West Kelowna votes on new city hall in September referendum

WEST KELOWNA – Voters will go to the polls in mid-September to decide via referendum the future of a new city hall in West Kelowna.

The city wants authorization from voters to spend up to $7.7 million on a new city hall and will hold a citywide referendum Sept. 17.

The new lower price tag for the project was made possible by applying a $1.5 million surplus from 2015 along with $308,000 from the city yards reserve fund, according to a West Kelowna media release.

Voters in May balked at the original price tag of $14.8 million where the city would have borrowed $10.5 million.

The city used the alternative approval process to make the request but it was shot down when more than 10 per cent of the electorate sent in a form indicating their opposition.

The proposed city hall would be a three-story, 32,000 sq. ft building and is part of the larger West Kelowna civic centre project.

To contact a reporter for this story, email John McDonald or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.