SUMMERLAND REVIEW THE VOICE OF OUR COMMUNITY SINCE 1908
VOLUME
67
-
ISSUE
WHAT’S INSIDE:
WWW.SUMMERLANDREVIEW.COM
Vandalism declines NO.
5
•
S U M M E R L A N D,
B.C.
•
T H U R S D AY,
JANUARY
30,
2014
•
24
PA G E S
•
$1.15
INCLUDING
GST
Few incidents of damage reported at Summerland schools last year by John Arendt
Budget basics
Property taxes are forecast to rise this year, according to the municipality’s financial plan.
Page 11
Store closure
After 23 years, a downtown Summerland merchant is preparing to close.
Page 2
Planning growth
While Summerland’s proposed Urban Growth Plan has farreaching implications, the plan, if adopted, could be changed in the future.
Page 3
Seeking space
The Summerland Library receives plenty of traffic, but its facility is crowded.
Page 8
Train robberies
Local organizations have benefitted from the Garnett Valley Gang’s series of train robberies over the years.
Page 23
YOUR SMILE The only substitute for good manners is fast reflexes.
Bobsleigh win
Photo by Charlie Booker
Justin Kripps and Brian Barnett earned a bobsleigh win on the weekend, qualifying the Summerland athlete for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia next month. See related story on Page 18.
Live streaming ends Council meetings will still be shown on television and municipal web site by John Arendt Summerland’s council meetings will no longer be streamed live online, but few are likely to notice the change. On Monday, municipal council voted to discon-
tinue the live streaming of the meetings. Summerland began the live web streaming in 2010 in an effort to make public proceedings more accessible, but the service has not received much use from the public. Over the past year, only a few people each month have used the service. The highest use
was in April, when seven people took advantage of the service. In June, August, November and January, just two people used the web streaming. “Now that the service has been in operation for a few years, the data shows that the costs might not justify the usage,” Jeremy Denegar, director of corporate services, said in a
report to council. Live streaming costs the municipality $13,157.76 a year while an alternative web video service has a price tag of $133.73 a year. The meetings will still be broadcast on Shaw TV, Channel 11, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11 a.m. Video coverage of the meetings will use Vimeo Plus.
The Okanagan Skaha School District spent more than $26,000 dealing with the effects of school vandalism in 2013, but the number of incidents in Summerland was lower than elsewhere in the school district. There were no vandalism reports at Giant’s Head Elementary School or Trout Creek Elementary School. Five vandalism-related work orders were issued for Summerland Middle School and 18 were issued for Summerland Secondary School. School trustee Linda Van Alphen said the two elementary schools and Summerland Middle School do not have surveillance cameras installed. At Summerland Secondary School, there are three cameras. By comparison, there are nine surveillance cameras at Penticton Secondary School and 17 at Princess Margaret Secondary School. At both schools, additional cameras were installed in the last two years because of vandalism. Van Alphen said vandalism at schools within the school district has declined considerably in recent years. There were 161 incidents in 2013, costing the school district $26,570.17. In 2012, there were 181 incidents with costs of $28,048. In 2010, there were 350 reports of vandalism at schools within the school district. That year, the cost of cleaning up and repairing the damage was $64,296.