VLSA Board Meeting Minutes – May 7, 2020

The Association was successful in getting two more grants in the past year, one from the Okanagan Basin Water Board for $6000 to do water testing on the lake during the summer months for the next two years.

Vaseux lake was the only lake in the Okanagan Valley which was not testing the water during the summer season. The application for the funding is attached. We were also successful in getting $1000 from the RDOS to help maintain the 3 public accesses. In the past few years, these accesses have become a fire hazard because of the high amount of dead material on the ground. The funding will help pay a contractor to clear the dead brush and trees and cut the brush on the side of the public access and pick up garbage. On a positive note, the RDOS has completed the wetland beside the wastewater treatment plant which costs approximately 1 million dollars. This will allow a final cleansing of the wastewater before it enters the lake. It will take a few years for the wetland to grow and become effective in removing heavy metals and any nitrate and sulfates that are leftover.

The Association was very busy in the past month raising public awareness around the proposed trailer park development just off Highway 97, just south of the sharp curve. We were able within weeks to get 98% of homeowners around the lake to sign the petition against the development and we now have over 14,600 signatures for the petition on our Vaseuxlake.com website. That is all the population of Osoyoos, Oliver, and Okanagan Falls combined. The Association has also talked to Nature Trust and requested they provide a submission to the RDOS which they have now done. The Association provided a detailed written outline of our concerns to the Provincial and Federal Government responsible for the lake and the official provincial opposition was also sent a copy of our petition. A response has been received back from the Provincial Government acknowledging they received our concerns and the petitions and indicated if the developer is successful in having the land taken out of the ALR the Provincial Government will be reviewing the project and our information will be taken into consideration.

Please read the Board Meeting Minutes – June 7, 2020

Thanks,
Norm Gaumont