Fundamental strategies at the City of Vernon could be turned on end. Among 113 recommendations, a core services review suggests scaling back transit service and discharging treated waste water into the lake as ways of reducing costs and increasing efficiencies. “Some are pretty dramatic and fly in the face of the way we have been operating,” said Coun. Brian Quiring. The city has long promoted the fact that it uses treated effluent water to irrigate parks, golf courses and pastures instead of pumping it into Okanagan Lake as other communities do. However, the review by KPMG states that spray irrigation costs $1 million a year, and by putting the water into the lake, it is available to everyone and not just a limited group. “That will be a controversial matter,” said Coun. Bob Spiers, referring to previous legal fights over lake discharge. In terms of transit, KPMG says that while the city has focused on the service as a way of avoiding costly road infrastructure, there is actually limited benefit and transit should be directed towards helping the disabled and people who cannot afford cars. The link between transit and reducing pollution is also questioned. “Driving a big 40-foot long diesel bus with two or three passengers does not produce less greenhouse gas than if they drive their own cars,” said Brian Bourns, KPMG senior manager. The report suggests reducing transit to a couple of routes that would recover 50 per cent of the operating cost. Coun. Juliette Cunningham is concerned parts of the report don’t fit with community priorities. “When you look at transportation or the environment, they are aligned with (development of) the official community plan,” she said. “There was a vision created by participants in that process.” Any report recommendations regarding staff are being discussed by council behind closed doors. “We will look at staffing to see where there are efficiencies,” said Mayor Rob Sawatzky, adding that council is aware that uncertainty may cause stress for employees. Other suggestions in the core review report are using health care volunteers, not firefighters, to respond to medical emergencies; reducing subsidies for O’Keefe Ranch; amalgamating Greater Vernon, and going from one-week to two-week garbage collection. Another suggestion is closing Civic Arena, but instead of replacing it immediately, other adjacent communities should be accessed to provide ice-user need. Council will discuss the report May 13 and it’s not known when any decisions could be made.
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BEYOND THE HEADLINES: Issue resurfaces
By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: April 24, 2013 1:00 AM
A can of worms is being reopened at Vernon city hall. On Monday, council members received KPMG’s services review on potential ways to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. One of the opportunities for consideration, as KPMG calls them, is pumping treated waste water into Okanagan Lake instead of the long-standing practice of using it to irrigate golf courses, parks and pasture. “The golf courses would likely use water from the water system for irrigation if not supplied with recovered water, but much of the recovered water is spread on low value lands bought for the purpose and not requiring irrigation,” states the report. “If these waters were returned to the surface water system (lake), it would increase the supply of water available for use in the greater community, whether for domestic or agricultural purposes.” KPMG also goes on to say that spray irrigation costs the city $1 million a year and the program “ties up lands that might more appropriately be used for development, reducing the pressures for urban sprawl on the fringes of the city boundaries.” KPMG’s recommendation on spray irrigation comes at the same time as an option in the city’s liquid waste management plan review that would see effluent discharges into the lake go from emergency status to periodic. In that process, Urban Systems states any discharge into the lake would only be for surplus treated effluent not used by the spray irrigation program. They have also indicated that discharges would reduce spray irrigation costs, including pumping the material to the reservoir in the Commonage. Perhaps now is a good time for a quick history lesson. Spray irrigation was pioneered by city engineer David MacKay in the 1970s as a way of adding value to waste material and conserving fresh water supplies. Vernon is still the only community in the valley that doesn’t discharge into Okanagan Lake and that’s something it has previously bragged about. Residents have been so passionate about the program that battles erupted in the late 1980s when the city followed provincial government direction and installed an outfall pipe into the lake for emergency discharges. Political careers were created and derailed over the matter in the 1990 civic election. The only use of the pipe occurred in 1996 because a wet summer delayed irrigation of waste water on fields and the reservoir level had to be lowered. Any subsequent possibilities of discharges were mired in legal action by environmental organizations. Based on the advice from KPMG or Urban Systems, Vernon could suddenly be on the cusp of a dramatic departure in waste disposal. And if council endorses those plans, expect Save Our Lakes, the Okanagan Indian Band and the Environmental Law Society to pursue legal options and rally public opposition. The battles of the past will be resurrected and given that there is a civic election in November 2014, the stakes will be high. Just as occurred back in 1990, this issue could sweep new faces into office and send others packing.
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Budget 2013 From 2013-2017 Proposed Financial Plan - 28 MB
(2012 actuals not updated yet) 
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