Intended Faux Pas?

UPDATE August 24/15:  here's the survey (with the link gremlins pacified).



Ahem.

Responding to the "Water Survey - Have Your Say" offer in the Morning Star today by clicking on the provided "Take the survey at...", look what it leads to.

Inserting the link www.rdno.ca/watersurvey, it was frankly surprising to discover this.
Huh?  a BioHarmony page?
...where the server isn't found?
"It looks like nothing was found at this location."
No kidding, Sherlock!

Then I Googled--something--and look what that led to...can't remember what my text was though, because it didn't come up with the same document the next time.


"Bureaucrats have never wanted the public's opinion," grins Kia.

No kidding...
The plot thickens.
Just in time for tomorrow's deadline for applications to the Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

 
 

Name to Shame

Yes, names should be made public.
Members of the public may wish to state their personal disapproval to offenders.

Today's Morning Star headline "Residents still failing to comply" (with the province-wide campfire ban) included a sentence:  "...one golf course that did a bunch of trimmings after a storm and burned during the day."

Name the offending course!

Why? 
Because now all area golf courses are tarred with the same brush as people drive by and wonder "Was it this course that risked yet another devastating nearby wildfire?"

Sgt. Josh Lockwood, conservation officer, states "There is zero tolerance now."
As it should be.

After all, convicted child offenders' names, complete with photos, are emblazoned on community newspapers warning the public that they've relocated there following, say, the end of their incarceration.

That's how it should be.
Why is a potential 4,000 hectare wildfire that evacuates thousands of residents, burns homes, livestock, and personal property, and threatens fire fighters' lives be deemed to be any less serious than the risk posed when a child offender relocates to the community.

Name in the newspaper the boating offenders who have violated alcohol consumption or safety issues.
Name the littering and angling without a licence offenders.
Name the residents who use burning barrels and tourists who ignore campfire bans.
Name the perpetrators of impaired driving on back roads.

"That certainly would have more impact with their acquaintances than a dollar fine and the present anonymity," states Kia.

Name to shame.
Do it.

What a Difference a Month Makes

...especially with the numerous weather systems that have been dumping--and I mean DUMPING--rain on the Aberdeen plateau.

First, the two graphs of reservoir levels:  the first, July 15th, 2015 and the second, an estimated level August 15th, 2015.


Let's have a look at some of the very recent weather systems...lots of rain.  Flooding on Hwy 97 as the system traversed the valley bottom and headed east.  The balance of the systems always head north on the west side of Okanagan Lake...to Armstrong and Falkland etc.

Looking south, and southeast from the patio at Highlands Golf as system after system arrives.

Why was the August graph estimated?

"Because the deluge probably created too much mud to get GVW's technician up to Duteau Creek to measure," offers Kia.

Or the reservoir level is actually higher.

For a very excellent analysis, go to Gyula Kiss' site here.
Well done, Mr. Kiss!

GVW Sets Illegal Precedent for SAC Committee

Yup...it's discriminatory.
And therefore illegal.

Governments have changed their eligibility requirements to allow renters to vote in elections.  Even non-resident property owners are eligible.

First, let's see what Greater Vernon Water rules are for applicants to the Stakeholder Advisory Committee that will review the Master Water Plan since the $70 million borrowing referendum failed last November.

On this application form, GVW states that the applicant "must (their emphasis) be a GVW customer..." and "Civic address of the property you are representing".  The GVW website states:  "Applicants must be a GVW customer and own property within the GVW service area."

Elections Canada's rules for federal elections include renters.  And here is the provincial government's rules on eligibility within the province of British Columbia.  The Elections B.C. document is clear that (in summary):  you are 18 years of age, are a Canadian citizen, and have been a resident of BC for at least six months and have lived in the voting jurisdiction for at least 30 days.  Even non residents of the jurisdiction can vote in a federal election if they own property in the voting area.
Because the rules seek an inclusive result.

Governments have, for years, accepted that renters contribute fees to the landlord which presumably (for all but the most inept landlords) cover all (and then some) of the landlord's expenses and overhead for the property.  Those costs are factored in.

That alone makes a renter a stakeholder.


Yes, the SAC committee applications are not an election; that's understood.
But discrimination is not allowed under law, and discriminatory policies can be created by splitting hairs.

By eliminating renters, GVW is stating that renters do not have a stake in water rates.
Nothing could be further from the truth, as landlords seek to recover the cost of overhead. 

Splitting hairs...or GVW writing spurious rules, to be exact.

Consider that Greater Vernon Advisory Committee director Mike Macnabb, an elected official, makes decisions on behalf of GVW customers (property owners and renters), yet he is not a Greater Vernon Water customer.

Huh?  Macnabb isn't a GVW customer?
Nope.

