Coldstream Residents! Attention! (Others may attend as well)!

Many thanks for the participants of the May 15 Coldstream Weed Pull Event!

It was so much fun it’s worth repeating!

We need volunteers again to do the Task.

Where to meet:

Coldstream Municipal Building.

When:

June 5, 2010 at 9 till about noon.

Apparel:

Casual, appropriate for the weather. Suggest boots, gloves and hats.

What to bring:

Tools (shovel and tarp), drinking water and a “good attitude”.

For information call Sharon at two-five-zero 542-7335.

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Letter to the Editor -- Morning Star News with comments from the Eagle.

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GVAC Special meeting and NORD Board meeting Agendas -- June 2, 2010.

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Selected Articles - Morning Star, May 30, 2010.

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Bin Laden Says He’s ‘Professionally Envious’ of BP

‘I’ve Got to Step Up My Game,’ Says Madman

THE BOROWITZ REPORT - In a new video that is light on his usual threats but heavy on admiration, Osama bin Laden admits that he is “professionally envious” of oil giant BP’s massive oil spill, saying that it puts his efforts to create destruction and chaos to shame.

“There are times in an evildoer’s life when one has to stand back and admire a job well done,” Mr. bin Laden says in the video. “BP, you blow me away.”

The Al-Qaeda mastermind adds that his first thought upon seeing BP’s spill was, “Man, I’ve got to step up my game.”

Mr. bin Laden claims in the video that he rarely feels envious towards other evildoers, but says he likes “to use that energy to push myself to be the best terrorist I can be.”

As for the envy he felt after seeing BP’s handiwork, the madman says, “I haven’t felt this way since the whole Toyota thing.” More Borowitz here.

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Selected Articles Morning Star News -- 2010,May 28.

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HST fighters claim victory across B.C. -- Morning Star News

Updated: May 28, 2010 2:22 PM

They're over the top.

Fight HST organizers say they now have the 10 per cent of signatures in all 85 B.C. ridings needed for their citizens' initiative against the harmonized sales tax to succeed – with more than a month to spare.

"This is unprecedented," campaign leader and former premier Bill Vander Zalm said Friday. "It's never been done before. And it sends a clear message to government."

Organizers aim to force the B.C. Liberals to dismantle the 12 per cent tax, which on July 1 replaces the provincial sales tax and federal GST.

Vander Zalm said the petition now has the signatures of between 550,000 and 600,000 B.C. voters.

The 90-day campaign still has until July 5 before the completed petition needs to be submitted for verification by Elections BC.

If indeed it is signed by the minimum 10 per cent of registered voters in each riding, it will have made history – no previous initiative campaign has cleared the threshold.

Many signatures are expected to be disqualified for various reasons, so campaigners have set a higher target of signing up 15 per cent of voters in each riding – a big buffer to ensure success.

"We'll continue on aggressively to collect as much as we can," Vander Zalm said.

"The bigger the number, the clearer the message."

At the last official count on May 24, there were still numerous Lower Mainland ridings – mainly in Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, the Tri-Cities and the North Shore – where the signature count was below 15 per cent.

Vander Zalm said canvassers will concentrate on those areas.

With victory now expected on the signature front, attention has shifted to the government's response.

"They could walk into the House tomorrow and cancel the whole thing," said Vander Zalm, adding he doesn't expect that will happen.

Instead, he anticipates the government will stall as long as possible, sending his proposed legislation to kill the HST to a legislative committee first for review.

The province would attempt to use that venue to explain why backtracking on the merged tax is not practicable or desirable.

It could then allow the bill to be introduced in the Legislature but use the Liberal majority to defeat it.

Vander Zalm said that would spark recall campaigns against government MLAs that could get underway as early as November.

The other option for the Liberals is to send the issue to a non-binding provincial referendum, which would not take place until September of 2011.

Vander Zalm said that would be a blatant delay tactic that would also send recall forces into action.

