To the editor:

In what can only be a partial response to the letter by B.C.’s Environment Minister Barry Penner trying to justify independent power projects in B.C., it is interesting to note that he did not deny that the price that rate payers will have to pay for electricity over the coming years will sky rocket.

Why? It is because the Liberal government has hamstrung B.C. Hydro so that it cannot develop its own power projects any more and is forced to buy power from independent power producers-if they agree—at whatever the market will bear.

Far from making B.C. secure in energy because of private energy development, the government’s policy of integrating B.C.’s transmission grid with the U.S. while lifting restrictions on private energy exports will in fact undermine B.C.’s ability to remain self-sufficient.

In John Calvert’s book, Liquid Gold, denigrated by Mr. Penner, a graph depicting the results of a residential survey comparing electricity rates, shows that in 2006, B.C. had the second lowest prices in North America. Those days will unfortunately soon be over unless a lot of pressure is brought to bear on the B.C. government to allow B.C. Hydro to maintain the low costs it has provided.

Why should we have our rates go up to put money in the pockets of some private power project developer who is not even obliged to sell the power to B.C. Hydro despite the high price he would be allowed to charge?

As far as the independent power projects being green, I wonder if Mr. Penner has seen the mess created in gaining access to some of these sources of energy that would supposedly be for our benefit.

I encourage people to write to B.C.’s Minister of Energy, Richard Neufeld, to let him know that the government is supposed to be for the people not for profit-making.

For people who want to learn more about this issue, they can go to the web site of B.C. Citizens for Public Power: www.citizensforpublicpower.ca.

Peter Kerr, Kelowna

A failed candidate for mayor vows to keep watching activities at Vernon city hall.

Tony Stamboulieh, who placed fourth in the six-person race, says he will remain an active part of the Vernon Taxpayers Association.

“I will continue to do this,” he said of speaking out on issues of concern.

Stamboulieh received 787 votes compared to 2,728 for Wayne Lippert, 2,363 for Juliette Cunningham, 825 for Rick Thorburn, 538 for Steve Campbell and 148 for Floyd Edwards.

“The beauty of democracy is that those who have taken the trouble to vote get the government they deserve,” said Stamboulieh.

“Vernon certainly deserves Mayor Lippert and his team. And I wish them well. They will need all of their collective wisdom during these coming critical economic times.”

Stamboulieh doesn’t believe his showing in the election is a sign that the public doesn’t support the taxpayers association.

“They (residents) have always supported the issues and concerns through petitions massively,” he said.

“But perhaps local elections here and across the province indicated apathy. After the federal election, perhaps people are tired.”

It has been suggested by Stamboulieh and the association that city hall hasn’t been open and transparent but Lippert disagrees.

“The mayor’s office has been more accessible than in the past and we need to keep concentrating on it and letting people know what the city is doing,” he said

Lippert says there is a need to educate residents about how city hall operates and some of the provincial legislation it must follow.

“I want to make sure that people know that there are no secret meetings. All meetings are posted but there are in-camera meetings where there are issues that must be in-camera,” he said.

Under provincial law, the matters that are to be discussed in private or in-camera meetings are labour, legal and property.

A controversial fertilizer plant in the Commonage could see its activities drastically reduced.

Vernon council is directing itself and the City of Kelowna to reduce the amount of sewer sludge the Ogogrow biosolids facility processes to the level it was designed to handle for six months so issues of odour can be monitored.

“That facility has not been proven to be efficient and to operate without the odour,” said Coun. Barry Beardsell.

Reducing the level of product will only occur when a suitable site for any excess sewer sludge is found.

Staff had been recommending a $5.6 million expansion of the facility as a way of trying to improve operations and reduce the odour.

That argument didn’t go over well with some council members.

“We should make it function now before we expand it,” said Coun. Patrick Nicol.

Construction of the facility — which is owned by the cities of Vernon and Kelowna — began in 2004 and it became operational in 2006. It replaced facilities Kelowna had within its own community and Lake Country.

“There was no mention of the problems that occurred in Glenmore (Kelowna) and Lake Country,” said Beardsell of reports he has heard about odour complaints at those two sites.

“This council needs to send a strong message to the City of Kelowna.”

Thirty per cent of the volume at the Commonage plant comes from Vernon and the rest from Kelowna. Odour complaints have come largely from residents living along Kalamalka Lake.

“Quiet evenings on the deck have been cut short by the overwhelming noxious odour,” said resident David Facey.

“This plant has taken away our opportunity for social gatherings.”

There is also a concern that the odour could be causing health problems.

“Two residents have been diagnosed with severe respiratory issues,” said Facey.

Facey also suggests that the sludge could be contaminating the environment.

“It does not perform as promised,” he said of the facility.

Beyond the odour, Beardsell is upset with comments some of his colleagues are making about the plant.

“A lot of misinformation has been put out blaming the previous council,” he said.

During a recent all-candidates forum, Coun. Jack Gilroy stated that the operating agreement for the plant had been signed by the old council and not the present one.

But the former council only reached a memorandum of understanding with Kelowna and present council ratified the actual operating agreement for the facility.

“If I was perfect, I wouldn’t be a politician. I made a mistake,” said Gilroy.

While he apologizes for his comments, Gilroy says current council signed the agreement based on information provided by its predecessor.

“It came down as the greatest thing since sliced bread. It had all been worked out by them,” he said.
 

It's amazing how bureaucrats and politicians so readily think that the money and assets they administer are theirs, when that isn't even close to the truth.

A good example of this is the situation that has arisen over N'Kwala Park in the south BX.

The Vernon School District purchased that site in 1977 as a potential location for a school. As we all know, a school was never constructed there, but the Greater Vernon Services Committee has leased the land for the last 20 years for soccer fields, a playground and basketball court.

Now, the school district has launched a process to sell the property, which all Greater Vernon residents, and especially those in the adjacent MacDonald Road neighbourhood, have come to take for granted as open space.

It's now anticipated that GVSC will try and acquire the property so it can remain in public hands, and that's where the problem exists.

While the school district and GVSC are two unrelated agencies, they are both funded by the same source — you and me, the taxpayers. So a property that the public shelled out good cash for in 1977 is now going to be bought again by the same taxpayers.

There is also the reality that the school district has put very little cash into the property since it was acquired 31 years ago. Instead, GVSC has made a considerable investment through lease payments as well as developing and maintaining the sports facilities there.

And perhaps the most galling part is that the school district has been forced to sell the property so it can help subsidize the provincial government's rebuilding of Vernon Secondary School. Education is a provincial responsibility but the construction of schools is being downloaded on to the backs of local taxpayers.

Unfortunately, it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for Greater Vernon residents.

If GVSC purchases N'Kwala Park, our taxes go up. But if GVSC doesn't take control of the site, it will be placed on the open market for sale and green space could be replaced by a residential subdivision.

And this isn't the first time that the provincial government has made a buck off taxpayers by selling us something we already own.

Last year, residents at Kingfisher, at the north end of Mabel Lake, agreed to borrow $175,000 to purchase the vacant school site there from the North Okanagan-Shuswap School District so it could remain a community asset.

But local taxes had already been used to purchase the land in the 1950s for a school, and the Kingfisher Community Club had been maintaining the building since its closure in 2000.

It was a double-whammy for the folks at Kingfisher.

Perhaps I am too naive, and don't understand how the world works. Maybe I don't see the clear distinction between a provincially mandated school board and a parks function operated by a local regional district. It could be that such transactions are a normal course of business.

But then again, my confusion could also be a direct result of politicians and bureaucrats slurping up water at the same taxpayer-irrigated trough.

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