His residence is served by a well, he's not on the GVW system.
Perhaps other members of GVAC are also served by wells?  Not only does director Macnabb (an elected official) help set policy on water rates and conditions to which water users are subject, he is Greater Vernon Water's sole representative (appointed) on the bureaucrat-formed "water committee". 

So by GVW's own rules, Macnabb is ineligible to be a member of the SAC committee, which should also have made him ineligible for the bureaucrat-formed "water committee".
Unless the rules are changed to a non-discriminatory standard.
For everyone.
For inclusivity.

And changed very quickly, as the deadline for SAC applications is August 24th, 2015.

Picking and choosing the rules, skewing eligibility.
That's like saying renters aren't affected by climate change...


What's next?  Reverse accounting?
...where desired revenue is worked backwards to set fees and arrive at the revenue desired.

Yup...that's Greater Vernon Water.

Hot Europe...Predictor of Warmer Than Normal Fall in B.C.?

This text is a cut-n-paste from a weather website.
...and we thought we had it hot in B.C.


"...39 C today again... forecast for upcoming days? 38, 39, 38, 37... precipitation? 0, 0, 0, 0.... it is getting more and more serious, rivers that normally have water level around 5-6 m now have even 0.5 only!

Today in Germany, it was 40.3C, which matched the record for absolute highest ever recorded temperature there! And what is even worse, that record was broken just 2 weeks ago, so that means 2 times within just 2 weeks independently!

Here in the Czech Republic we were 0.4°C from breaking the absolute record for Czech Republic too and upcoming days is supposed to be the same so I guess since the longer this warm weather continues, the warmer it is in the mornings, every day we start of with slightly higher number so it is quite possible that record will be broken in the next days!

Prague was the warmest European capital today, followed by Polish Wroclaw and Austrian Vienna! In Madrid it was 10 degrees colder, same with Greece, Turkey etc... The problem is we are a land-locked country with no sea And ac is quite rare except for public places and cars...

Such heat wave is also associated with many other problems which already manifest - I already mentioned the absolute depletion of groundwater, there are also much higher emissions in the cities, lot of dust in the air, high concentrations of tropospheric ozone, older people collapsing from heat, and some cities are already even struggling with shortages of water! And so far, the upcoming week forecast shows absolutely no change, no rain, extremely high temperatures. Just to put this more into perspective, so far, the average temperature in August is around +9 C compared to normal!"

August 08, 2015, 06:13:29 PM by Jachym

 "My fur would fall off," says Kia, panting.

Conspicuous by its absence is any reference to bureaucrats/government controlling the populace and extracting higher and higher "base rate fees"...

But Europe has had lots of history with controlling governments.

 

We in British Columbia haven't learned about government control yet.

Manipulator Macnabb

Ever the contrarian, Greater Vernon Advisory Committee director Mike Macnabb knows better.
Or should anyway.

He routinely "stirs up" the monthly meeting pot at RDNO, desiring perhaps as much to cement new alliances to his ideas as he is to creating chasms among peers who express divergent points of view.

Mike Macnabb's years-long, public and virtually automatic opposition to anything that Coldstream councillor and GVAC director Gyula Kiss states regarding the Master Water Plan has been witnessed by virtually everyone. 


The latest Macnabb salvo arrived at Thursday's GVAC meeting when stakeholder advisory committee details were still being discussed, while calls for applications have been in the Morning Star newspaper for several issues. 

Macnabb said "The group (CCMWP) has put forward the name of an individual they want and that's biased to some extent." 

For the record, what Citizens for Changes to the Master Water Plan stated was:

"We believe that someone such as Don Dobson who is a professional engineer with considerable knowledge and experience in water supplies in the Okanagan--or someone similar--would be a credible independent source of information and expertise to assist the Stakeholder Advisory Committee.  We strongly believe that the Master Water Plan review process needs an individual with an arms length relationship to the existing plan, to assist the committee by providing GVAC with independent advice.  We respect the involvement of RDNO staff and the input they can and have provided to the process, but it is important that the SAC have an independent consultant so that the review process can proceed without any claims of bias."

In other words, exactly the opposite of what Macnabb was implying to his peers.
Or to be less than succinct, to not consider a complete illiterate in the educated and professional world of water consultants.  
Or to rely on GVW's choice--Macnabb--who heads RDNO's "water committee" for an unbiased representation to the stakeholder advisory group.

The attempted manipulation by Macnabb fell flat at his feet, as his counterpart directors, first Fleming and then Chair Cunningham reiterated "they aren't saying this has to be the person...it's just one name to consider..."

Exactly!

