Higher provisional tax increase attracts more interest to public budget meeting

While many of the attendees were individual residents, some were there to represent groups around the city. Nancy Bepple with the Kamloops Outdoor Skating Association made her rounds as the group attempts to convince city council to move forward with the idea of an outdoor rink in the new year.

“We don’t just see this as an ice rink, we see this as a place that community comes together and is a place to spend winter together,” she said.

The city has already narrowed it down to two location where the outdoor rink would go if approved by council in January. As a supplemental budget item, it may have a more difficult time passing with a provisional 3.4 per cent tax increase. However, Bepple doesn’t think it will stop the rink from going ahead.

“No because there’s all sorts of different sources of funding besides homeowner taxes that pay for things,” noted Bepple. “You have to remember that there’s money that comes from the provincial government, there’s money that comes from gaming, there’s money that comes from the federal government. It’s not all going to be on the [local] taxpayer.”

The Kamloops Disc Golf Club, hoping to share the former McArthur Island Golf Course with the Kamloops Naturalist Club, attended Wednesday’s meeting to speak with mayor and council. President Ben Laidlaw believes the two clubs can co-exist in the space.

“Our goal for the property is to create a property that can be used to the most benefit of the citizens of Kamloops, whether you’re a disc golfer or a nature enthusiast or somewhere in between,” he said.

Laidlaw said the club only has one course at Rose Hill in the city and his plan is to work with the naturalist club to put up educational signs at each of the tee boxes and throughout the disc golf course. The naturalist club, on the other hand, feels there isn’t compatibility with disc golf or any other sports club.

“When we studied the issue, we looked at other interpretive nature parks and we found they didn’t allow those sort of sports uses,” said Jesse Ritcey from the Kamloops Naturalist Club. “Mainly because of safety issues and then degradation to the natural environment, so it really is one or the other.”

Ritcey said residents he’s spoken with would like to see more trails and nature on the North Shore. However, he added the club would be open to disc golfers booking the space on a specific day or weekend.

A decision from city council is expected to come in January.

by Chad Klassen

Higher provisional tax increase attracts more interest to public budget meeting

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