‘Environmental treasure’ may soon be publicly owned
A conditional deal is in place to sell the Sickle Point property on Skaha Lake to local taxpayers for $2.5 million, a citizens’ group leading the effort announced Monday.
But it will be nearly a month until the public knows if the main condition attached to the sale — taxpayer funding — will be met, only after which would the deal be presented to a judge for approval.
“We are pleased that this (potential) court-approved sale will enable us to protect and preserve in perpetuity this irreplaceable environmental treasure on the western shoreline of Skaha Lake,” Randy Cranston from the Save Sickle Point group said in a press release Monday.
The 4.8-acre waterfront property, which had been the decades-long focus of controversial plans for residential development by former owner Mel Reeves, is being sold out of foreclosure.
Under terms of the deal, the Regional District of OkanaganSimilkameen would purchase the site for $2.5 million from its current owner, Lanyard Investments, contingent upon the RDOS receiving public assent to borrow the funds.
The RDOS has launched an alternate approval process to gain that assent. The process, which would trigger a full referendum if 10% of Kaleden voters register opposition to the borrowing, runs through Feb. 8.
The tentative deal’s other major condition allows Lanyard Investments to walk away from its pact with the RDOS if it receives a better, unconditional offer that could be presented to a judge immediately for approval. (The RDOS offer can’t be presented to a judge yet because it’s conditional.)
Still, having a tentative deal in hand gives the RDOS “some certainty that the price offered would meet (Lanyard’s) threshold since they had it listed at $2.7 million,” chief administrative officer Bill Newell said in an email Monday.
“It’s also beneficial for the Save Sickle Point group for use as a target for fundraising.”
As of Monday, the group had raised about $280,000, plus applied for a $450,000 grant from the South Okanagan Conservation Fund.