To end on a decidedly tongue-in-cheek example--and to show that Murphy's Law is alive and well--the letter to Chair Cunningham by CCMWP Chair Terry Mooney had a circuitous delivery route...by the time of the meeting, Chair Cunningham hadn't received it, despite it having been hand delivered to reception during the last week of July.  Paddy Juniper--who issues all communication and delegation requests for the advisory committee at RDNO -- hadn't seen it either, but quickly saw to it that a copy was obtained and advisory committee directors received theirs.

Turns out reception at RDNO--rather than holding the letter for Chair Cunningham for the upcoming meeting at RDNO--sent it in the internal mail system to the City of Vernon (where Chair Cunningham is a councillor).  Without a council meeting scheduled ahead of the RDNO GVAC meeting, Councillor Cunningham had not received her mail at City of Vernon by the time she chaired the GVAC meeting at RDNO.  (Aaaargh!)


"It takes sleet or hail for the postal system to prevail," grins Kia.
 

Apparently.

GVW Backing Off Tighter Water Rules

The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee has agreed that Greater Vernon Water   Stage 1   restrictions will remain, despite the provincial government in Victoria asking for a 30 per cent reduction in water consumption throughout the province.

At least it should be GVAC who say yae or nay to bureaucratic recommendations based on their "trigger level tree" for water restrictions.

"Although residential, agricultural and industrial users within municipalities and regional districts backed by reservoir storage are less vulnerable to water supply shortages than water users served by smaller water systems from streams, lakes and wells, all water users are encouraged to observe local water conservation bylaws to prolong water supplies and to maintain flows for fish and ecosystems," (whew...gasp...quite the mouthful) states the Morning Star on Victoria's statement.

But it's not just because Greater Vernon Water customers are on reservoirs that GVW has backed off issuing Stage 2 water restrictions.  Turns out that bureaucrats are finally (imagine!) catching on to the concept that a lower revenue stream adversely affects their ability to fund maintenance and infrastructure projects outside of the Master Water Plan.

Added to that is the hue and cry from customers, many of whom have seen base rates (for using no water) climb to such ridiculous dollar amounts that the base rate now exceeds their annual water consumption!

Those aren't the only reasons bureaucrats are shying away from imposing Stage 2 restrictions.

Many residents frequent the Aberdeen Plateau for recreation, some of whom have submitted photos and expressed concern that water restrictions are politically motivated; indeed fabricated.

Then consider that the coming winter is forecast to see the strongest el Nino in 50 years.

Then consider too that locally heavy rains, including flooding, have recently occurred with the Aberdeen Plateau receiving "almost weekly 'dumps'," according to one observer.

There's simply no valid and supportable reason to impose tighter water restrictions in the North Okanagan's GVW system, no matter what the Okanagan Basin Water Board--or the seat of our government in Victoria--says.

"There's tons of water out there," attests Kia, adding "certainly as voluminous as the smoke 'n mirrors from bureaucrats." 

Closing off with a few photos...of yet another "dump" of rain last night.
Note:  the Aberdeen Plateau is visible on the horizon.
Or not...as rain was so heavy, the hills almost disappeared.
And even with this cheap little camera, large raindrops are visible in the landscape closeups!

  Where are my rubber boots?

Plum Comments

On page A4 of the Morning Star on August 2, 2015, the Regional District's Manager of Parks and Recreation is quoted as saying:

  "the soft opening of the new track at Greater Vernon Athletics Park 

was delayed because of recent rain."

The plum?

 "I wonder if Greater Vernon Water and the Okanagan Basin Water Board are aware that it rained?  Somebody is being overpaid!"

...especially since all the recent hoopla about Duteau Creek's water levels being "very close", according to GVW, to implementing Stage 2 water restrictions.

Another plum?

Kelowna's implementation of water restrictions, described by a Kelowna water official as being:

 "purely political".

Add to that our provincial government's recent request--parroted by the Okanagan Basin Water Board--that residents of B.C. (yup, all of us!):

"reduce water consumption by 30 per cent."

Victoria's politicos are asking all British Columbians to reduce water consumption by one-third because the Lower Mainland is drier than a popcorn fart this year.

No matter that Vernon's rainfall in August--despite being considered semi-arid--typically exceeds Victoria's!  (28mm versus 26mm).  No matter that system after system has, for two months, inundated the northern half of B.C. from the Coast to the Peace.  No matter that climate change--while creating warmer temperatures in summer (and el Nino's predicted strongest in 50-year effect this winter)--frequently also creates locally heavy downpours that include flooding.

Locally heavy rain, embedded in these systems, head to the Aberdeen Plateau, where even heavier rainfall occurs.

Another plum?

Today's Morning Star states in another story that the provincial government has "initiated a new program to promote B.C.'s tourism..."

What's this new program?
Increased taxes.
Huh?

Seems the skewed eyes of bureaucracy feel that increasing the hotel room tax from two to three percent might help tourism.
Does anyone really believe that?

