Library petition process begins

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: May 20, 2010 6:00 PM

North Okanagan residents will soon have a say on the future of a new library in Vernon. The alternate approval process for the North Okanagan Regional District to borrow up to $11 million for a library branch will begin Wednesday. “We will go through this process so people can have an opportunity to speak on it,” said director Patrick Nicol. If 10 per cent of North Okanagan voters sign an alternate approval petition in opposition, borrowing of the funds can’t occur. While the 30th Avenue branch will be constructed and owned by Okanagan Regional Library, NORD will borrow the funds through the Municipal Finance Authority because of competitive interest rates (ORL cannot apply to MFA directly). However, ORL will repay the principal and pay the interest, fees and financing, and cost-sharing will be done by the entire library district, which goes from Golden to Osoyoos and Princeton. ORL has already put aside some money for the project and it’s anticipated the additional annual capital and operating costs will be 50 cents to $1 per year for the average residence in the entire ORL service region.

The deadline for receiving voter responses through the petition process will be July 5 at 4 p.m. “It (petition) will be available at our office, on the regional district website and at every municipal office but it must be returned to our office,” said Maggie Knox, NORD’s corporate general manager. It’s been determined that there are about 63,552 voters within NORD so a minimum of 6,355 names (or 10 per cent) would be needed on a petition to block borrowing. “It’s an excellent project but it doesn’t mean people can’t oppose it,” said Nicol. Nicol believes a new branch will benefit all North Okanagan residents. “It’s the most used library in the Okanagan and usage continues to go up,” he said.If the alternate approval process fails, ORL has stated other financing methods will be sought for construction