"Sending it to a referendum means the taxpayers are going to cough up big bucks to pay for it," he said. "If they don't deal with it in the Legislature, we're going to go to recall."

Vander Zalm denied he's interested in being part of any new political party that forms in response to voter anger over the imposition of the HST.

"Obviously there will be a third party come out of this, there's no doubt about that," he said. "But I don't want to get involved in that."

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Water Restriction Debate Heats Up

Written by Peter McIntyre Wednesday, 26 May 2010 09:28

A Vernon councillor says no decision has been made on whether water restrictions will be the same for both the Kalamalka Lake and Duteau Creek sources.

Councillor Jack GilroyJack Gilroy is upset Coldstream councillor Gyula Kiss is suggesting in a newspaper article the regional board has already decided that they will.

"Financially it's a huge impact on the citizens of Vernon. I know it impacts the farmers and Coldstream people but the citizens of Vernon pay 75% of that water cost so maybe we should start taking care of them. I can see why councillors at the city get a little upset with the way water is being run at NORD."

Gilroy says water rates went up 9% this year and he says any funding shortfall from water use this year will have to be made up by taxpayers.

"I don't want to tell my taxpayers that we have to put them up another ten percent next year to make up $1.5 million" (projected shortfall under stage 3 restrictions).

Gilroy says a study showed the impact on businesses would be $10 million if stage rules were in effect for the whole summer which he says would also include Okanagan Spring Brewery.

Both Gilroy and Mayor Wayne Lippert would like to see separate restrictions, which Lippert says will likely be one of the issues discussed by a drought response team when it's formed.

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We don't need to debate when we have the facts. The Draft Bylaw No. 2248 of which the first two pages are presented below was unanimously approved by the NORD Board on May 19 at the regular Board meeting. Director Gilroy and Director Lippert were among the Board members approving the document. There were changes to the Draft but the first two pages were not modified.

Note Page 2: Application: "This Bylaw applies to the Greater Vernon Water Service Area". Case closed (for now)!

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Selected Articles, Morning Star, May 26, 2010.

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Calculate your 2010 Coldstream property taxes!

You can calculate your 2010 Coldstream property taxes at the Coldstream Residential Tax Calculator. This is not official, it is my attempt to predict anyone's residential taxes in Coldstream. Your comments are appreciated.

How to use calculator: Using your 2010 property assessment substitute your assessed land and property values to in the cells marked blue and you will see your taxes in red at the bottom of the page. You are able to see the various taxes as well.

You may use the Vernon tax estimator as well and compare taxes in both communities.

Enjoy!

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Photo Gallery -- Giant hawk moth on azaleas. Courtesy: Debbie Gibson.

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Selected articles -- Morning Star, May 23, 2010.

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Readers write -- Learn the facts -- Kalamalka Lake.

While trying to find the surface area of Kal lake, I came across this interesting pdf. You may already be privy to this but most of us ordinary citizens aren't

Why Not ??????????????

The reader is right: we should all learn the facts about Kalamalka Lake, one of our treasures and the provider of drinking water for many of us. So click on Kal Lake and enjoy!

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Gin the Dancing Dog

Selected articles -- Morning Star, May 21, 2010.

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Vernon water restrictions change -- Sun FM

Thu, 2010-05-20 09:35.

Local News

The stage three water restrictions for Greater Vernon residents remain in place, but there are some changes.

Mayor Wayne Lippert says the changes recognize that the Kal Lake source, which serves 75 per cent of the users is okay.

Lippert says pools can be filled from 6 a.m. till 5 p.m. because that is the lowest usage time. And those who've just laid turf will be able to get a permit to water for two weeks at a time.

And he says they're looking for three members from the public for the drought response team to help make revisions to the bylaws for next year.

Betty Selin - Vernon

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While it is true that pools can be filled and turf can be watered as reported, those changes have nothing to do with Kal Lake. Bylaw 2248 "applies to the Greater Vernon Service Area" (page 2 of the Bylaw). If Mayor Lippert did imply that the restrictions are changed due to Kal Lake being OK he did not report the facts as they are.

