Pine Beetle concerns

One of the "sleeper" issues facing our community is the impending damage from the pine beetle epidemic that is sweeping across our province. views from around B.C.
It will impact private property owners and even those without pine trees on their property will be impacted as it changes the appearance of the surrounding hills. Giant's Head Park, Cartwright Mountain, Conkle Mountain Park, Rattlesnake Mountain, Living Memorial Ball Park, Canyon View Cemetery and the Summerland Golf and Country Club are some of the major areas that will be impacted as the pine trees begin to die.
Compounding this risk of fire within the municipality (and the impact on drainage) is the danger that fire brings to our two upland watersheds. In addition, to the hydrologic changes resulting from the death of these pine trees there is increased risk of fire in both our watershed areas and in the hillsides adjacent to our community.

Co-op housing

For 40 years, housing co-ops have provided safe, secure, affordable housing for thousands of Canadians. But millions of Canadians still need a safe, affordable home. Many of these people are on co-op housing waiting lists.

The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada is working to get more support for co-op housing.

Lonsdale Energy Corporation

The Lonsdale Energy Corporation or LEC is a wholly owned city of North Vancouver corporation working in partnership with Terasen Utility Services to deliver energy services to the Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver.
The district energy system produces hot water at a series of mini-plants within Lower Lonsdale and then distributes the hot water energy through underground pipes to buildings connected to the system. Once used in the connected buildings, the water is returned to a mini-plant, reheated and circulated back to the connected buildings.
This system is cost effective, flexible, convenient, and self sustaining and award winning. In addition, nitrous oxide emissions are reduced by 64% and carbon dioxide emissions by 21%. The LEC and a similar project in Revelstoke represent a greener way to improve community liveability. And in Langford, the Westhills Langford Lake, a 6,000 unit development, is moving forward with a conceptual plan for a central district energy system that will provide geoexchange heating for all residential and commercial space.
Wouldn't it be nice to do some thing similar here with the Wharton Street project? And how about incorporating a geoexchange or geothermal heat pump system into the new RCMP building?

Action on Climate Change

The Provincial Government has just launched a new website - BC Climate Action Toolkit
that contains good information on how local governments can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and take other steps at becoming carbon neutral.
Two other sites to check out are LiveSmartBCand the David Suzuki Foundation.

Building Green

Many builders are embracing the move to greener buildings. You can find out more about building green by visiting the Built Green website. Built Green™ is an industry driven voluntary program that promotes "green" building practices to reduce the impact that building has on the environment. It benefits the homebuyer, the community and the environment and is an opportunity for everyone to choose a "green" future.

Protecting our Watershed

Summerland has an the largest upland watershed in the Okanagan Valley.
So why does the province want to sell the 44 recreational leased lots that surround Headwater's Reservoir? Selling this land will open it up for increased development and threaten the security of the water supply for the 11,000 residents of Summerland.
Every local government, all three regional districts and all water system purveyors in the Okanagan Valley and the Okanagan Basin Water Board all oppose the sale of this land and have stated this repeatedly to the provincial government.

Affordable Housing

There are a number of different strategies that Summerland can undertake to assist with the provision of affordable housing in our community. These are outlined in the report by the Affordable Housing Committee presented to Council and include suggestions on the use of secondary suites (we were the first community in the Okanagan Valley to permit their use when we adopted the 1996 Official Community Plan), inclusionary zoning, density bonusing, the use of municipal land for affordable housing and the development of housing partnerships. More detailed discussion of these examples is available from Smart Growth BC’s “Review of Best Practices in Affordable Housing” which is available as a pdf file on their website – www.smartgrowth.bc.ca Additional information can be found in Local Government Guide for Improving Market Housing Affordability available on at: http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/housing/affordable/index.htm
Did you know that the City of Langford requires that 10% of the homes in any subdivision over 10 units is to be sold as affordable for $160,000? Langford's Affordable Housing Policy sets out minimum construction standards, the approval process and the qualification process for potential home owners. Why not do something similar here?

The Whistler Housing Authority is an agency that helps provide affordable housing for residents and workers in the Resort Municipality of Whistler. The Banff Housing Corporation is a non-profit agency designed to provide affordable housing for the entire range of Banff residents. And the Capital Regional District Housing Corporation is a non-profit provider of over 1200 rental units of affordable housing throughout the various communities in the Capital Regional District in Greater Victoria.
Let's remember that affordable housing is the cornerstone of a healthy and economically strong community.