Kiwanis Pier will be out of action for a year
Repairs to city-owned infrastructure that was damaged when Okanagan Lake flooded last spring are expected to cost up to $620,000 and take until at least next year to complete.
City council at its regular meeting today will look at the to-do list prepared by staff engineer Ian Chapman, who’s recommending $160,000 be withdrawn from general surplus to get started on some of the work immediately.
The flood waters have since receded, but it’s only now that officials are getting a handle on its impact.
“Some of the damage was immediately apparent, but the high water concealed the full extent of other issues which have only recently been accessible as a result of the lower lake levels,” Chapman explained in his report.
He’s suggesting council authorize staff to immediately repair brick walkways, repave the yacht club parking lot, fix a retaining wall at the dog beach and make a few changes at the SS Sicamous to adjust for the boat sitting about 45 centimetres higher than it used to.
Chapman also wants council to give the OK for staff to begin design and permitting work for longer-term repairs to the suspended lakeside walkway, the Kiwanis pier, and to add 40 centimetres of fresh sand to beaches.
The B.C. government is expected to cover about half of the total cost through its disaster assistance program.
Council will be asked later in the meeting to begin the rezoning process to permit a 39-stall parking lot at 216 Westminster Ave.
The site, at the intersection with Winnipeg Street, has been vacant since a gas station was torn down in 2003.
Valley First Credit Union has now purchased the property with an eye to having its workers leave their vehicles there.
“The credit union is centralizing employees who work in Penticton into the downtown office building on Main Street and is providing parking for their use,” Ecora Engineering branch manager Kelly Mercer wrote to city staff on behalf of Valley First.
“The parking lot will also be available for public use during non-business hours.”
During committee of the whole, council is scheduled to hear from Matt Taylor, who owns a small apartment building at 385 Winnipeg St., next door to a notorious house neighbours suspect is tied to drugs and property crime.
Taylor intends to ask elected officials to “increase the consequences for repeat offenders… with multiple property infractions,” he explained in his request to appear as a delegation, and to “increase the resources available to address the problems associated with derelict or run-down properties in view of negative impact on neighbours’ rights to peaceful enjoyment of their property and their safety.”
Also during committee of the whole, Penticton Pickleball Club president Mark Tamblyn is slated to request permission to build four additional courts at the Seniors’ Drop-In Centre.
Four courts were created there in 2016, but are already insufficient for the club’s 185 members.
Six public hearings related to four properties are also on the agenda.
The owner of 641 and 681 Winnipeg St. is seeking rezonings and Official Community Plan amendments required to replace single-family homes with two duplexes on each site.
Rezonings have also been requested for 461 Eckhardt Ave. E. to put up two duplexes, and 1273 Government St. to build a four-unit townhouse.
Committee of the whole begins at 1 p.m., followed immediately afterwards by the regular meeting. Public hearings begin at 6 p.m., followed by land matters from the regular agenda. All meetings are in council chambers and open to the public.