Castanet

Kelowna needs a Mayor and Council that will work for residents and taxpayers. Not tourists, special interests, developers, and cronies.

The early morning article was much more interesting to read about Ms. Varga's efforts to date, rather than regurgitating the updated version of what we all know.

This seems to be such a waste of money--

Popular BC highway tourism centre slated for closure in January, 2018
CBC.ca
The mayor of Merritt, B.C., is pleading for the province to reconsider its decision to close a popular highway tourist stop in early 2018 that sits at the ..
"The new modern rest stop at the Loon Lake interchange, between Merritt and Kelowna, falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and is expected to open before the end of the year.

"That factored into the decision in a big way," said Harvey.

The new rest area will have washrooms and picnic tables but will not include tourism information.

She said more people are planning their travel online, and individual communities have greater flexibility to reach tourists through social media, roaming ambassadors and pop-up tents."

The last day of operations will be January 12, 2018.

Whenever we travel to Vancouver, we always stop at the center. Now they are planning on closing it and building another one up the highway, from what I can gather, with NO tourist information. They say folks are making all of their info searches and plans via the internet and the tourist center is NOT needed anymore. VERY, VERY interesting, and yet Kelowna is planning on building a huge tourist center, downtown, next to the lake. Hmmmmm! Very, VERY interesting.

I too am disturbed by that loss to the Merrit Tourist Center. It was usually packed every time we stopped in. Could hardly get a parking stall.

As for the downtown Kelowna debacle, it's not being built to be used as a tourist center forever, in my opinion only, it is planned to fail and an expensive tax payer built building will be available soon for pennies on the dollar to WestCorp.

But that's libelous slander to suggest such a thing, right?

Queen K wrote:I too am disturbed by that loss to the Merrit Tourist Center. It was usually packed every time we stopped in. Could hardly get a parking stall.

Though rarely did I see people inside the building buying more than coffee ... a rest stop would be as popular ... and it would be nice to have washrooms available 24/7 instead of only when the info centre is open ...

Queen K wrote:As for the downtown Kelowna debacle, it's not being built to be used as a tourist center forever, in my opinion only, it is planned to fail and an expensive tax payer built building will be available soon for pennies on the dollar to WestCorp.

As far as I know the actual building will be paid for by Tourism Kelowna ... indirectly by the tourists who pay the 1-2% hotel tax and other funding sources ... yes, you could still say that counts as "tax payer" but I think your context meant the city residents ... it's just the land and utility upgrades that the residents will foot the bill for ...

I am with Diane in thinking this is a big "screw you" from TK and other parties just because they can ...

spooker wrote:As far as I know the actual building will be paid for by Tourism Kelowna ... indirectly by the tourists who pay the 1-2% hotel tax and other funding sources ... yes, you could still say that counts as "tax payer" but I think your context meant the city residents ... it's just the land and utility upgrades that the residents will foot the bill for ...

I am with Diane in thinking this is a big "screw you" from TK and other parties just because they can ...

The taxpayer is giving away prime land assessed at north of $7 million to a business interests in it for no reason other than profit for the annual rental sum of $1 per year.

Building Permit issued for a value of $1.8 million. I guess the cost is only half of what they promised. I wonder what other revelations are to come?????

https://www.kelowna.ca/homes-building/b ... mits/56397

Funny how council had this open vote following a public hearing on the Tourist Centre ...... but the process started some 2 ½ years before the public was even aware.

Think the outcome of the vote was a not a done deal long, long before hand?

fz6adventure wrote:Funny how council had this open vote following a public hearing on the Tourist Centre ...... but the process started some 2 ½ years before the public was even aware.

Think the outcome of the vote was a not a done deal long, long before hand?

I see it also notes the "relocation" of the deep keel launch. Are we to assume that's still to come now that it's been removed? Highly doubt it. What a complete sham this whole TK building application has been.

fz6adventure wrote:Funny how council had this open vote following a public hearing on the Tourist Centre ...... but the process started some 2 ½ years before the public was even aware.

Think the outcome of the vote was a not a done deal long, long before hand?

And, there was nary a word in any council minutes about the plan to have the covenant removed......all of it behind closed doors in secrecy of the citizens.

The only elected member that appears was not behind this scheme, was Charlie Hodge. The rest felt very comfortable hiding all this then feigning a "real" vote after the public hearing - I'll remember for the next election in only 10 months from now!

None of this was done in hiding. Public documents are always available to the public if they request it. Also - the public is always encouraged to come to Council meetings and voice their opinion.

TMBOkanagan wrote:None of this was done in hiding. Public documents are always available to the public if they request it. Also - the public is always encouraged to come to Council meetings and voice their opinion.

