SUMMERLAND REVIEW THE VOICE OF OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1908
VOLUME 66 - ISSUE
WWW.SUMMERLANDREVIEW.COM
NO. 37 • S U M M E R L A N D, B.C. • T H U R S D AY,
SEPTEMBER
12,
2013
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24
PA G E S
WHAT’S INSIDE:
•
$1.15
INCLUDING
GST
Crime rate drops Significant declines in most categories by John Arendt
Karate medals
A mother and daughter have won medals at an international karate championship event.
Page 18
Free transit
When the scheduled transit service begins next month, riders will not be charged.
Page 3
Industrial land
The exclusion of land from the Agricultural Land Reserve will increase the size of the Bentley Road Industrial Area.
Page 7
Food display
A large display of canned foods will present an important message and assist the Summerland Food Bank.
Page 12
Racing A racing behind Vernon
Summerland driver will get the wheel in on Saturday.
Page 17
YOUR SMILE If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
At the market
John Arendt Summerland Review
Connie Blackburn examines some of the dresses on display at a booth at the Tuesday Country Market. The market is held each Tuesday morning until October.
Further input sought for growth strategy by John Arendt
Planners and consultants will go back to the public once again to gain more input about the options for Summerland’s future. Municipal planner Ian McIntosh said the public survey will be reopened on Sept. 13 . It will be available online and at municipal hall. Comments will be accepted until Oct. 15. An open house will be held on Oct. 10 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the
Arena Banquet Room. The comments received from the last public consultation period have been reviewed. “We’ve done quite a lot of analysis since the last public exercises,” McIntosh said. He explained that the consultants and municipal representatives spent a month and a half examining the details which came up from the comments. Consultants are also working to put together an interactive map to show the areas of the
community people should consider depending on the criteria they value. The lengthy process in getting the feedback is important, McIntosh said. “We needed some strong, objective, scientific data,” he said. Because the future growth strategy is complex and controversial, the reasons for the decisions must be defendable, he said. The project should be completed by the end of February.
Summerland’s crime statistics showed a decrease from last year, according to the latest information from the Summerland RCMP detachment. The figures were presented at the municipal council meeting on Monday evening. During the second quarter of this year, police responded to 654 calls for service, down from 676 calls during the same period in 2012. While the number of assaults and thefts increased slightly, the number of stolen vehicles, mischief complaints, break and enters, disturbances and vehicle break-ins showed noticeable declines. Cpl. Bruce Haley of the Summerland RCMP detachment said there were 20 assaults reported in the first two quarters of this year, up from 18 in the same period last year. There have been 33 thefts reported during the first half of this year, up from 32 in the same period last year. The number of mischief complaints dropped dramatically this year. In the first two quarter of this year, there have been 33 mischief complaints, compared with 70 during the same time period last year. This represents a drop of 53 per cent. Vehicle thefts also showed a significant decline, with six reported in the first half of this year, down from 11 in the first six months of last year, representing a 45 per cent decline. The number of thefts from vehicles fell from 21 in the first half of 2012 to 16 in the first half of this year. Break and enters fell from 19 to 14. Disturbances dropped from 20 to 15. There were 11 drug investigation files in the second quarter of this year.