We (RDOS staff and I) were supposed to meet with Penticton City Council today to discuss our counter-proposal for the sale of filtered water to the West Bench. Alas, there has been some turnover as a result of the election on Saturday.  Two incoming councilors (Helena Konanz and Wes Hopkin) will not attend tonight's meeting (at least not in any formal capacity) so it seems like a waste of time to make the presentation now.  We have asked to be added to the agenda of the city's first "working" meeting (once orientation and all the activities of any new council are completed).

I have attached the slides I had planned to present here so you can get some sense of what I am saying on your behalf (please keep in mind that the presentation is "animated" so it may not make sense in this static form--you will have to trust that it is "way better" when presented live...).  Incidentally, Penticton prefers to have this meeting in camera (closed to the public).  But all the material in my presentation has already been made public on this site and elsewhere.  Now would be a good time comment on this process or make suggestions since it appears we will not make our presentation to Penticton City Council until early 2012.

(this is a different bear shot in Husula Highlands in September of 2010)

(Click for a larger image)

Bad news: I just got a forwarded email from the Ministry of Community, Sport, and Cultural Development that the RDOS application for a Towns for Tomorrow grant was not approved (see previous update). We plan to appeal with Minister Chong because we believe that we originally had ministry support for this project. We will let you know if we have any success with this.

The good news is that the heavy run-off seems to have resulted in substantial recharge to the aquifer.  Although it is not high by historical standards, it buys us some time to continue looking for ways to get reliable water to Faulder.

One possibility that has been mentioned in the past is a prison in an unpopulated area between Summerland and Faulder.  It is clear (and has been clear for some time) that the majority of Okanagan residents do not want a prison, at least not within the boundaries of Penticton or Summerland.  A rural prison may or may not be a different story. Naturally, the prison in such a location would require reliable water (most likely supplied by Summerland), so possibilities for cost sharing could exist.

All this is very speculative at this point (who knows what the Province is thinking on this matter), but am looking for some feedback regarding whether to investigate the prison idea further or drop it right now.  Please let me know what you are thinking using the comment feature below or at mbrydon@rdos.bc.ca

The RDOS is hosting a Transit Review open house:

Westbench Elementary School Library
Monday 20 June 2011
drop in anytime between 5:00 to 7:00 p.m

See the full ad here and please pass it along to anyone who you might think is interested.

North Fraser Pretrial Centre (NFPC)

I am starting a prison thread on the Area F site in an attempt to replace the prison-related threads on Dan Albas's Penticton Politics blog.  This is one of the downsides of losing Dan to the pros—he is now less willing to walk around with a stick poking political ant hills. Unfortunately, the prison-related threads on Dan's blog were the some of the best debate and commentary I have seen on the issue so far.  Such debate and commentary are critical if we are to make an informed decision about such a complex issue.  There is also an active prison thread on Castanet.net.

The starting place for my interest in the prison is straightforward: Area 'F' of the RDOS has several areas (e.g., along the road to Faulder—see the map of large parcels) that might make good prison sites.  These sites have the advantage of being relatively remote yet only a few minutes away from Highway 97 via Summerland.

My question is: would such a rural prison provide the benefits of the prison (to nearby Summerland and perhaps even Penticton) without the negative aspects of a prison within the boundaries of a municipality?  I don't know the answer to this question; that is why I am asking.

Update Nov 12, 2010: The survey is now closed—thanks to all those who took the time to weigh in.

The raw numerical results can be found here.

The number of respondents was 141 from a rural Penticton population of about 1600.  A 9% response rate strikes me as low (especially given the number of times I hear people complain that their governments "aren't listening").  A 15% response rate for this kind of survey would have been considered very good.  However, the response provides us with at least a ±8% confidence level on the percentages in the results.

We will take some time in the next few weeks to make sense of what you have told us and to work throught the many comment people submitted. Please standby for updates.

Welcome to the Area 'F' Residents' Survey (rural Penticton version)

You must use the link below to register for the "rural Penticton" residents' survey. The survey is intended for residents of the rural Penticton portion of Area 'F' (Husula Highlands, Red Wing, Sage Mesa, West Bench, Westwood Properties).  I hope to run a rural Summerland (Faulder, North Beach Estates) version of the survey later in the year.