It was great to witness ‘democracy in action’ at the Sept. 12 open house on Centennial Field.
This meeting should have happened long ago. Area C residents made it clear: they do not approve of the alternative approval process (AAP) for substantive business decisions, and they were not happy about buying a pig in a poke!
Obviously, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District had not done its due diligence prior to negotiating their offer to purchase. Development of flood plain land is subject to stringent provincial codes, including: preloading land before dumping fill, contaminant testing and establishing a high-water mark to determine the required setbacks for all development. Wait till Fisheries gets involved!
Nor is the tax figure of $48 per household accurate – only if your house is worth $370,000 or lower. That figure assumes a 13 per cent tax maximum for land acquisition and development when, in fact, future boards in theory could raise this percentage to .40 per $1,000 of net taxable land value.
Read more: Centennial Field purchase under fire at CSRD open house
Read more: Letter: Reader demands details on South Shuswap’s Centennial Field purchase
Read more: Column: Questions and answers about Centennial Field
CSRD chose the AAP process, and are now saying, “Trust us to keep your taxes down.”
Director Paul Demenok states he too “is a taxpayer on a limited income.” Well, many of us taxpayers have no employment income. Increased taxes matter when some folks have difficulty even meeting current utility demands.
I moved here to get away from cities and steep taxes. If $700,000 can buy 12.7 acres (and it can), I can assure you that people already driving in from Eagle Bay, White Lake, Sunny Brae, Tappen or Sorrento don’t prefer to pay another $2,000,000 for semi waterfront. In this age of global financial uncertainty, isn’t it time to live within our budget, to exhibit financial leadership and not saddle our children with huge debt loads?
“Yes” to more parks, but at a reasonable cost. Common sense should be our consultant. Please vote before October 2nd.
Ken Smith
@SalmonArm
newsroom@saobserver.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter