa Loma is across the bridge from Kelowna, and closer to the city than it is to much of the Westside. Although the governance study was not a regional district initiative, Knowles and Novakowski were targets at a recent meeting of the community association. Knowles said the issue at the meeting immediately became one of disincorporating, of hiving off and joining Kelowna. Hardy acknowledged a Casa Loma representative sat on the governance committee, but said the association was never asked whether it wished to be included in the referendum boundaries. “Basically, I believe we were told the boundaries had been set by the provincial government, and that we had no recourse,” he said.