NORD cuts the cord with GVSC

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - June 06, 2008

The Greater Vernon Services Committee is being pulled off life support. The North Okanagan Regional District board launched a process Wednesday that will repeal separate governance duties for GVSC. “We’ve come to a point where it has no value,” said Cliff Kanester, BX-Swan Lake director. The provision for governance arose when GVSC was created as a free-standing commission in 2001. It was supposed to have the authority to deal with some issues although it still fell under the NORD umbrella. However, internal conflicts and differences of opinion occurred, and NORD downgraded GVSC to committee status in 2006, meaning it lost its separate authority. Since then, NORD’s administrator has looked after GVSC. Support for scrapping the governance service bylaw came from Wayne Lippert, a Vernon director.

“We are already working under a committee structure so governance doesn’t need to be there,” he said, adding that there was an annual cost of $130,000 tied to governance. “It’s time to let it go and get on with business.” But while GVSC will cease as an individual entity, the services it provides will still continue through NORD. “We will still have parks and recreation, and the water function will continue,” said Jerry Oglow, NORD chairman. “There is no staff implication as a result of this decision.” Standing committees, like the former Greater Vernon Parks and Recreation District, will now be formed to look after the services. Any decisions will have to be ratified by the NORD board. “We will revert back to a system that was in place prior to GVSC,” said Oglow. There is some question, though, as to who will participate in the functions as Vernon wants to leave water distribution and the electoral areas are opting out of economic development.

Gary Corner, Coldstream director and GVSC chairman, voted to repeal governance Wednesday. But he’s not happy about the situation. “GVSC is still a good idea and it was delivering services well,” he said. Stan Field, BX-Silver Star director, hopes removing GVSC governance will reduce public confusion. “People didn’t understand how GVSC worked,” he said. Field is the only remaining elected NORD official who was at the table when GVSC was formed. “The intent behind the original concept was good but personalities and changes in politics got in the way,” he said. “It was an experiment that went wrong. Let’s forget the past and move on.”

Opposition to repealing governance came from Vernon director Juliette Cunningham and alternate director Barry Beardsell. Beardsell says he wants to see the proposed structure for new committees first. “Until that is seen, that (repeal) is premature.” NORD’s move to repeal GVSC governance must now be sent out to Greater Vernon’s four jurisdictions, as well as the provincial governance, for approval. It’s anticipated that governance duties will be removed by Aug. 8.