District of Summerland Council highlights for December 17

Delegation – LocalMotive – Council received a presentation from two LocalMotive staff members. LocalMotive intends to build an Educational & Skills Training in Agriculture component to their initiatives by applying to build an educational greenhouse that will be situated on the same property as the Food and Innovation Hub. The greenhouse and educational programs will allocate twenty percent of food grown to food security initiatives in the South Okanagan region.

Delegation – Summerland Golf Society – The Summerland Golf Society presented information about their current lease agreement with the District of Summerland. The lease requires an appraisal every five years to determine the next five-year lease rate, which was completed in June 2024. The Summerland Golf Society suggested alternative options to their current lease agreement, one of which included returning to a non-market (discounted) lease rate given then are a not-for-profit organization.

Temporary Bus Stop – Food Bank – Staff presented information on options regarding the provision of continued transit service from Route 30 Penticton/Summerland for users of the Summerland Food Bank & Resource Centre (Food Bank) at their temporary location at 14820 Victoria Road N. Council previously directed staff to examine options on how best to provide transit service to the new temporary Food Bank location. Staff worked with BC Transit with considerations for current service hours and routes, cost to implement, and timelines of implementation. Council directed staff to maintain the existing Route 30 but have Food Bank users requiring transit services to utilize the “On-Request” service to the Alliance Church, and for that service to be offered for free to residents during the interim period at the temporary location.

Pier Enhancements – At the November 26, 2024 Council meeting, the Rotary Club confirmed fundraising resulting in $200,000 for pier enhancements. Staff have been working with the Rotary Club of Summerland to put together a concept for new enhancements to the pier. Council reviewed and endorsed the proposed pier enhancements that will be added to the newly rebuilt pier at Gordon Beggs Rotary Beach and directed staff to proceed with next steps in the project. The current vision includes five benches, lighting fixtures along the sides of the pier, aquatic stairs, a slide a key play feature and a life saving device.

Note: These highlights are intended to provide a brief summary of recent Council proceedings. The summary is not inclusive of all, agenda items. For a detailed account of the full agenda, including staff reports, other supporting documents and official meeting minutes, please consult the District of Summerland website at https://www.summerland.ca or contact Corporate Services at 250-404-4037