District revamps departments

by Staff Writer - Vernon Morning Star posted Jun 15, 2014 at 1:00 AM
Further reorganizing is underway at the District of Lake Country. The community and customer services department has been replaced by the infrastructure services department, which will be responsible for all maintenance and operations in the municipality, including parks and buildings. “The new department will also oversee long-term infrastructure planning and the district’s five-year capital budget,” said Alberto De Feo, chief administrative officer. “As a result of the change, the director of community and customer services position was eliminated.”  The engineering department will shift focus as well by concentrating on engineering support to development applications and garbage, recycling, public transportation and regional matters. “Because of the continuing trend which shows that building permits are still down, one building inspector position was eliminated,” said De Feo. The reorganization will save about $230,000 a year to fund the Transportation for Tomorrow program, which is part of the district’s infrastructure management strategy. This is the third round of restructuring within the municipality. “The business systems review will make the local government services more efficient and less onerous to the taxpayers,” said De Feo.