June Blog

Greetings Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posts, the A.G.M. minutes are coming when available.

In this blog we will comment on the main topics of last meeting.

• A motion has been made to write a letter to the recently established Swan Lake Business Association to support the proposed Regional Sewer Service for the 'Swan Lake corridor'.

• As for the "Stickle Road" issue it is probably been scrapped, for more information view the following link http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/303949061.html

• As for the Provincial Government wanting to change parts of the electoral Area B and C to Shuswap jurisdiction (http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/297833111.html.)  The assoc. has sent a letter in opposition to it.  Two main reasons is one, the electoral area that remains would face increase in local tax rate as well as two, the area residents that are moved to the Shuswap area would have to travel to Salmon Arm to vote instead of the current location of Vernon.

• As for the proposed municipal boundary agreement (between Vernon and R.D.N.O.) has been rejected.  (http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/301921721.html)

These subjects were the main ones for discussion that affect local area residents.  Anyone that would like a copy of the letter that was sent Re: Proposed Boundary Changes of B & C to the Shuswap can do so by emailing the assoc. at bxslca@hotmail.com.  Also comments made below would be appreciated as well.

Thanks for your time.

Post Meeting Blog (Pre A.G.M.)

Greetings Again,

To start this blog we will respond to the comment from February's blog.  Specifically, the inquiry to water supply and the rezoning of properties on (7961) Silver Star Road. We believe the following link/pdf file will address most questions.
http://www.rdno.ca/agendas/150304_AGN_PH_BL2662_FULL.pdf

 The Annual General Meeting has been scheduled for Monday, Apr. 20th, 2015 at the Best Western Vernon Lodge (7 P.M. - 9 P.M. in the Okanagan Room.)  New memberships and/or renewals will be $5.00, guests are welcome.  Agenda topics will be posted before the meeting on the Morning Star Boxes (near the mailboxes) in Regional Areas "B" & "C".  As well, posted here once finalized.

Recently in the Morning Star publication there was a proposal to divide Regional District Area "B" basically in half.  One half being still R.D.N.O. while the other section would be in the Shuswap constituency.  The initial article wasn't as informative and the more recent one that was in Apr. 3rd, 2015 publication.  The following link takes you to the article.
http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/298534681.html
The following quote is quite succinct in our opinion...
“Issues round this table could involve two MLAs from two political parties,” said Bob Fleming, BX-Swan Lake director.  “I don’t think it makes any sense. The biggest consideration is what could happen at the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee. It seems complicated to have two MLAs carrying our message.” Also contained in the article is the public feedback stated as "Residents can review the commission’s preliminary recommendations and provide input online or by e-mail by May 26. Public hearings will also be held across B.C."  Suffice to say, if you want your opinion to be heard please participate in the input time frame as cited in the article.

 So this short blog will cover these three topics.  To conclude this entry, the directorship and members of the association wish everyone a Happy Easter

Letter to Editor + one other item.

Greetings Again,

Meeting this month is pending due to a couple of guests that had scheduling conflicts.  Thus the next meeting is this upcoming Tuesday evening @ 7 P.M., in the People Place meeting room on March 24th, 2015.  However as this entry's title suggests there are a couple things to share.

First, there is a letter that has been submitted to the Morning Star Paper (Letters to the Editor) Re: Annexation.  It reads as below:


     "This letter is written on behalf of the B.X./Swan Lake Community Association in response to several recent public comments regarding amalgamation, proposed further annexation of properties from the Electoral Areas by the City of Vernon, and the faulty perception that residents of these areas are freeloading at the expense of Vernon taxpayers.
     Choice. Residents of the Electoral Areas B and C have generally made an active choice to live there as we prefer a more rural life style rather than an urban one.  We have a variety of reasons for making this choice.  In a recent survey, residents of Areas B and C soundly rejected joining the City of Vernon, opting to maintain their current status as electoral areas.
     Taxes. Yes some of our property taxes are lower but we also receive fewer services. We do not have street lighting, sidewalks, sewer, garbage pickup, or  transit. Fire protection is provided by volunteers.  We pay our full share for recreational, cultural, policing, hospital and school facilities.   We support local events, businesses and retail outlets and volunteer for many local service organizations.  In short, we are full community members
     Annexation.  All too often in the past, annexations have benefited the developers at the expense of City taxpayers. The annexations have contributed to urban sprawl with little regard for agricultural land or sensitive environments.  Frequently these developments, like The Rise or The Outback, only have seasonal residents whose contribution to the community is limited.  As Vernon takes over more of the electoral areas, the Vernon taxpayers have to pay more taxes to maintain roads and policing costs while diminishing the Electoral Areas ability to support their own services.  In the past industries have been established within areas zoned as industrial.  However, the City has permitted residential developments immediately adjacent to those designated zones, residents complained, and the industries were forced to relocate. This has happened several times. Is this to happen again on the Swan Lake Corridor where there are already long standing rural residences? Where is the public consultation?
     Please respect the choices that people in Areas B and C have made and recognize we are real community citizens.  The City of Vernon does not need more land. There is already enough vacant land within City boundaries to accommodate development for decades.  If you think your taxes are too high and rising too fast, ask your City Council how much it  actually costs you, the taxpayer, to annex more and more property."
Belinda Stewart,  Secretary to the B.X/Swan Lake Community Association

The indents are for space saving format (instead of blank lines separating the paragraphs.)  We believe that this letter has also been forwarded to the Kelowna Courier as well.  Please feel free to leave comments below.

