Selected articles -- Morning Star, April 9, 2010.

*************************************************************

Selected articles -- Morning Star, April 7, 2010.

*****************************************************

Agricultural water price increase -- 2.5%.

Regional District Directors voted on the water rate bylaws this evening and decided to reduce the proposed 9% rate increase to a more reasonable 2.5%. Domestic rates were set at $50.17 per quarter with up to 20 cubic meters of consumption included. Consumption rate above 20 cu. m. will be $0.92 per cu. m. During July, August and September a surcharge of $0.18 per cu. m. will be imposed over the 20 cu. m. base rate.

*************************************************************

VITAL PARTS OF ANTI-HST MESSAGE MISSED -- Osoyoos Times

Editor:

It would appear that your reporter Laurena Weninger missed a few important segments of Mr. Vander Zalm’s town hall meeting.

Probably the most important thing that Mr. Vander Zalm said is that Saskatchewan had the HST and the electorate of that province, once it was in place, decided that it was a tax that they did not want.

So they voted their provincial government out and the new provincial government got rid of the HST.

Then there was the fact that the HST is a tax whereby the Provincial government will have given its right under the Canadian Constitution to ‘make laws in relation to the raising of money by any mode or system of taxation.’

The HST is a Federal Tax. And the Federal government can then raise or lower, or change the rules, as they see fit. Near the end of the meeting an interesting question was posed: is there anything preventing the Provincial government from enacting a ‘new’ PST after we have all ‘accepted’ the HST? The response was that there is nothing that would prevent the Provincial government from doing that.

She also missed the part where they explained the legal challenge.

Before it ever got to a trial, the organizers will try to get a Court injunction, based on the fact that the tax goes against the Canadian Constitution and possibly with evidence of the fact that the residents of B.C. are angry with the government regarding this tax which would be shown by them signing the petition in all 85 ridings giving Mr. Vander Zalm’s HST movement the required 10 per cent needed to demand his legislation go before the B. C. legislature.

That injunction could stop the tax dead in its tracks.

Those parts of Mr. Vander Zalm’s anti-HST message were important. They let people know that instead of just ’tilting at windmills.’ Mr. Vander Zalm may actually be showing us a way to send our elected representatives who go off to Victoria and then forget about those who voted for them that that can have repercussions.

Teresa Calwell,
Osoyoos

OSOYOOS TIMES-April 7, 2010

***************************************************************************

NORD and GVAC meetings - April 7 and 8.

REGIONAL DISTRICT OF NORTH OKANAGAN
BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
4:00 pm

Agenda

***********************************************************
GVAC -- April 8, 2010



***********************************************************

Okanagan Basin Waterboard Meeting

Another rare opportunity for North Okanagan residents to observe the Okanagan Basin Water Board meeting here in the NORD Boardroom. Attached is the meeting agenda.

******************************************

Selected articles -- Morning Star, April 4, 2010.

*******************************************************

Does political patronage exist?

Earlier, we reported on Kevin Falcon record of giving key board appointments his friend and ally Chris Gardner. First, it was the B.C. Ferry Authority and now it's the Fraser Health Authority. So what makes Mr. Gardner so indispensable? Isn't this little more than political patronage? Those are the questions we had for the minister as he made his way into this today's government caucus meeting.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the same minister who recently proposed that BC should get into the "medical tourism" business since we do not utilize our operating rooms to capacity (one might wonder why that is).

**************************************************************************

Readers write - Okanagan Water (with permission of the writer).

Letter to: The Editor, Kelowna Capital News

Dear Sir,

Okanagan Water

Writing about water is not always newsworthy, and for some of us it can be just plain boring. That is, unless there comes a perception that too much or too little water is available. Water is vital for our existence, and becomes most valued when we don’t get enough. Our interests can swing from total indifference to acute concern in no time at all. Such is the nature of our natural bond with water.

In this arid Okanagan Valley with our rapidly increasing population, water is a particularly precious and a vulnerable resource. High summer temperatures cause high water evaporation losses, and we to have to do a lot of irrigating. We have ever-greater demands on water from additional development growth. Also, it is unfortunate that management of water in the Okanagan Basin remains the subject of many disparate (and often conflicting) demands. Too often this has been made more difficult by fragmentation of interests and a lack of clear lines of proper responsibility at many levels. Water supplies in our arid Okanagan remain particularly sensitive to unresolved issues about water governance and management.

