Sep 16, 2008 / 2:00 pm Vernon Mayor, Wayne Lippert, says sometimes you just have to do something that 'makes sense.'
With that, Lippert joined three other Okanagan mayors in putting their names on an historic resource sharing agreement.
The Intermunicipal Agreement, signed in Kelowna Council Chambers Tuesday, will allow Kelowna, Vernon, Westside and Penticton to work together to share or craft bylaws of regional significance.
Chief Administrative Officers of the four municipalities have been working together for several months to shape the agreement, which will allow the communities to work together on such issues as affordable housing, transportation, sustainable development and global warming.
Kelowna Mayor, Sharon Shepherd, says she already has her eye on borrowing a bylaw which has been successful in Vernon.
"We've been looking at a 'Good Neighbour' bylaw that the City of Vernon has," says Shepherd. "It's a drug house bylaw the community has been using."
Under the bylaw, no persons are permitted to enter the residence or reside there until it has been brought up to building code standards by the owner.
Shepherd says the agreement will also save taxpayers money.
She says it takes about 80 hours of staff time to put a bylaw together, and with potentially four communities sharing in the cost, taxpayers will get a better bang for their buck.
"Sometimes you just have to do something that makes sense," added Vernon Mayor, Wayne Lippert.
"It will help us move things along that will really affect the day to day lives of the people that live within the Okanagan Valley. It will reduce government, reduce structure, reduce costs and allow us to operate in a more timely fashion."
Lippert says a recently adopted valley-wide mobile licensing bylaw took only a few months to put together, when typically, it would have taken about two years.
The big winner in this agreement could be the District of Westside.
The municipality, not quite a year old, is still in the process of putting a number of bylaws into place.
"I think the citizens of the District of Westside will benefit the most initially because of the recent incorporation. Although we do inherit some of the bylaws from the Regional District, some of those are not of an urban standard," says Westside Mayor, Rosalind Neis.
"I do hope in time the Westside can also be a big contributor, so we're not just the recipient of the benefit, but as time goes on we can bring forward things to help the other municipalities as well."
Penticton Mayor, Jake Kimberly, says taxpayers this is not another level of government.
"The initiative here was to reduce government because the proposal by the three regional districts was to create another governance to look after the issues that we want to address collectively, and that was something the four mayors opposed," says Kimberly.
He says each of the four municipalities have the staff in place to deal with what has been initiated through the agreement.
Kimberly says it's a matter of sharing that information with each other.
The agreement, the first of its kind in B.C., is already garnering national attention.
Neis says her office has received a request by a councillor from Newfoundland asking to view this document.
"It is wonderful to be involved in something so simple yet so powerful, and that it could change the way local governments work with neighbouring municipalities. Cooperation is a wonderful concept, often easier said than done, but when there is a willingness to work together we can always find a way.
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"Vernon Mayor, Wayne Lippert, says sometimes you just have to do something that 'makes sense.'"
Well said Mayor Lippert. Too bad so many things that had been done made little or no sense.
In Vernon, think about the Alternate Approval Process and the Referendum.
Mayor Neis became the Mayor of Westside insisting that she wanted to join Kelowna after the people of Westside voted for a separate community.
Mayor Kimberley just recently been accused of misleading the taxpayers of Penticton about the cost of South Okanagan Event Centre costs. Apparently the City of Penticton is $10 million poorer than they thought they were.
I can see the big savings these crafty mayors will create when they "craft bylaws of regional significance". I still remember the savings we got from the creation of the immensely successful Greater Vernon Services Commission. We tucked away tons of money in savings on that adventure. Of course that was not another level of government either!
We might also remember the great exercise of the Valley Wide Regional Governance Study that saved us millions.
However, there is still a bit of a problem here. November 15 is looming on the horizon. Mayor Neis already announced that she is not seeking reelection. Mayors Kimberley and Lippert will have to explain their previous deeds to the taxpayers and will have to see if they'll be able to follow up on their proposed crafting of regional bylaws.
