Funds secured for next stage of Penticton Creek restoration

PENTICTON – The City of Penticton is moving ahead with plans to revitalize Penticton Creek.

Following completion of a ‘showcase’ stretch of the creek bed in 2015 and a section immediately upstream last year, the City hopes to complete design work of sections 3A and 3B, immediately adjacent to the completed sections.

City engineer Ian Chapman told Penticton city council yesterday, June 18, the project will need a $159,000 cash infusion to match an equal sum granted by the South Okanagan Conservation Fund to complete the design work through this year and next.

Construction would begin during the ‘fish window’ in 2021.

The city fell short of the funds after an application for a Habitat Conservation Trust Fund grant was denied.

The funds would be taken from the city’s general reserve account.

Chapman said moving forward now would also improve the chances for an application for flood mitigation grant money that could be used for the revitalization work’s construction phase.

Coun. Judy Sentes urged council to move forward, saying the project had momentum, and there was no certainty the South Okanagan Conservation Fund grant could be postponed for a year.

Council agreed unanimously to approve the $159,000 for the project.

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