On March 28, 2010 I read the articles in this paper written by Judie Steeves, about Phase 2 of the Okanagan Water Supply And Demand Project. That project is an important link in the long chain of events about "water" in the Okanagan. This is a positive move for Okanagan water, but more is needed to effectively deal with many other concerns. It is hoped that the eventual provision of Phase 3 of that Water Supply And Demand Project may go some further way on this. To find out more, go to the web-site at

http://www.obwb.ca/fileadmin/docs/100326_key_findings.pdf

At this time, does it really grab your attention that water in Okanagan Lake is at a low level, and there are concerns about sufficient water supply being available to meet our demands over this summer? Will lawn turf suppliers still be doing a brisk business in our valley after this summer? Should Westbank Irrigation District still be poised to allocate 150 ML per year of our municipal drinking water to Crystal Mountain Resort, so that a developer may proceed with a questionable golf course and associated proposals? Can our valley afford all that big development still to go ahead in the dry hills near Pincushion Mountain above Peachland? Why are there still some serviced Okanagan communities without any proper water metering? Etc. Etc.

I add five general thoughts:

1. Radical legislative change is required by the province to properly deal with deficiencies that exist in managing and governing water, within this province generally, and in the Okanagan Basin in particular.
2. Local leaders continue to have a difficult time acknowledging that limitations of water availability will create an eventual development ceiling for the Okanagan.
3. In the Okanagan there has got to be a complete integration of water servicing capacity with land-use planning.
4. The prospects of greater average temperatures resulting from climate change are expected to increase local high water evaporation losses even further.
5. The Okanagan’s main lakes (and Okanagan Lake in particular) act as both a primary water source and also as a drainage sink for most of the population in this valley. The combined longer-term effect will be conducive to a gradual degradation of water quality in the main lakes of our valley.

We all have to be a much more concerned about Okanagan water. We are all being affected.

John Huby

3573 Glen Eagles Drive,

West Kelowna, BC V4T 2L5

Telephone 250 - 768 - 0421

****************************************************************

Selected articles -- Morning Star, April 2, 2010.

**********************************************************

Readers write - In support.

I would like to post the following to your blog ( if you're ok with it) :

Councillor Kiss should be commended for taking the time an energy to be well-informed, and share his information with others. Over the years he has spoken out and defended the rights and interests of Coldstream citizens as well as those of Greater Vernon. He is one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to water.

He was put in a difficult situation at the March NORD (RDNO) meeting where he had to vote on the entire NORD Budget, and was the only director to speak out about the increase in Agricultural Water Rates. Yet in the end, due to time constraints, he felt he should vote in favor of the overall budget. Regrettably, due to the way services are structured at the Regional District, the discussion of water rates (one of the most important topics to the citizens of Greater Vernon) was glossed over at a GVAC (Greater Vernon Advisory Committee) in February. The real problem here is in the governance structure of Greater Vernon Water, not in directors avoiding the blame. The blame goes to all of us for not dealing with the problems at Greater Vernon Water.

Hopefully we can stop the legal wrangling and get down to some real solutions at the public meeting April 7th, 2010 at 8:30 am in the NORD Board room. Blaming director Kiss for increased Agricultural Water Rates, or blaming him for not being the one lone NO vote to the entire NORD Budget over Agricultural Water Rates is not really fair. Many a time he has been the lone NO vote, and then criticized by the media for creating regional tensions or not going with the flow.

I guess the moral of the story is; you can't please everyone. Kind of makes you think of one of Aesop's Fables:

The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey
An Aesop's Fable

A man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: "You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?"

So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: "See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides."

So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: "Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along."

Well, the Man didn't know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said:
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey of yours and your hulking son?"

The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey's feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.

"That will teach you," said an old man who had followed them:

Please all, and you will please none!

Maria Besso

****************************************************************************

Selected articles -- Morning Star, March 31, 2010.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the above article Mr Rolke is taking pot shots at Coldstream Council, Regional Directors B&C and reserved his best shots for me. I will not speak for others but I believe my voters need to know the true facts as Mr Rolke seems to have lost his bearings. So here it comes:

"Whatever you say, Mr Rolke! If you say it, it must be true!

While I do not owe Mr Rolke any explanation regarding my actions I will make a couple of observations so that Coldstream taxpayers will be properly informed.

1. The initial proposal for the hefty water rate increases was presented at the February meeting of GVAC. It was a total surprise to the Committee as the item was not listed on the Agenda (in fact I believe Mr Rolke missed that debate). I argued against the hefty rate increases proposed by staff. I pointed out the promises made by politicians and staff that would only require slight increases in rates over the next 20 years. Response from staff was that due to previous(?) mismanagement of the program we were dangerously short of funds and if we were to meet our financial obligations we needed those increases. Obviously, we had to provide the required funds for now and search for improved fiscal models for the future. I had no idea that the 9% increase was covering the agriculture water as well. Unfortunately, the agriculture representatives were not present to raise the issue due to the missing agenda item.

