Sun Valley Improvement District to be managed by regional district

PENTICTON – A small water purveyor in the South Okanagan is dissolving their improvement district in preparation to being taken over by the regional district.

Sun Valley Improvement District, a collection of 28 ratepayers south of Okanagan Falls, no longer has enough trustees to manage the district, and without any other ratepayers to fill the positions, the district is folding, Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen public works manager Roger Huston says.

“It’s a volunteer committee. They had one vacant position at the AGM in April, and before they could fill that, another dropped out,” Huston says, noting the district needed a minimum of five trustees to operate.

Huston says the regional district expects to take over the improvement district on January 1, 2017. He anticipates an increase in the district’s annual operating budget to $56,000 from the current $48,000.

Regional district directors approved the recommendation supporting the dissolution of the district, instructing staff to prepare a service establishment bylaw prior to assuming responsibility for the water system.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 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.