Morning Star Editorial: It’s time to start talking again

Although the water distribution battle in Greater Vernon is far from over, at least there appears to be the willingness to talk about it. And that’s good news in the wake of the City of Vernon’s proposal to keep the water distribution function in one piece.The city’s plan would see all voting on water and parks and recreation shift to the North Okanagan Regional District board instead of the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee. This is the latest move in an ongoing saga that was launched when the city gave notice of withdrawing from the water distribution function back in 2006. The city claims its water users are subsidizing rural customers while the District of Coldstream and the electoral areas claim many of their citizens use water for agricultural purposes which makes it an unfair comparison.

It appeared the two sides were at a stalemate until this latest move by the city which should at least take it out of the hands of the lawyers and back into the hands of the politicians where it belongs. We urge members of NORD, Vernon and Coldstream councils to at least use this as a starting point for discussions towards a negotiated solution that makes sense and is accountable to all involved, namely the taxpayers of Greater Vernon who elected these people to do just that.There is a history to this dispute that predates many, if not most, of the politicians currently serving in the area. However it’s definitely a problem created by politicians that needs to be solved by the same. Rather than exasperating the situation by going the legal route, it’s time to get the deal done. (From the Vernon Blog).

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