2. At the March meeting of GVAC Mr Osborn was present and raised the issue. Committee members agreed to have staff review the possible revision of the agricultural water rate but it was not ready for the March 17 NORD meeting. It is true that the budget was passed without the review but that is the Budget Bylaw. According to my understanding staff must present the Rates Bylaw at a future meeting for approval by the Board and that Bylaw might have adjustments for agricultural rates.

The sentence that really surprised me in Mr Rolke’s musings was: “It’s always easier to pin the blame on someone else than taking the time to look in your own backyard.” How true!

In 2004 I was actively campaigning against the referendum for the borrowing of $35 million, noting the many inaccuracies in the material presented to the taxpayers. Prior to the famous referendum I sent out 5,000 fliers to Coldstream residents through the Morning Star, pointing out the problems and misrepresentations and urging residents to reject the referendum.

As I delivered the fliers to the Morning Star office I came across Mr Rolke and pointed out these problems to him and begged him to investigate. I begged him to read the Executive summary of the Master Water Plan of 2002, specifically Point 5 (Click on The original Master Water Plan in green and proceed to page iv) .

He refused, stating that he was worried that if the referendum did not pass his and everyone else’s water rates would go sky high the following couple of years. Had he read the Plan he could have noted the inconsistencies and informed his readers of the real facts. The plan could have been defeated and a new improved plan developed.

I have been a consistent critic of the mismanagement of the MWP and the misuse of taxpayers funds. I keep informing taxpayers so they can see what is happening to their money and what direction Coldstream is taking. I can only hope that Mr Rolke has the same goals in mind.

A final point: had I voted against the budget I am sure Mr Rolke would have castigated me for grandstanding for having voted against the budget while all other Directors supported it. When it comes to Mr Rolke, I can never do the right thing and I am OK with that!

*******************************************************

HST announcement!

Responding to the widespread opposition from taxpayers of the Province of British Columbia, Premier Campbell announced this morning that the proposed Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) will not be implemented by his Government.

For further information please visit HST.

**************************************************************

MLA Foster Says People Will Be Pleased With HST - Pete McIntyre

The MLA for Vernon Monashee has made up his mind how he'll be voting on the HST.

The legislation for the new 12 percent blended tax was tabled in Victoria today and Liberal Eric Foster says he's 100 percent in support.

The rookie MLA from Lumby calls it the single biggest thing the government can do to boost BC economy.

"We've been told that by business, by the economists, small business, large business. People are behind this and it's a good thing to do. It will work out well, and at the end of the day, people are going to be pleased with it."

N-D-P leader Carole James has vowed to fight the tax every step of the way, hinting her party may try to filibuster the bill.

Former premier Bill Vander Zalm is also heading a group collecting names on a petition to try and block it.

James blasted the government today in Victoria for dropping a provincial tax tax exemption on energy-saving appliances and subjecting those goods to the higher H-S-T.

Finance Minister Colin Hansen says low income people will get rebates on the H-S-T, and the legislation also includes a seven per cent rebate on motor fuels, books, children's clothing and footwear, car seats and diapers.

The HST will blend the five per cent GST with the seven per cent provincial levy, creating a single 12-per-cent tax that will apply to a much wider array of goods and services.

The new tax would take effect July 1.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saying no to HST? - by Castanet Staff
Mar 29, 2010 / 5:28 pm

The Lakeside Resort's ballroom in Penticton was packed Sunday for the HST Rally.

The rally was lead by former B.C. Premier Bill Vander Zalm.

He spoke for 35 minutes, saying all political persuasions are working together to keep the HST out of B.C.

“Whether your NDP, Liberal or Conservative, Green Party, it doesn't matter. We are coming together because we are beginning to recognize and we must act upon it, that democracy is gone and we don't have democracy,” says Vander Zalm.

He says the HST will cost British Columbians $500 each annually.

Provincial conservative leader Chris Delaney says the HST is not a done deal.

“For anyone out there who's telling you 'this is a done deal, the HST is coming in on July 1, you guys are wasting your time, don't bother,' they don't understand what it is we're doing. We are going to repeal the tax.

The HST Rally relocated to Osoyoos for Sunday afternoon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Castanet HST Poll

Castanet:

Poll Results

Question: Do you plan on signing the anti-HST petition?