With that, Lippert joined three other Okanagan mayors in putting their names on an historic resource sharing agreement.
The Intermunicipal Agreement, signed in Kelowna Council Chambers Tuesday, will allow Kelowna, Vernon, Westside and Penticton to work together to share or craft bylaws of regional significance.
Chief Administrative Officers of the four municipalities have been working together for several months to shape the agreement, which will allow the communities to work together on such issues as affordable housing, transportation, sustainable development and global warming.
Kelowna Mayor, Sharon Shepherd, says she already has her eye on borrowing a bylaw which has been successful in Vernon.
"We've been looking at a 'Good Neighbour' bylaw that the City of Vernon has," says Shepherd. "It's a drug house bylaw the community has been using."
Under the bylaw, no persons are permitted to enter the residence or reside there until it has been brought up to building code standards by the owner.
Shepherd says the agreement will also save taxpayers money.
She says it takes about 80 hours of staff time to put a bylaw together, and with potentially four communities sharing in the cost, taxpayers will get a better bang for their buck.
"Sometimes you just have to do something that makes sense," added Vernon Mayor, Wayne Lippert.
"It will help us move things along that will really affect the day to day lives of the people that live within the Okanagan Valley. It will reduce government, reduce structure, reduce costs and allow us to operate in a more timely fashion."
Lippert says a recently adopted valley-wide mobile licensing bylaw took only a few months to put together, when typically, it would have taken about two years.
The big winner in this agreement could be the District of Westside.
The municipality, not quite a year old, is still in the process of putting a number of bylaws into place.
"I think the citizens of the District of Westside will benefit the most initially because of the recent incorporation. Although we do inherit some of the bylaws from the Regional District, some of those are not of an urban standard," says Westside Mayor, Rosalind Neis.
"I do hope in time the Westside can also be a big contributor, so we're not just the recipient of the benefit, but as time goes on we can bring forward things to help the other municipalities as well."
Penticton Mayor, Jake Kimberly, says taxpayers this is not another level of government.
"The initiative here was to reduce government because the proposal by the three regional districts was to create another governance to look after the issues that we want to address collectively, and that was something the four mayors opposed," says Kimberly.
He says each of the four municipalities have the staff in place to deal with what has been initiated through the agreement.
Kimberly says it's a matter of sharing that information with each other.
The agreement, the first of its kind in B.C., is already garnering national attention.
Neis says her office has received a request by a councillor from Newfoundland asking to view this document.
"It is wonderful to be involved in something so simple yet so powerful, and that it could change the way local governments work with neighbouring municipalities. Cooperation is a wonderful concept, often easier said than done, but when there is a willingness to work together we can always find a way.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Vernon Mayor, Wayne Lippert, says sometimes you just have to do something that 'makes sense.'"
Well said Mayor Lippert. Too bad so many things that had been done made little or no sense.
In Vernon, think about the Alternate Approval Process and the Referendum.
Mayor Neis became the Mayor of Westside insisting that she wanted to join Kelowna after the people of Westside voted for a separate community.
Mayor Kimberley just recently been accused of misleading the taxpayers of Penticton about the cost of South Okanagan Event Centre costs. Apparently the City of Penticton is $10 million poorer than they thought they were.
I can see the big savings these crafty mayors will create when they "craft bylaws of regional significance". I still remember the savings we got from the creation of the immensely successful Greater Vernon Services Commission. We tucked away tons of money in savings on that adventure. Of course that was not another level of government either!
We might also remember the great exercise of the Valley Wide Regional Governance Study that saved us millions.
However, there is still a bit of a problem here. November 15 is looming on the horizon. Mayor Neis already announced that she is not seeking reelection. Mayors Kimberley and Lippert will have to explain their previous deeds to the taxpayers and will have to see if they'll be able to follow up on their proposed crafting of regional bylaws.
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