Another issue came up in the Morning Star today...

Gravel pit rules adopted

There are now firm rules regarding gravel pits in Greater Vernon’s rural areas.
The Regional District of North Okanagan board has adopted a soil removal and deposit bylaw for BX-Swan Lake (Area B) and BX-Silver Star (Area C).
“It conforms to Ministry of Mines regulations,” said Mike Macnabb. BX-Silver Star director.
“It doesn’t prohibit but it regulates soil removal and deposits.”
Some BX residents have been concerned about the potential impact of gravel pits, and particularly with noise, dust and hours of operation.
The bylaw doesn’t apply to existing operations.
A proposed pit on Brentwood Road would be considered new and would have to conform to the bylaw.
http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/297077191.html 

March - Minutes from Feb. Executive meeting

Hi all,

Short review of minutes from the last meeting.
Some issues have been mostly covered in the Morning Star.  Re:  Rail Trail that Lake Country is going to referendum.  Annexation of the Swan Lake Corridor as well as 'block annexations'.

Other issues are Bylaw 2647 coming to Board for 3rd reading Feb 18th. Which is the "Soil Removal and Deposit Bylaw" as cited in the RDNO minutes from Jan. 2015 (http://www.rdno.ca/minutes/150107_MIN_BoD.pdf)

Swan Lake corridor annexation coming to a meeting Feb 18th. A formal protocol is being proposed by Electoral Area Reps Re: Boundary Extensions.

Lastly, the upcoming Annual General Meeting is tentatively scheduled for April, 20th, 2015 at the "Best Western Vernon Lodge".  Notices to be posted on the Morning Star boxes when ready.  Topics will listed on them.  Returning or new members will have a $5.00 membership fee, guests are welcome.

Short mention for now, we will be posting another blog in a couple weeks.

Feb. 2015 = Winter Carnival Parade Day

Greetings all,

Pardon the lapse in posting but Christmas wasn't that long ago, January was catch up for some of us and February saw some of us out of country.  Meetings therefore were postponed during this time.  We would have posted a post but it was temporarily not updated.

Here, is the day of the parade, 87 entries in the parade so we hope all that spectated the event enjoyed it, even in the 'liquid sunshine'.  We hope the rest of the events of carnival see as good of turnout.

In other news, here's a recent article on area amalgamation.  http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/opinion/290713491.html Interesting that information provided is deemed not to be "recent" so let your representatives know what your opinions are now.  Then perhaps, this issue will be brought up when desired and not to fulfill 'campaign promises' as the article comments.
The supposed 'outdated' info. can be reviewed/downloaded from http://www.rdno.ca/index.php/services/planning-building/planning-projects/electoral-area-annexation-impact-study .
For the other article on annexation was one we found interesting and recent http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/290989561.html "Swan Lake sought by city."  As Mr. Fleming succinctly said "It represents 22 per cent of our total tax base in Areas B and C and 35 per cent of the tax requisition for fire protection. It won’t be transferred to the city without compensation.”  For if not compensated, we would face increased tax rate for same fire protection.

This is it for now, the blog will also be updated again this month after our next executive meeting, which will be 7 PM, Tuesday, Feb. 17th, 2015 @ "the People Place".  Interested individuals wishing to attend can R.S.V.P. by calling (250) - 542 - 1056.

Until then keep reading & writing,

October 29th, 2014

Hi Everyone,

We are getting this entry in after a small hiatus.  So the entries of topics are as follows:

1)  Obviously, the election is a major event.  Some areas have more candidates than others.  However, if you support your local representative then do so by voting, not necessarily for the them but the issues that also appear on the ballot.  (Borrowing for the Master Water Plan, School District representation, etcetera.)

2)  The status of the proposed gravel pit, near the BX Creek has been halted.  However, this whole application process could be restarted, details aren't yet known.  The "Soil Extraction" By-Law came up for third reading at the last R.D.N.O. meeting and was passed.  The By-Law requires permit approval from the District before topsoil (and/or aggregate) are removed or added.

3)  Water referendum is this November and the history of this issue is longer and convoluted to be entirely covered in the space of this blog.  For more official information on the master water plan please refer to the link.  http://www.rdno.ca/index.php/services/engineering/water/greater-vernon-water/master-water-plan and more information on the referendum itself is at this link http://www.rdno.ca/index.php/services/engineering/water/greater-vernon-water/water-vote .

4)  For Area C constituents the proposed expansion for the BX Fire Hall was discussed at the last meeting.  The executive is unanimous in support for this proposal.  For the location of the fire hall provides faster response times for many locations within the Electoral Area C.  Also, the general opinion (during discussion) was this upgrade was requested (and needed for operational improvement) from the Fire staff.

So if anyone would like to leave comments or suggest topics for future blogs, please do so in the comment section below.  Also if you would like more information, the assoc. can be emailed at 'bxslca@hotmail.com'.

Until next time, keep blogging.

September Post

Greetings Bloggers,

Recently the Morning Star had an article Re: the Soils and Gravel Removal Bylaw which would only apply to areas "B" and "C".  Numerous quotes were cited in the article so here's the letter in it's original form for everyone's perusal.  (Also if you would like to leave a comment below that would be informally recognized.)

If you save the file and open it with a graphic program or JPEG viewer then the size is much easier to read.  I will try and get this more readable on the page when time permits.

As always, readers are encouraged to leave their comments below or contact the Association through the email address.

Until next time, keep bloggin'