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RDOS briefs

Notes from the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen board meeting.

Worksafe Recognition

The Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen has saved the taxpayer approximately $11,000 dollars this year by staying safe.

The RDOS received Worksafe BC COR (Certificate of Recognition) accreditation last year, which made them eligible to receive financial incentives if all the requirements for the program are met for the incentive year in question.

The regional district received an incentive totalling $11,217.42, achieving their safety goals through the Safety Committee.

Annexation Impact Study

The regional district board turned down a request from the Regional District of  North Okanagan to participate in an annexation impact study. The NORD was requesting $900 from each electoral area in the province to support the study, estimated to cost $150,000.

The study intends to look at the effects of annexation from the Electoral Area perspective.

Regional district staff recommended the board to decline the request as staff noted that several regional districts had already turned down the invitation. Other regional districts have already carried out their own work on the issue.

The board declined the request, offering support to take the request forward to the Union of B.C. Municipalities for further discussion.

Board request better road repairs

The regional district board will send a letter to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure forwarding concerns regarding aggregate quality and conditions of the surface of the White Lake - Willowbrook Road. Last summer the road was resurfaced using a chip seal method, and the resulting coarse surface is proving to be a bane to many recreational bicyclists who frequently use the road.

Highway 3 Coalition

The Highway 3 Coalition  met in Castlegar recently.

Osoyoos Director Stu Wells informed the board that an economic study of the Highway 3 corridor is complete and will be released shortly.

“All the mayors and communities are represented along the route,” Wells said, “ and the coalition is unanimous in their priorities, which makes it easy for the ministry folks to decide on priorities.”

Wells also alluded to a major funding announcement regarding an improvement project to Highway 3 along the Hope- Princeton portion of the route that will be “coming down the pike” shortly.

“They’ve spent one million dollars on an engineering study already,” he told the board.

By Steve Arstad/Keremeos Review