Rural Lumby director seeks water vote

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - October 21, 2007

No one is rushing to add another seat at the Greater Vernon Services Committee table.GVSC officials tabled a request Thursday to give rural Lumby director Rick Fairbairn a vote on water matters.“You are making a mountain out of a mole hill,” Mary Malerby, a Coldstream councillor, told Fairbairn.Vernon, Coldstream, BX-Swan Lake and BX-Silver Star have a vote on water issues, but Fairbairn insists he should as well because some of his constituents get water from GVSC and are impacted by rates.“If you pay, you play but we have paying customers and I have no say,” he said.

Fairbairn is also upset that he and his advisory planning commission were ignored when GVSC was preparing for a Duteau Creek treatment plant in his jurisdiction.“As the director for the area, I did not have any preliminary talks (with staff). It also seemed to bypass our planning department totally,” he said.There are 18 residential and agricultural customers in rural Lumby who get their water from GVSC.With such a low number, there appeared to be little interest among directors to give Fairbairn a vote.“I don’t buy the request at all,” said Barry Beardsell, a Vernon director.Beardsell pointed out that Fairbairn and other elected officials are able to attend GVSC meetings to raise concerns and those issues will be considered by the board.It was suggested by Al Cotsworth, utility manager, that rural Lumby customers have not been ignored.“Under the agricultural representative, they would represent agricultural customers in Area D as they do in all areas,” he said.But Fairbairn points out that the agricultural representative’s vote has been eliminated under GVSC restructuring.“There’s now a void there,” he said. Fairbairn’s request has been tabled until after Greater Vernon politicians hold a strategy session in November.