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GVSC meeting agenda -- May 19, 2010

http://www.rdno.ca/meetings/minutes/greatervernonservices/100519_agenda_pkg_sp.pdf

Please review the proposed bylaw at the above link and comment to your representatives if you find something not to your liking. Note the Maximum daily allocation of 3.5 cubic meter per day (** on the bottom of the page). That is a significant change!

Upon further examination it appears that there is an error either in the bylaw or in Schedule A. The Bylaw text actually refers to the maximum daily allowance as 6.0 cubic meter (page 5, item g).

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Selected articles -- Morning Star, May 16, 2010.

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Selected articles -- Morning Star, May 14, 2010.

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Duteau Creek water supply report.

Above is the latest information on the Duteau Creek Reservoir levels. The news is bad, we are way below previously recorded lows. Even worse, most of the snow has already melted and unless we have major rain events there is not much chance of the reservoir filling up this year.

The upper lake levels are indicators of water supply for the Valley bottom lakes, such as Kalamalka and Okanagan Lakes. As the water is used up from Kalamalka Lake there is no reserves coming to replace it. Thus, disregard calls for eliminating stage 3 restrictions; we all must save as much water as possible until resupply potentials improve.

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Friends of Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park General Meeting

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Water rates -- are we paying too much?

My presentation to the Greater Vernon Water Advisory Committee can be accessed at WATER! The meeting will start at 8:00AM in the NORD Boardroom.

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GVSC meeting agenda -- May 13, 2010

There will be a presentation on water rates as well.

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Selected articles -- Morning Star, May 12, 2010.

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Reminder: *SPrKL* A Complimentary Informal Wine and Cheese Event !

You are Invited to

*SPrKL*

at

A Complimentary Informal Wine and Cheese Event !

on

Tuesday May 11th

7:00-9:00 at the ‘Log House’

8505 Kalavista Drive Coldstream

• Come hear more about our beautiful lake - Heather Larratt

• Sign Up for the Coldstream Creek Clean Up: May 15th

• Discuss proposed May Long Weekend SPrKL activities

• Find out about the *SPrKL Night Gala* in August

Please email info@spkl.ca to let us know if you plan on attending and how
many guests you would like to bring.

New members are always welcome!

Thank-you!

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Summer drought possible for parts of B.C., environment minister warns -- Vancouver Sun

Environment Minister Barry Penner warned Friday of possible drought for parts of British Columbia this summer.

Penner said below average snowpacks across the province could mean streams will be running much lower than normal by the summer months.

"With the exception of high-elevation areas on Vancouver Island and the South Coast, snowpacks across B.C. are all below normal," said a statement released by the government Friday.

"The low snowpack and smaller-than-normal snowmelt run-off are likely to be reflected in lower-than-normal lake and reservoir levels, lower-than-normal recharge of groundwater aquifers and lower-than-normal river levels during summer," it added.

The statement said that much of the Southern Interior is classified at drought level three, meaning low stream flows and water supply shortages are "highly probable" unless significant rainfall occurs during May and June.

The statement said local governments in these areas should consider water restrictions and review drought management plans.

Much of the Central and Northern Interior are classified at drought level two, the statement said.

These areas have early indications of summer water supply shortages, it said, adding that the province is only calling for voluntary water conservation in these areas.

In an interview, Penner said southwest areas of the province like the Lower Mainland and Whistler are not facing such dramatic shortages.

He added that the province is developing a drought response plan for the coming summer.

"We are running what I would describe as a water deficit and that has been a couple of years in the making for many parts of the province," he said.

"Our goal is to reduce any impacts on communities, residents, farmers, and fish and wildlife."

jfowlie@vancouversun.com
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

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Photo gallery - Happy Mother's Day! - Courtesy: Debbie Gibson.

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