Vernon's mayor says he still hasn't decided how he will vote on the Ironman Canada issue at a special meeting Friday. Council will decide if the city will join Kelowna--and likely other cities-- to bid on the event.
Rob Sawatzky says he's waiting to see the information city staff has gathered. "Before I make a final decision I would want to see all the details of what staff has been able to find out for us. You need good information to make good decision." Sawatzky says it's unfortunate Vernon may be competing with Kelowna for the event, saying they'd rather be cooperating with their Okanagan neighbor. "You don't want to be competing with your community neighbors if you can avoid it. You want to be cooperating, but this isn't a situation where we can." Sawatzky is pleased neighboring communities like Coldstream are supporting Vernon ---if they make a bid---even though they're not committing any money at this point. "They want to know if we did get the bid what would be expected, what would be the negotiations for sharing in the cost of maintaining the routes through their area, so that's fair enough." Lumby council has also given its support to Vernon. City staff have estimated the economic benefits of hosting Ironman at between 10 and 15 million dollars. The costs to city taxpayers have been estimated at between $300,000 and $400,000 for providing policing and municipal services.
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