Yes

2227 - 87%

No

334 = 13%

Total Votes: 2561

Posted by Don Quixote at 3/30/2010 2 comments

**********************************************************************

Need a new crystal ball! - Huffington Post.

*******************************************************

Selected articles -- Morning Star, March 28, 2010.

*************************************************************

Selected articles -- Morning Star, March 26, 2010.

****************************************

Proposed infrastructure financing alternative for Greater Vernon Water.

The following submission was made to Coldstream Council and endorsed in principal by Council at the March 22nd regular meeting:

Proposed infrastructure financing alternative for Greater Vernon Water.

The agricultural community is upset with the 9% rate increase of the agricultural water. I commiserate with their plight but I am perplexed why the domestic customers are not protesting the 10.6% to 25% increase in their rates. After all, most customers in Coldstream are still receiving the same quality water they had 25 years ago yet their water price is now over three fold of what it was 10 years ago. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Upcoming expenses associated with further improvements will be out of this world. Why?

It appears that health officials are adamant that future water supplies from surface water sources will have to be filtered and treated by either ozonation or ultraviolet irradiation. This will require much more money.

We cannot continue treating agriculture water to those standards as costs would be prohibitive. The new plant will have to be down sized to serve only the domestic customers due to huge costs associated with the new treatment requirements. Domestic water will have to be separated from agriculture water as was envisioned by the original MWP but never implemented. Financing these projects will be costly.

It is obvious that the present financing model is not working. We urge people to save water and at the same time must sell enough water to meet our financial objectives. Those two objectives clash.

A better alternative would be to guarantee the fixed infrastructure financing costs through taxes and cover the remaining water costs with water rates. In order to encourage water conservation we could develop a graduated block system. The minimum allowance (80 cubic meters at present) could be provided at a low rate and above that volume we should start significant rate increases in steps. Presto: we would guarantee the finance costs through taxation (currently at $2.6 million or about 0.3 mill rate) and water saving would have less influence on our budgetary objectives.

This concept is identical to the way we finance the Multiplex (mill rate 0.3718) and the Theatre (mill rate 0.2039). It is obvious that we could not finance either of them through user fees as we can’t even operate those facilities on user fees, we must subsidize them through taxes. Borrowing for these facilities was approved by the electorate (just as the utility borrowing was) and we are financing them through general taxation. There were no complaints about this method of financing.

Prior to the referendum politicians insisted that the reason for the borrowing was so that current customers would share costs with future users. As it stands, large sums were set aside and, indeed used, for cash funding of infrastructure. This goes against the stated principle of the borrowing referendum. Thus, continued borrowing and financing over time is the most justifiable method of financing present and future infrastructure costs.

I believe that this would be the most rational solution to our present dilemma regarding financing the infrastructure needed for the completion of the Master Water Plan.

Respectfully submitted:

Gyula Kiss
Councillor

*********************************************************************

Schedule of Vander Zalm’s upcoming Fight HST tour:

Schedule of Vander Zalm’s upcoming Fight HST tour:

Delta – FreshA on the heels of a resoundingly successful trip to Northern BC, former BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm, leader of the Fight HST petition to repeal the HST, is bringing his Town Hall Tour to the Okanagan and the Kootenays.

Following is a schedule of Vander Zalm’s upcoming Fight HST tour:

Kamloops – Sat. Mar. 27 – 11:30 am – Kamloops United Church – Chad Moats

Vernon – Sat. Mar. 27 – 3:30pm – Schubert Centre – Contact: Bev Harder

Kelowna – Sat. Mar. 27 – 7:30pm – Delta Grand Hotel – Contact: Dan Thorburn (250) 864-1385

Penticton – Sun. Mar. 28 – 11:30am – Lakeside Resort – Contact: Ron Barillaro (250) 809-1207

*************************************************************************************

Splitting Water to Store Solar Energy Energy of the future.

Solar Energy Storage MIT professor Daniel Nocera earlier worked on a catalysts that can divide water molecules which can be utilized to store energy. Daniel Nocera has established a company named as Sun Catalytix to give his dreams a concrete shape. His company is backed by venture capital firm Polaris Ventures. Nocera is known as a “huge centralized energy person.” When he thought about the problems faced by developed and developing world then formed the view that the solution to energy problem lies in cheap energy generation. Sun Catalytix is working on an advanced system that will use low-cost solar panels to produce hydrogen. This hydrogen will then be stored and used to produce electricity in a fuel cell.

