No surprise that infrastructure is back on the agenda for Penticton city council’s Tuesday afternoon meeting.
Planning for how to deal with Penticton’s Infrastructure deficit is going to take up a lot of city council and staff time in coming months. Community engagement consultant JoAnne Kleb says she’s ready for phase two of her engagement plan, to involve citizens in reviewing the options to address the funding gap.
This time a key focus is on the future of the aging Memorial Arena, which needs an estimated $13.5 million in upgrades and repairs. But because there are such diverse opinions on what to do with the arena, from repairing it to demolishing it, Kleb says a more in depth and customized engagement approach is being considered for Memorial that will fully explore the pros and cons of the alternatives including the heritage, fiscal value, costs and consequences.
Read more: $175 million infrastructure deficit not a crisis says Penticton CAO
Council is considering a notice on title for a property at 329 South Upper Bench Rd., which the city considers an incomplete building project. The building permit was issued in March 2005 for a single family house followed by an occupancy permit a year later, subject to deficiencies like the outer cladding being completed. A decade later and the building remains unfinished.
Penticton is looking to the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund for help in $1.5 million project to enlarge the Carmi reservoir. The fund, a partnership between the B.C. and federal governments, will cover up to 83 per cent of eligible project costs. The city distribution system lacks storage capacity needed to meet city bylaws, relying on surplus pumping potential to make up the difference.