Kelowna City Hall
Over-heating pumps threaten water service in the Mission
KELOWNA - A faulty pump motor is forcing the City of Kelowna to spend $300,000 on an additional pump for the Cedar Creek lake intake. Failure to do so, could leave parts of the Mission and the South Slopes without drinking water and fire protection service, utility planning manager Andrew Reeder says, in a report...
Popular rink to open next week in Stuart Park
KELOWNA - Crews have begun making ice at the popular Stuart Park outdoor rink in Kelowna with opening planned for next week. City crews will be working afternoon shifts from 4 p.m. to midnite at Stuart Park over the next few days readying the rink for an opening Tuesday, Dec. 1, according to arenas supervisor...
Work begins on new dike for Mission Creek restoration in Kelowna
KELOWNA - City crews have taken the first step in reversing decades of misguided management of Mission Creek in Kelowna. The first phase of the Mission Creek Restoration Initiative began this week with the closing of the creek’s south dike between Casorso Road and Gordon Drive, according to a city media release. With creek waters...
One year in, new Kelowna councillors are finding their groove
KELOWNA - It’s been a year since three brand new members joined Kelowna city council and while they don’t agree on everything, they do agree on one thing — it’s been a fast ride. “It went by in a blink of an eye,” Coun. Brad Sieben says. “It seems like just yesterday we were planting...
Downtown Kelowna alley an ‘untapped resource’
KELOWNA - Currently home to illegally parked cars and overflowing garbage cans, a stretch of downtown alleyway could soon be delighting locals and visitors alike if plans to beautify it get council approval. Councillors gushed over a staff proposal aiming to beautify a chunk of the lane off Bernard Avenue across from The Sails with...
First year a lesson in time management for Kelowna mayor
KELOWNA - It’s been just over a year now since Colin Basran grabbed the mayor’s chair in a convincing election win. While Basran had already completed a term as city councillor, he says it barely prepared him for the complexities of working as a full-time civic leader. “The sheer volume of invitations to events is...
Kelowna scraps policy of paying for political forums
KELOWNA - A long-standing policy of providing a free venue for an all-candidates forum during municipal elections has been dropped by city council. Deputy city clerk Karen Needham told council today, Nov. 23, at their regular weekly morning meeting, the policy stems from 1976 when council granted a request for a grant-in-aid by the Kelowna...
Makeover in the works for downtown Kelowna alley
KELOWNA - A stretch of downtown Kelowna alleyway could soon get a permanent, big city make-over. Real estate services manager John Saufferer, in a report to Kelowna city council, is recommending the city turn the stretch of alley near The Sails off Bernard Avenue, into what amounts to an urban park. “The Bernard Avenue laneway...
Student apartment proposed for Rutland raises concerns about parking, not parties
KELOWNA - Concerns from city councillors about a student housing complex proposed for the Rutland town centre are focused not on the party potential of the 72 college students who might live there, but on potential parking problems. The 4.5-storey 23-unit apartment building proposed for Dundas Road and Highway 33 would provide students housing in...
City announces new beachfront park for Kelowna
KELOWNA - The City of Kelowna has announced the purchase of a piece of lakeshore property that will allow for the creation of a new beachfront park. Mayor Colin Basran says the city has spent $12 million acquiring the property located on Lakeshore Drive near Lexington Road. "This will create a legacy for our community...
Future of Kelowna farm divides city council
KELOWNA - The owners of a former strawberry patch looking for support in removing their property from the Agricultural Land Reserve saw the request die on the vine Monday with council split down the middle. The trigger for the lengthy debate was application to the Agricultural Land Commission by Gabriel and Linda Coupal to pull...
Parking to get pricier in Kelowna
KELOWNA - Parking your car in Kelowna may get more expensive, and the penalties for those who violate the parking rules might go up as well. City parking manager Dave Duncan, in a report to council, says the recommendation for rate increases comes as a result of an rise in transit fares this September, which...
How Kelowna city hall plans to spend a billion dollars
CENTRAL OKANAGAN - A billion dollars and change — that’s how much the City of Kelowna is estimating it will spend over the next 15 years on infrastructure — roads, sewers, buildings, vehicles — but also such things as waste water treatment and domestic water supply. Infrastructure planning manager Joel Shaw broke down the draft...
Kelowna’s funky Queensway transit exchange wins award
KELOWNA - The wavy new roof gracing the Queensway transit exchange has caught the eye of the people who judge such things and been recognized with an award. The Council of Southern Interior Construction Association gave the transit exchange an award of excellence in the category of community institutional construction. The design of the wood...
Some risks in Kelowna’s civic block condominium plan
KELOWNA - Right now, visitors to 350 Doyle Ave. are usually of the reluctant kind, brought there in the back of a police cruiser or paddy wagon. But if the goals of the civic block plan are realized, 350 Doyle Ave. — current home of the Kelowna RCMP detachment — could find favour within a...