The star of Sun Catalytix’s technology is a cobalt phosphate catalyst. Nocera pointed out that cobalt phosphate is more efficient at splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen than other catalysts. Its USP is this catalyst will work under ambient temperatures and with a wide range of water quality. His laboratory has got water samples from the Charles River in Boston and it worked well. Many commercial electrolyzers are available in the market that split water to make hydrogen. But their main drawbacks are they are costly and they need lots of energy to run. Nocera’s Sun Catalytix is testing an electroylzer, built around the catalyst that can be produced using cheap PVC plastic. The crux of the matter is to exploit solar panels to power the electrolyzer to produce hydrogen. This hydrogen would be stored in tanks. Whenever the need arises, the stored hydrogen would be put through a fuel cell.

According to Nocera three liters of water a day could power a home, or a fuel cell car in the “legacy world,” or developed countries. These countries hold a record of high consumption of electricity. But if we consider the case of developing countries where people don’t have much energy to use three liters would make a world of a difference. Three liters would fulfill the power needs of many people. He is talking about the future scenario of the world, “The solution, assuming the legacy world does the right thing (and uses energy efficiently), to this problem for the future is attacking the non-legacy world and they don’t have any money. That’s the challenge.”

Nocera declares his enthusiasm to the world, “This technology is moving really fast. We’re already at the engineering prototype design. I’m hiring no scientists–I’m just having a massive engineering effort right now. Within two years, we want to have a totally working kilowatt system.” Nocera attended the EmTech conference on emerging technologies last week, and said that engineers are now working on a model design for the system. His company has also roped in Art Goldstein as Chairman who was the retired CEO of water desalination company Ionics.

Researchers are currently trying to minimize the size of the large-scale systems as happened during the evolution of computers. But shrinking of size will not shrink the costs of production. Nocera didn’t see much evolution as far as batteries are concerned but he is quite optimistic regarding fuel cells. “What you need in my opinion is to start with a blank piece of paper and start inventing. Don’t take what’s there and try to reengineer it.”

For the full commercialization of this product common consumer has to wait for eight or ten years. They have to tie many loose ends such as hydrogen storage, cheaper solar panels, and cheaper fuel cells.

*********************************************************************

Selected articles -- Morning Star, March 24, 2010.

*********************************************

GVPRC Service Review Committee meeting.

Anyone interested is welcome to attend above meeting tomorrow at 8:30 AM in the NORD Board Room.

Information on previous meeting can be accessed at Service Definition.

****************************************************

UBC Professor Carl Wieman nominated for White House post.

US President Barack Obama has nominated UBC Prof. Carl Wieman for the position of Associate Director of Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. (White House announcement).

Wieman, a 2001Nobel Laureate joined UBC’s Faculty of Science in 2007 as professor of Physics and Director of the $12 million Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI) to transform the teaching of science at UBC and elsewhere. He will take an unpaid leave of absence from the university upon confirmation of his appointment by the US Senate.

Wieman came to UBC from the University of Colorado, where he won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics and where he maintains a part-time appointment to head up an education project similar to the CWSEI.

“Carl has a passion for and profound understanding of how science education is essential for an informed and engaged society to deal with the most challenging questions of our time,” said UBC President Prof. Stephen Toope. “In just three years, his teaching and research and methods have touched more than 18,000 UBC students. His work here has attracted attention from around the world, so we are not surprised that President Obama would seek him out for this position.”

Sarah Gilbert, CWSEI Associate Director, will become Acting Director upon Senate confirmation of Wieman’s appointment.

“We are tremendously proud of how the CWSEI is improving the educational experiences of UBC students, and are firmly committed to it, so we are delighted that Sarah Gilbert will step in to advance the initiative in Carl’s absence,” said David Farrar, Provost and Vice President Academic. “We look forward to welcoming Carl back at the completion of his service in Washington.”

*******************************************************************

Coldstream Wants Water Mediation Shelved -- by Glen Morrison

Coldstream is asking for a bit of second thought in the ongoing issue of Greater Vernon Water devolution.

Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick says his council is making a request now that Vernon has decided to appeal a ruling by an arbitrator.

"We are also going into mediation, and we're just saying maybe the mediation should go on hold until the appeal of the arbitration is finished."

Garlick says it doesn't make much sense to be negotiating and having court action at the same time.

"The (legal action) could negate everything you're working towards. It doesn't make much sense. Either chose one direction or the other."

Garlick says they're a long way from a resolution on the issue however it might be accomplished.

***********************************************************

Photo gallery - An apolitical convention (with spousal activities?)! Courtesy: Debbie Gibson.

**********************************************

Reminder - Council meeting tonight.

Just a reminder: tonight's Council meeting is at the Lavington Fire Hall starting at 6 PM.

**************************************************

The best cat video ever!

*******************************************************************