Airport Beach in Penticton will soon be open to the public

PENTICTON – The city has a new deal with the owners of Airport Beach.

The city said in a press release issued today it has agreed to provide beach cleaning and maintenance services for the remainder of the summer in exchange for public access to the beach by residents and visitors.

Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said the agreement works well for both parties.

“We both agree that keeping the beach attractive and accessible benefits everyone. The city has specialized equipment and trained operators to do the work and can step in to provide this important service during the peak of the summer season,” he said.

City work crews have been cleaning the beach for the past several days and expect to wrap up the work this week.

The clean up has cost an estimated $6,000 so far with another $5,000 earmarked for summer maintenance.

Chief Adminstrative Officer Peter Weeber said a former agreement for use of the beach cost the city around $57,000 a year to lease the beach and perform the required maintenance. He said the present agreement is in place with the beach’s private landowner for this season only.

He expects the beach to be open to the public in the next few days.

The city’s prior agreement for use of the beach terminated in 2014. Since then, little maintenance was done and the beach had become littered with debris, especially following this year’s high water levels.


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Steve Arstad

I have been looking for news in the South Okanagan - SImilkameen for 20 years, having turned a part time lifelong interest into a full time profession. After five years publishing a local newsletter, several years working as a correspondent / stringer for several local newspapers and seven years as editor of a Similkameen weekly newspaper, I joined iNFOnews.ca in 2014. My goal in the news industry has always been to deliver accurate and interesting articles about local people and places. My interest in the profession is life long - from my earliest memories of grade school, I have enjoyed writing.
As an airborne geophysical surveyor I travelled extensively around the globe, conducting helicopter borne mineral surveys.
I also spent several years at an Okanagan Falls based lumber mill, producing glued-wood laminated products.
As a member of the Kaleden community, I have been involved in the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years, and also serve as a trustee on the Kaleden Irrigation District board.
I am currently married to my wife Judy, of 26 years. We are empty-nesters who enjoy living in Kaleden with our Welsh Terrier, Angus, and cat, Tibbs.
Our two daughters, Meagan and Hayley, reside in Richmond and Victoria, respectively.

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