Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Tuesday, 18 November 2014 17:05
No one is sure what will happen next after the 66 percent No vote in the Greater Vernon water referendum. Vernon, Coldstream and Area B and C voters rejected the plan to borrow up to 70 million dollars for water projects, some of those mandated by Interior Health. Vernon Monashee MLA Eric Foster has asked Health Ministry officials what the next step could be. "We're going to the technical people for the answer because at this level, from the political side, we've never had to deal with this," says Foster. Foster says the rejection of the vote is no guarantee the province will provide funding. "Some of the candidates were saying that if the public said no, then the province would pony up a whole bunch of money. I don't know where they got that information. It certainly wasn't from me or the minister," adds Foster. BX-Silver Star RDNO director Mike Macnabb says he was disappointed with the outcome which had 7,918 residents voting No and 3,999 voting Yes. "The frustration for me was some of political folks were saying they support the plan but they were not going to vote for it. That sent a great deal of confusion into the public over this," Macnabb tells Kiss FM. Macnabb says the result will just slow the process down, and perhaps end up costing residents more money. "Ultimately we have to meet a provincial regulation. We're not going to get a different regulation for the North Okanagan just because we're special. Ultimately, perhaps more money will have to be spent to do a similar study to come up with the same thing," says Macnabb. However, opponents to the plan want it put to a peer review, calling it misguided.
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