Amalgamation proponents appeal to Vernon, Coldstream councils

VERNON – Vernon city council is poised to give the go ahead on a provincial review on the pros and cons of amalgamating Greater Vernon, but they may be alone.

Monday afternoon, the Greater Vernon Governance Society appealed to Vernon council for support a plan to ask the province to conduct a study on amalgamating the City, Coldstream and Regional District Electoral Areas B and C into one governance body. The society was planning to present to Coldstream council Monday night.

While it appears there are enough votes on Vernon council to pass a motion of support, a decision won’t be made until the next council meeting in two weeks time.

A motion to forego standard procedure and decide immediately was unsuccessful.

The province requires the support of two or more municipalities before conducting the study.

“If Coldstream says they don’t even want to go ahead and join the committee then it dies right there,” Coun. Bob Spiers said

Spiers believes it’s worth it to investigate the facts on amalgamation, and other Vernon councillors agree.

“This has come up over and over again over the years,” Coun. Juliette Cunningham said.

Society president Bruce Shepherd shared comments from the public such as ‘It’s about time’, ‘It’s long overdue’ and the most common ‘We just want to know the facts.’

“We believe there is no downside to researching the options,” Shepherd said.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helsotn at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call 250-309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.