Updates on previous stories:

Penticton Hospital Tower

RDOS directors approved expenditure of $200 thousand on a Business Case. Hospital District Chair Janice Perrino has brought in former MLA Rick Thorpe to help steer the project through the government maze. The Business Case will cost a half million dollars and is the last phase of the planning process before construction. Thorpe told the board it is essential that treasury board, IH and the RDOS agree on the Terms of Reference – so that there is no hitch later. He said it must be made clear to government this is a South Okanagan Similkameen project – not just an expansion of a hospital in one city. “I believe it’s a go” said Thorpe.

Lower Similkameen Indian Band – Water Shed Planning.

Rob Edwards, Chief says meaningful participation is an agreement to pay the costs of doing so. Edwards and his band staff appeared before the RDOS board and asked for inclusion in a “Watershed Planning Process” for the Similkameen Basin. That cost of nearly $44 thousand was outlined in a  Work Plan given to all RDOS directors. The band wants a commitment for a meaningful engagement. The LSIB wants specific data incorporated in the work plan that it can do with its specialized knowledge. The board thanked them for their appearance at the Board table and will have staff work out the details in cooperation with the local steering committee. The requested budget would include: negotiation and development of a letter of agreement, engagement process and protocols, identify and integrate LSIB date into watershed plan and work to merge all existing  initiatives.