The RDOS finalized it list of projects for the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund grants program and the Sage Mesa water system is not on the list. I see this as a significant missed opportunity for Area F.
Notice went out recently to residents adjacent to the Peter Bros. asphalt plant regarding a second (temporary) processing unit. This has caused some concern on the West Bench so an update is in order:
Bottom line: Peter Bros. has withdrawn their temporary use permit (TUP) application for the second plant and has decided instead to locate the plant on PIB lands (see notice on main RDOS site). This decision effectively ends the RDOS's involvement in the issue this time around. RDOS bylaws do not apply to First Nations lands.
School District 53 “flatly rejected" a proposal from the Town of Osoyoos to help subsidize Osoyoos Secondary School. The Osoyoos proposal was similar to the West Bench proposal in that local government offered to use local tax dollars to keep a school open. SD53 provided the following rationale in its letter to Mayor Sue McKortoff rejecting the town’s offer,
The proposal you have made is not consistent with the spirit and intent of the School Act funding provisions which are aimed at providing equal access to educational programs for all […] Students in communities with the ability and willingness to contribute monies in addition to assessed school taxes would gain significant advantages over students in communities which could not provide these funds.
