Municipalities working together

Mar 21, 2010 CASTANET:
The four member municipalities of the Intermunicipal Services Advisory Board - Kelowna, West Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton - are working together this year on common municipal issues including Transit, Bylaw Adjudication, Joint Purchasing and joint support for the bid to host the 2015 Canada Winter Games. The Mayors of the four municipalities met recently and discussed the directions to take for 2010. Already in the works is a Joint Purchasing initiative by the municipalities which will see cost savings on the purchase of common materials including stationary. The group has also set its sights on improving transit services in the Okanagan Valley and is discussing other transportation possibilities. Bylaw Adjudication is being pursued by the four municipalities, joined in this initiative by the District of Peachland and the District of Lake Country. The six local governments are establishing and implementing a Bylaw Dispute Adjudication System which will enable bylaw ticket disputes to be handled by a provincially-appointed mediator instead of in the expensive BC Provincial Court system. Each municipality contributes to the cost of administration of this system by the City of Kelowna. The four member municipalities are also looking at providing joint support for a bid to host of the 2015 Canada Winter Games.

Adopted in September 2008, the ground-breaking Intermunicipal Services Agreement was signed by the municipalities of Kelowna, West Kelowna, Vernon and Penticton. These agreements, named Intermunicipal Services Schemes, are authorized under the Community Charter, and the Okanagan Councils are endeavouring to use them to work on regional concerns, tearing down jurisdictional constraints. The Intermunicipal Services Advisory Board is made up of the four municipal mayors and chief administrative officers. In 2009, the four municipalities employed the Intermunicipal Services Agreement to adopt common Safe Premises bylaws to handle properties found to be cultivating illegal drugs and pursued other common issues including affordable housing and feral rabbits.