Regional district adds much needed office space with lease

PENTICTON – Despite recent renovations to the regional district office, staff are finding their quarters too close for comfort.

An annually increasing need for an emergency operations centre for extended periods of time is also part of the reason staff made a request to the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen board of directors to enter into a lease agreement for an additional 2,635 square feet of office space next door at 105 Martin St.

Regional district headquarters was renovated a couple of years ago, but several years of rapid growth in the region has increased the number of services and activity in the building to the point where there is little room for privacy amongst staff.

In a report prepared for the board, staff noted the need for a defined space for an emergency centre of operations has become more prominent in the past two years, with extended emergency responses anticipated in the coming years.

Last year the emergency operations centre worked out of the office boardroom, displacing board meetings and severely limiting free space for meetings.

The emergency operations centre was activated even earlier this year, and when space became available at 105 Martin St. in April, the regional district snapped it up, moving the emergency operations centre next door and returning the boardroom to its original function.

The close proximity of the space to the main offices also means telephone and computer systems can be interconnected. 

The board approved staff’s request for a five-year lease of the premises next door at Thursday’s meeting, June 7.

Lease payments of $1,585 per month are anticipated.

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