Answers to EarthCare Questions

1. Are you in favour of sinking Okanagan Lake Bridge into Okanagan Lake? If so why and if not why?
No – I don’t think there has been adequate research done on the ramifications of that option. Unfortunately it is not the city’s decision to make, but I would support a resolution from council against the sinking to be forwarded to the province.

2. If you are elected, would you support amending the current pesticide bylaw to not allow commercial pesticide applicators to spray cosmetic pesticides in the City of Kelowna? When the bylaw comes into force in 2009 homeowners will not be allowed to spray cosmetic pesticides within City limits.
Yes – that was the original intent of the by-law before it was amended and I continue to support that.

3. On October 24, 2007, in a memo to the City Manager, the City planning department made recommendations regarding the OCP Growth Strategy for the South Pandosy Sector (Mission area). They included withholding support for any development until there has been public input into the Official Community Plan, withholding support for development variance permit applications or rezoning applications that result in height beyond four stories for commercial and residential and six stories for apartment/hotels and eight stories for the Lakeshore/Watt site.

Currently development applications for the Mission area have come before the Advisory planning commission such as the Mission group's Aqua project proposing variance of the height to accommodate three high rise towers. Other development applications in the area include Manteo, Hiawatha trailer park, Gyro Beach Resort (all seeking height variances) and a current project being built by MKS on Trusswell Road.

If elected, what is your position on the proposed developments in the Mission area? What course of action to you propose to deal with the height issues as well as the capacity and transportation issues?

I understand that these projects are in the queue but I feel that the OCP review should be completed before decisions are made. We don’t know what the capacity is for water, sewer, and transportation and we need to know that! Height is a more subjective discussion and I look forward to public input on this.

3. What is your vision on helping Kelowna become a sustainable City?

Sustainability is now part of our vision and I’m proud of that. I think the new reorganization within the City of Kelowna will help reduce the “silo” effect and ensure that departments are coordinated. This is an important step. Things like signing on to the Climate Action Charter (we were one of the first cities to do so) and supporting regional coordination on issues such as air and water quality will help guide us. Reviewing the OCP through a lens of sustainability will make sure we are on the right path. I ran on a platform of looking at each decision for its environmental, social, cultural and economic benefits and I will continue to make my decisions in that way.

4. Okanagan Lake is the major source of drinking water for the North, Central and South Okanagan populations. What steps would you take to ensure that water quality is protected and enhanced? As well, what is your opinion on how effective the Okanagan Basin Water Board has been on protecting Okanagan Lake.
We absolutely must look at water quality from a regional perspective. We have state of the art water treatment for the water users that we serve (only part of the city of Kelowna is served by our water utility – the others are irrigation improvement districts) but it is important to keep the water clean at its source. This includes the entire watershed as well as groundwater sources. I think the OBWB has done some good work and they have committed to looking at ground water extensively for their next focus. All of these steps protect the water in Okanagan Lake.