Wine centre uncorking new bill on taxpayers
Washroom, signage, coolers all part of $60,000 request
Penticton taxpayers may be on the hook for another $60,000 stemming from the relocation of Cascades Casino.
Council is expected to hear at its committee of the whole meeting today that the B.C. Wine Information Centre, which gave up its former home at the corner of Eckhardt Avenue and Vees Drive to accommodate the new casino, is asking to have $150,000 of its relocation costs reimbursed, up from the $90,000 the city previously agreed to cover.
The extra $60,000 is apparently due to unforeseen costs related to purchase of new coolers for wine sales and requirements for an additional washroom, exterior signage and a utility meter, city facilities manager Bregje Kozak wrote in her report to council.
She recommended council stick to its guns and pay only the agreed upon amount.
Information submitted in advance by the wine centre noted its lease with the city for the old location ran through 2025, but the group agreed in September 2015 to break it at the request of the city because it recognized “the importance of securing a new location for the casino, within the city boundary.”
The wine centre, which sells hundreds of local vintages, is located within a portion of the new casino building after temporarily relocating during construction to a makeshift visitor centre at the southwest corner of the South Okanagan Events Centre campus.
Also during Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting, council will be asked to contribute $400,000 to the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan-Similkameen, which is leading the YES Project’s drive to build a youth centre.
“The foundation is in the final stages of negotiating a purchase, and a commitment from the city will help the foundation fulfill its financing obligations for the purchase,” CFSOS executive director Aaron McRann wrote in his request to appear before council.
Committee of the whole begins at 1 p.m., followed by council’s regular meeting.
Three public hearings are on tap for 6 p.m., all of them concerning rezonings.
One would allow construction of duplexes at 223 and 227 Conklin Ave., another would clear the way for subdivision of 1760 Carmi Ave., and the last would permit construction of a parking lot at 216 Westminster Ave.