THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF ENDERBY

Minutes of a Public Meeting of Council held on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.

Present: Mayor Sue Phillips
Councillor Brad Case
Councillor Howie Cyr
Councillor Beryl Ludwig
Councillor Earl Shipmaker
Councillor Tony Vetter
Councillor Dee Wejr

Director Herman Halvorson, Electoral Area F
Allan Nielson-Welch, Neilson-Welch Consulting Inc.

Administrator Barry Gagnon
Recording Secretary Bettyann Kennedy
The Press and Public


PUBLIC AND STATUTORY HEARINGS

Regional Governance for the Okanagan Valley Region

Allan Nielson-Welch provided a brief overview of the Okanagan Similkameen Regional Working Committee, which was created to identify key area-wide issues and develop options for addressing these issues. The purpose of tonight's meeting is to gather feedback from local elected officials to take back to the Committee.

Discussions regarding list of common issues and the governance process:
- Water was identified as a concern to the Enderby area. There are 3 watersheds in the valley - Okanagan, Similkameen, and Shuswap. It is important that the Shuswap watershed be protected;
- Transit, although in principle a valley-wide issue, would not be beneficial to residents of this area, as social services are provided from Salmon Arm (Shuswap);
- Cost efficiency. A cost analysis cannot take place until a model is in place. Minister Chong has indicated that cost savings are part of the goal;
- Appears to be more downloading of Provincial responsibilities (water/air) onto smaller local governments;
- Concern that public meetings that have taken place have not permitted public comment. Open public meetings in smaller communities is preferable to meetings only in larger urban centres.

Discussions on guiding principles of model:
- Contradiction in the principles exists - stated that desire is not to create another level of government, yet mention of elector input in determining representation on a regional governance model;
- Another level of government is definitely not desirable;
- Recognizing the diverse communities is not accomplished with a direct vote.

Three new models were presented as possible options to consider:
Single Regional District - amalgamation of all three existing Regional Districts into one for the whole area;
Inter-Regional Alliance - three existing Regional Districts jointly creating an inter-regional coordinating body to address area-wide issues;
Inter-Regional Authority - one or more special purpose authorities created to manage specific area-wide issues.

Discussions:
- Status quo, with some effort, could very well be a better option. Cooperation between Regional Districts on common issues is attainable without creating another level of bureaucracy;
- Boundary discussions must occur to protect the Shuswap watershed. Concern that our water system is being targeted.
- In addition to watershed, the Splatsin First Nation is considered Shuswap, not Okanagan. This reinforces the concern of being part of a joint regional district that does not include the Shuswap;
- Feedback from Electoral Area F residents is an absolute 'no' to option 1;
- Stronger effort is needed to engage the public in discussions.

Mr. Neilson-Welch will be presenting a report of feedback from Council and Electoral Area Directors to the Committee. Findings will be presented at an open meeting and will be available on the Committee's website.

ADJOURNMENT

The Public Meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.



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MAYOR ADMINISTRATOR