If you have ever tried to get real heart-of-the-matter documents from the City through the FOI process you would soon learn the tactics used to make that process as difficult and costly as possible .... then when you get the documents you'll find a lot of the information severed ......then it is a further process to go through the OIPC (it only takes about a year!)

The removal of the covenants was all done behind closed doors unbeknownst to the general population of Kelowna. The operative started in May of 2014 after the City Park location was soundly rejected by the Citizens. This dates back nearly 2 ½ years before the grand plan was pitched to the citizens. There is nary a mention in any council meeting minutes about the need to extinguish the covenant, nary of the behind the scenes process ..... and there was nary a mention of it in the information provided to the public in advance of the public hearing sham. Of course the public shouldn't have to ask for documents in advance of a public hearing because the City is duty bound to provide all relevant information ..... how does the public even know what to ask for?

In the 2 ½ year process of getting the covenants removed it appears there was some collusion of government including suggestions of what wording might look like in the application process to move it through the provincial government ministries.

Had the public been informed along the process, the likelihood of the issues, and the distaste of the general public for the location, would have been brought front and centre. As it turned out the matter was pushed through the process, shoved down the unsuspecting publics throats on the old standby of "we know what is best" and "it is a great opportunity for Kelowna". Of course, none of that mattered at the end of the day because each and every councillor and mayor had nearly three years of planning behind this and one would be extremely naive to believe any of the votes (other than Charlie Hodge's) were pre-determined months upon months prior to the vote.

By removing the covenant surreptitiously, the land use was changed long before the rezoning vote. Whether or not that was a violation of the Local Government Act is something that is being evaluated from a legal perspective. If it was illegal..........

Alas, while it would appear this information comes a little too late with the structure under construction now, there is plenty of time for the public to consider how the current council and mayor works ...... in advance of the next civic election in 10 months & 3 days - but who's counting?

This whole debacle about the Visitor Centre will be the downfall of the current mayor and council. It was and remains a hot button. Of all the topics on the Castanet Forum, I challenge you to find any other issue that even comes close to the number of replies (roughly 945) or views that this topic has generated (roughly 35,400).

fz6adventure wrote:

TMBOkanagan wrote:None of this was done in hiding. Public documents are always available to the public if they request it. Also - the public is always encouraged to come to Council meetings and voice their opinion.

If you have ever tried to get real heart-of-the-matter documents from the City through the FOI process you would soon learn the tactics used to make that process as difficult and costly as possible .... then when you get the documents you'll find a lot of the information severed ......then it is a further process to go through the OIPC (it only takes about a year!)

The removal of the covenants was all done behind closed doors unbeknownst to the general population of Kelowna. The operative started in May of 2014 after the City Park location was soundly rejected by the Citizens. This dates back nearly 2 ½ years before the grand plan was pitched to the citizens. There is nary a mention in any council meeting minutes about the need to extinguish the covenant, nary of the behind the scenes process ..... and there was nary a mention of it in the information provided to the public in advance of the public hearing sham. Of course the public shouldn't have to ask for documents in advance of a public hearing because the City is duty bound to provide all relevant information ..... how does the public even know what to ask for?

In the 2 ½ year process of getting the covenants removed it appears there was some collusion of government including suggestions of what wording might look like in the application process to move it through the provincial government ministries.

Had the public been informed along the process, the likelihood of the issues, and the distaste of the general public for the location, would have been brought front and centre. As it turned out the matter was pushed through the process, shoved down the unsuspecting publics throats on the old standby of "we know what is best" and "it is a great opportunity for Kelowna". Of course, none of that mattered at the end of the day because each and every councillor and mayor had nearly three years of planning behind this and one would be extremely naive to believe any of the votes (other than Charlie Hodge's) were pre-determined months upon months prior to the vote.

By removing the covenant surreptitiously, the land use was changed long before the rezoning vote. Whether or not that was a violation of the Local Government Act is something that is being evaluated from a legal perspective. If it was illegal..........

Alas, while it would appear this information comes a little too late with the structure under construction now, there is plenty of time for the public to consider how the current council and mayor works ...... in advance of the next civic election in 10 months & 3 days - but who's counting?

This whole debacle about the Visitor Centre will be the downfall of the current mayor and council. It was and remains a hot button. Of all the topics on the Castanet Forum, I challenge you to find any other issue that even comes close to the number of replies (roughly 945) or views that this topic has generated (roughly 35,400).

Here is a link to the Local Government Act that regulates the procedures. http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/ ... /r15001_00
Part

TMBOkanagan wrote:
Here is a link to the Local Government Act that regulates the procedures. http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/ ... /r15001_00
Part

The point being?

fz6adventure wrote:

TMBOkanagan wrote:
Here is a link to the Local Government Act that regulates the procedures. http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/ ... /r15001_00
Part

The point being?

If you want to make educated comments about correct legal and illegal processes you can read the LGA.