There’s lots to talk about in District of Summerland

The District of Summerland announced a 5.38 per cent tax increase. There was hardly a whimper from taxpayers who have been conditioned to expect inflation to cause everything to rise in cost.

They also see some infrastructure progress being made with projects such as re-paving parts of Giants Head Road, Victoria Road and Jubilee Ave. W.

Money well spent!

-What did attract taxpayers’ ire, is the proposal to change curbside waste collection. Garbage will be picked up every second week. Kitchen and food waste are to be included in the green yard waste bin which will be picked up weekly.

Recycling and garbage will alternate weekly pickup. This is intended to reduce compostables entering the garbage stream and consuming landfill space.

Since the garbage cart will start to overflow over two weeks, people will hopefully increase their recycling.

Too bad for those discarding Pampers in July. It would be nice if the larger garbage carts were made available to bigger households at no extra charge. My charming wife suggests storing really stinky kitchen waste in the freezer, if space allows, until pick-up day.

-Summerland never seems to make everyone happy about off-leash dog parks. There has been a one-acre temporary area at Peach Orchard Beach Park. Council is dithering on making it permanent.

Even as a dog owner myself, I do not believe taking away this amount of space from Summerland’s premiere park and setting up unattractive fencing is a good idea (neither do any of the neighbours overlooking the park).

A quick look at a map of Summerland shows there are few options for a fenced dog park where canines can socialize offleash. We dog owners who drive our pets to run around in a park are, for the most part, responsible.

All parks are greatly under-utilized outside of the tourist/sports season. Off-leash usage should be allowed in these empty parks. For those of us living on the fringes of town in areas zoned agricultural or country residential, there are no local parks where kids can play and it’s too late to make any. Luckily most farmers will accommodate neighbouring dog walkers.

-There is a proposal to open a gravel mine in the country residential area on Garnet Valley Road. This is a bad idea on so many levels. Traffic, dust, impact on wildlife (mule deer in particular), tourism, wear and tear on the recently paved road, and watercourses... just to name a few.

The District of Summerland does not support the mining along with most of those living in the valley. MLA Dan Ashton personally delivered files to the offices of the two Ministers of the Environment and Mining to make them aware of Summerlanders concerns.

-School District 67 Okanagan Skaha is proposing to close underutilized Giants Head Elementary School. Nobody likes to lose their local school, but in this case, it is hard to argue against the dollar savings. I am hopeful SD67 can allow a dog park in the playground adjacent to the Dale Meadows ball diamonds once the school is closed.

Problem solved. You’re welcome.

John Dorn is a retired tech entrepreneur who resides in... Summerland. This is a recurring column. Opinions are his own.