Divisions exist over cramped quarters

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: July 11, 2008

Vernon politicians are divided over how best to address long-term space requirements at city hall. A two-hour meeting ended Friday with no firm direction on providing more room for employees. “We don’t have any road map and it’s upsetting,” said Coun. Barry Beardsell. However, others indicated that a comprehensive planning process will begin soon for downtown and that will include issues such as city hall. “That’s where the road map will be developed,” said Mayor Wayne Lippert. Beardsell, though, stated that $8.5 million has been spent in recent years on purchasing downtown lots and nothing has happened with them. “We’re sitting with all of this money invested and we don’t know what direction we’re taking,” he said. Coun. Juliette Cunningham insisted that the acquisition of those lots, including the Vernon Medical Clinic property, allows for concrete planning. “If you look at cities that have been successful, it’s because they’ve had land available for their vision,” she said.That view was supported by Coun. Buffy Baumbrough. “The properties we have are assets and through a planning process, we can look at how to optimize these assets,” she said.

A proposal for a new civic complex, including offices for city staff, a library and art gallery, was shot down by voters in a January referendum. To ease the space crunch at city hall, council recently agreed to lease commercial space for some departments. There was a decision, though, Friday, instructing administration to look at long-term options to accommodate the RCMP, including possibly moving them out of the downtown core. “This council should say this is not the long-term location for the RCMP,” said Beardsell of downtown. Beardsell believes there are too many challenges with having the detachment in the central part of Vernon. “Just the vehicles alone, we’ve got the complaints (about parking) already.” But other council members are worried that moving the detachment will decrease communications with city hall, and that a new building would be expensive. “It would be a significant cost the citizens of Vernon would be on the hook for,” said Lippert, who suggested relocating city hall so the RCMP could take over that building. That concept did not go over well with Beardsell. “This is the city’s complex and that’s the way it should remain,” he said. Coun. Patrick Nicol wants more information on the potential implications of moving the RCMP. “There are other communities that have relocated it and we could look at the data from their moves,” he said.
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EDITORIAL July 11 Morning Star: Planning process is required

There's no question that the City of Vernon has bungled issues related to the downtown core over the years, but it appears like things might finally be getting on track. It was revealed Friday that council will soon launch a planning process that looks specifically at downtown and what land uses happen there. And that makes sense as the downtown of any community is its heart. If the central core is socially and economically healthy, the rest of the community follows. If criminal problems exist, they often spread beyond the borders of downtown. Coun. Barry Beardsell accused this council and previous councils of not having a road map, especially after purchasing large chunks of land downtown at taxpayers' expense. And that certainly has been the pattern if you look at the Coldstream Hotel site which has sat vacant for years. And the current crop of councillors bought the Vernon Medical Clinic property, and yet no concrete explanation for that move has been provided. But while these acquisitions have been highly questionable, they occurred and the city is now a significant land owner downtown. It is time for Beardsell and other naysayers to accept the reality and embrace a planning process that will hopefully find suitable uses for the publicly owned lands, such as housing or cultural institutions, while rejuvenating the entire downtown core. Of course the city needs to learn from past mistakes and ensure that any planning process actually involves the public in a meaningful way. But if that happens, the future can only be bright for downtown.