Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick is calling on the City of Vernon to ``truly invest'' in the future of the Parks and Recreation service. His calls come after a public meeting of Greater Vernon politicians uncovered that the two communities were heading in opposite directions. Vernon's mayor has indicated the City is satisfied with the North Okanagan Regional District function as it is now, with new contracts and leases providing clarity. Garlick doesn't agree. ``We've been in a service review and thinking we're heading in a certain direction for the past few months and, all of a sudden, for it to completely have a turnaround by the City of Vernon,'' says an exasperated Garlick. `` We could have been dealing with the matter in a completely different way.'' He says Vernon's negotiator should have been sharing information with the elected council to ensure he had consensus before moving the process forward to a public session. Garlick says the Parks and Recs function currently consists of a mismatched group of properties owned by Coldstream, Vernon and the regional district. He believes changes could lead to a much better service. ``Let's make that leap forward and put all of our lands and facilities into the regional district's name, in title. Make it a truly regional function and I think we could get a buy in from my council,'' urges Garlick. He says these would include Creekside and Lavington parks, Kal Beach and Marshall Fields. He says residents would welcome such changes. Garlick points to a similar model in Greater Vancouver where all park land is owned by the parks function. He says they could also look at the City of Kelowna's model, which has greater municipal control.
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