Area D Director Tom Siddon told a community partners meeting Wednesday that the Province of BC has stated it will not fund a civic governance study – putting a halt to planning for incorporation of a Town.

SIddon stated that former Director Bill Schwarz had worked on this idea and got this item placed at the top of the list in the Communities Ministry but now the funds have dried up and there is limited interest in Victoria.

He has a plan however. Siddon says he has been talking with RDOS staff about developing a bylaw (service area) that would allow monies to be raised for a Town Advisory body or a Okanagan Falls Development Corporation.

The rural area director says the people in “the falls” need a community voice. They need a place to call their own…..not a part of a rural area as part of larger jurisdiction with services splintered between different levels of government for the basics of water, sewer, roads, planning, recreation and economic development.

Siddon says he wants his staff to continue talking and walking the “town” idea