JAMES MILLER, Managing Editor Penticton Herald Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Penticton City Council has waffled on its decision to borrow $1.7 million for Carmi water upgrades for the Sendero Canyon development. Instead it will take the money from its $4.5 million in water reserves. “Having spoken to a lot of people in the community, they weren‘t opposed to the Sendero Canyon evelopment. They were opposed to us borrowing money,” Mayor Dan Ashton said at Monday night‘s meeting. “Staff and council did not do a good job of getting the message out to the public. With the fiscal condition of the city for the next couple of years, people asked why were we borrowing additional funds. We could have handled it in a better way. My apologies.” By a 5-1 vote, council agreed to use money from its reserves. Coun. Garry Litke was the lone councillor opposed while Coun. John Vassilaki was not in attendance due to a family emergency. Ashton said council‘s original rationale was that borrowing rates were at an all-time low. Coun. Mike Pearce, who made the motion, echoed the mayor‘s thoughts on the fact the benefits were never presented to the public in a coherent way. Pearce noted that by developing the area near Campbell Mountain, that could lead to future development. He noted that he knows of three other developers interested in expanding the area, specifically naming Singla Brothers as one. “After the developer pays his share, we‘re willing to upgrade it and our portion is minute. The developer will pay $5.4 million on top of the $20 million already. It will be a viable entity for the future. We know where the growth in our city is going and it‘s up there (Campbell Mountain).” There were several petitions launched opposing the borrowing of money. Pearce said council was not instructed on how much money was in the reserves at the time of its initial decision.
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