Skaha Marina agreement given extension

PENTICTON – A lack of time to review an impending agreement between the City of Penticton and Trio Marine Group has resulted in a one year extension to the proposed agreement for Skaha Marina development.

Penticton City Council authorized execution of the agreement on June 29 of this year, and since then city staff and Trio have been working towards the removal of conditions in the agreement.

Two issues have arisen in the meantime that resulted in council’s desire to extend the agreement another year. The joint lease agreement for the marina lands was due to be signed on October 1, but neither the city or Trio have had the opportunity to review it, address changes and get a resolution from council to execute it before the conditions precedent date expires.

During discussions with the city, the Penticton Indian Band have indicated they would like to conduct investigative work related to environmental and archaeological impacts, in addition to further consultation prior to beginning any work on the site. Council agreed to an extension of one year in order to deal with the issues.

Trio Marine Group also issued a media release earlier this week in which it acknowledged receipt of papers received from the Save the Park Society involving a civil claim in Supreme Court, as well as a letter from the Penticton Indian Band on August 28 requesting further consultation with a environmental and archaeological impact study.

Trio stated they did not consider it in the best interests of all parties to submit a detailed financial plan by the Oct. 1 deadline until the issues had been resolved.

Both Trio Marine and the city expressed a continued desire to develop Skaha Lake Marina and Waterslide.

It was also noted by Mayor Andrew Jakubeit at the Sept. 28 council meeting the one year extension granted to conditions precedents dates only applied to the Skaha Marina development agreement.

The Skaha Marina-Waterslide agreement, phase 2 of the waterfront redevelopment plan, would still be alive as the conditions for that agreement do not kick in until March 2017.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.