Council eyeing reduced input from committees

Just two standing committees will advise the current group of Penticton city councillors, who are also set today to reveal their strategic priorities for the rest of the term.

Details will come out during a special meeting of council that begins at 4 p.m.

According to a staff report attached to the agenda package, the two standing committees will focus on agriculture and parks and recreation, respectively, and eliminate a handful of other such groups that operated in the past. Council also plans to strike two task forces. One will develop an amendment to the Official Community Plan to encourage more housing, while the other will create a community accessibility plan as mandated by the B.C. government. Both task forces are set to wrap up their work this year.

“The review of the housing component of the OCP and accessibility in Penticton are two issues that we want immediate ideas on and each have deadlines for providing recommendations to council,” said Mayor Julius Bloomfield in a press release.

Meanwhile, council’s four strategic priorities, which were developed through several facilitated workshops, revolve mainly around quality of life: safe and resilient; livable and accessible, vibrant and connected communities; and organizational excellence.

“These are the priorities that council has said that they want to underpin all of the municipality’s planning as we move forward,” said Cheryl Hardisty, the city’s manager of council and executive operations, in a separate press release.

“If approved, they will provide clear direction for staff when developing initiatives and budgets and allow us to monitor the progress as we move forward. These areas of focus are designed to reflect what city council has heard from the community.”

In other business today, council is set to deal with a few land matters and receive updates on a proposed new community safety building and the asset and amenity management project.

Finally, finance director Angel Campbell is slated to deliver an overview of upcoming 2023 budget deliberations.

While her three-page report to council doesn’t specify the proposed tax increase for 2023, it does contain detailed explanations of past decisions to defer tax hikes or offset them using one-time draws from reserves, which suggests those costs may finally be coming home to roost.

The meeting is open to the public in council chambers or through a live-stream at www.penticton.ca.