The city of Vernon will seek a face to face meeting with BC's Transportation Minister to discuss funding for local highway projects. Councillor Barry Beardsell is not sure the meeting will be productive, even though he'll be among the city reps to meet with Kevin Falcon. "I'm just not optimistic they are going to find the financial where-with-all to achieve some solutions in this area. That's what it's all about about, where the money gets spent." Mayor Wayne Lippert is more optimistic, saying the minister has made some future commitments to funding, and the meeting will keep the pressure on the province to come through with the money. Beardsell's attempt to ban heavy truck traffic on 27th Street as a way to to get the province's attention over the issue, was shot down by a 5-2 vote.
Beardsell disagrees with some of his fellow council members who say his negative comments over the years, have hurt the city's funding chances. "I have some proof that I can't divulge at this point in time which totally contradicts what Councillor Baumbrough and the mayor said about how they view my comments and as soon as those matters come out of being confidential, I think they will speak for themselves."
