When did Penticton’s dealings with our neighbouring community, the Penticton Indian Band, turn into hardball tactics?
For years, floating down the Okanagan River Channel on a flotation device has been one of the area’s biggest draws. But now we have PIB representatives telling us that activity could be in jeopardy as the City of Penticton demands a hugely-increased price for leasing the tiny sliver of land the PIB’s Coyote Cruises runs their inner tube rental business on.
The entrance point is on the Penticton side of the channel, but the two exit points are on the PIB side, which the band claims as a part of their community. The band is asking for a long-term lease to provide some surety as they plan to expand the operation.
This isn’t quite the same situation as when the City of Penticton decided to rent out a portion of Skaha Lake Park for a 29-year lease so a private developer could build a water slide complex.
In this case, Coyote Cruises is an existing use, with a long history of bringing in tourist dollars, which benefits everyone in the area. The PIB doesn’t force the city to lease on the exit points, where most of the people safely exiting are using their own floating rather than tubes rented from Coyote Cruises.
Coyote Cruises and the PIB also maintain the exit points along with the popular trail that parallels the channel. Every tourism season, they dispose of several containers of commercial trash bins, including many cheap floaties purchased for a single use from retailers in the city.
The city’s relationship with Coyote Cruises and the PIB has been beneficial for everyone. It would be a shame to ruin it now.
Instead of a costly lease, why not offer quid pro quo; as long as the PIB maintains and allows the use of the exit points, the city allows Coyote Cruises use of city land?