Michael Brown wants to cut ties with Challenge Family and run the triathlon under a different brand name

Challenge Penticton may be no more. City council is expected to hear today that race organizer Michael Brown is trying to cut ties with the Challenge Family and run the triathlon under a different brand name.

Brown has a deal with the city that provides his race with $110,000 worth of inkind support annually, while he hands over $60,000 in cash to pay off the $300,000 cost of assuming the Challenge licence from the city.

He’s asking that the terms of the deal be rolled over into an amended agreement that allows for the change of brand.

“Michael Brown remains committed to delivering a triathlon event in late August that will draw between 900 and 1,500 participants for the remaining two years of the agreement,” city finance manager Jim Bauer wrote in his report to council.

Bauer recommended council accept the deal, as long as Brown provides assurances his company, MB Events, has made a clean break from the Challenge Family and that the city will be saved harmless.

“Amending the Challenge agreement allows MB Events to deliver a triathlon under a different brand and will enable the City of Penticton to continue participating in the sport of triathlon and deliver an event that will draw participants to the city and generate economic benefits to the city,” Bauer concluded.

The city obtained the licence from the Challenge Family in time for the 2013 race, after parting ways with the Ironman brand that operated the flagship triathlon here for 30-plus years.

The $300,000 purchase price to which Brown agreed represented the debt the city accumulated when the race was operated for the first two years by a non-profit society.

Council is also set today to discuss a pair of important initiatives in the downtown core.

The first is a proposed four-storey, 40unit affordable housing project at 259 Backstreet Blvd.

It would consist of one-and two-bedroom apartments, all of which would be rented, with two retail spaces on the ground floor, plus 27 parking stalls.

EllisDon, the company building the new Penticton Regional Hospital tower and parkade as a public-private partnership, is seeking a development permit for the housing project.

“Once construction is complete, BC Housing will purchase the development from EllisDon and work with a social non-profit group to operate the 40 residential units — and the two commercial rental units located on the ground floor,” senior planner Audrey Tanguay wrote in her report to council.

“This proposal is considered to be a significant contribution to the affordable housing stock within the city of Penticton.”

Finally, elected officials will be given a staff proposal to move ahead with revitalization of the 300 block of Main Street by June 2018.

Giving it the same treatment as the 100 and 200 blocks is expected to cost just under $2.2 million. Of that, $300,000 would come from a special tax on owners of property on that block, and another $350,000 would come from the city’s water utility reserve to fund underground infrastructure work.

“In consideration of the pressures surrounding other council priorities for asset management, facility and roads upgrades, flood recovery and information technology enhancement,” staff is recommending the city borrow the remaining $1.5 million.

The staff report notes property owners representing a majority of value on the block must first agree to the special tax before anything else can happen.