City of Penticton favour to BMX club turns foul

PENTICTON – An attempt by the City of Penticton to assist the BMX Club with the construction of a track on Munson Mountain backfired after tests show soil dumped on the property doesn’t meet agricultural land requirements.

The fill, which came from municipal construction sites, will be removed as a precautionary measure, even though most of the soil does meet the standard for park land application, according to a City of Penticton media release.

"We are taking action to remedy the current situation and will work with the BMX club to ensure materials deposited on-site meet ALR specifications," Mayor Andrew Jakubeit says in the release.

Studies on the land in question identified the area as having poor agricultural quality soil, one of the deciding factors in locating the BMX track at the site.

The property had also been use as a dump site for excavated material prior to the city purchasing the property and applying for an Agricultural Land Reserve exemption for non-farm use to allow the track to be established.

City public works manager Len Robson says the soil trucked to the BMX track site was taken from excavations on Main Street, which was not identified as a concern for agricultural use.

“Based on all the available information, the soil was thought to be suitable for use on this land to construct the BMX track,” he says in the release.

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