  "Come on, Mabel, let's return to that nice creekside hotel in Vernon...

their tax is up by one per cent!"

 

Back to water restrictions and the increasing calls by all levels of government to reduce, reduce, reduce.

Thank goodness Ottawa gets tons of rain ... otherwise the Prime Minister might have, as his last official plum prior to dropping the writ to commence the election campaign, asked Canadians to reduce water consumption by 50 per cent.

"An entire orchard of plums...some are fruit cakes," offers Kia.

SAC Committee

Applications are now being accepted by RDNO for 13 volunteers to form the Stakeholder Advisory Committee, with an August 24th deadline.  The application form is here.  The preamble to the process includes pertinent other links. 

The public--and committee volunteers--should watch carefully during the committee's expected six-month term to see whether Adopted Motions--moved and seconded by elected officials during a prior GVAC meeting--will actually be presented to the group in the same format in which they were moved and seconded. 

After all, that would comply with one of the myriad Terms of Reference for the committee, in particular under #3, PURPOSE, which states:  "Ensure all options are considered".

Somewhere within this list of Greater Vernon Advisory Committee minutes is a list of Adopted Motions.   But rather than spending an hour clicking on various minutes to find them, here they are once again.

Verbatim...lest Greater Vernon Water (conveniently) forgets to provide committee members with the consensus (agreed-upon wishes) of the area's elected officials.

Of particular interest to many, many people (including Highlands Golf) is number 11, "need of supply type"...  and while we're at it, get rid of number 14 "hiring a communications specialist".

1.  Councillor Lord asked that a Communications Strategy for dealing with the Review be adopted such that the public could be informed on each question. Adopted

2.  Coldstream Mayor Garlick said the defeat of the Referendum bought valuable time (bullshit!) for a review to be undertaken.  And that Standards for water quality, pricing and delivery have changed and are in the process of change, that the review incorporate these changes in its process.  Adopted

3.  Councillor Kiss requested the review focus on a MWP that addresses the future needs of the water user base, and that as Okanagan Lake is the most reliable water source where the least amount of treatment is needed, that the review include the viability of the OK Lake as the principal water source. Adopted

4.  Filtration exclusion and deferral issues were discussed and GVW management explained the current situation with respect to IHA and that it should be included in the review. Adopted


5.  Bob Spiers asked if a review could include the cost of treating the entire volume of Duteau water as compared with other treatment options. Adopted

6.  Mayor Garlick asked that public involvement in the review follow the model set and adopted by the Municipalities at the provincial level whereby a public committee was struck to provide feedback into decision-making relative to MWP allowing politicians and staff to have maximum input to direction.  (Politicians and staff?  Aren't you forgetting the public?  As long as his idea has no semblance of Coldstream's Agricultural Advisory Committee, which was a sham whose meeting principals were led--by the nose--by a councillor--after they were told what terms of reference were!).  Adopted

7.  Director Fleming asked if  "current demand levels" projected to 2020 and on, be considered in the review. Adopted

8. A question respecting the differing levels of supply by Quarter be included in the review.  Adopted

9. Redundancy of sources and the management of supply should be reviewed as Duteau, Kal, Coldstream Creek, King Edward Lake, and Okanagan Lake all are in the picture. Adopted

10.  Whether one treatment plant could supply all needs from all sources. Adopted

11.  Mayor Garlick proposed that the principle of  "need of supply type" be adopted to guide supply management.  In other words, if a user needs potable water, user pays for potable water.  (Alternately then, it would follow that if a user needs unchlorinated non-potable water that isn't available, the user pays for unchlorinated non-potable water!  An excellent idea!)  Adopted.

12.  Question to minimize the use of treated water on agricultural lands.  Adopted

13.  Councillor Cunningham advised everyone to take a "step back" and work with the public on developing a new MWP that serves the needs of the entire community.  (But no longer controlled by bureaucrats, hopefully!)  Adopted

14.  Mayor Garlick proposed that staff investigate hiring a communications specialist. Develop a communications strategy to facilitate the flow of information to and from public and press throughout MWP review process. The intent is to draw people in to the process.  Adopted

Hopefully the committee will ensure the present cost shifting system ends.

 

 

Something else the committee's volunteers may appreciate learning:

"Add manipulation to that last graphic," suggests Kia.

So let's watch and see if Adopted Motions--in their original unmanipulated form--are presented to the committee.
Any bets?
Anyone?

Ignoring Their Own Rules

They make the parking rules, i.e. how many spaces must be provided for a, say, commercial development.
Presumably because the development attracts people who arrive in vehicles.

The District of Coldstream (and previously, the Regional District) however had no qualms about Sovereign Park having insufficient parking, and "when the cul-de-sac area on Ormsby Drive is filled up, (cars) move up the street, taking up one side of the road," states a resident according to today's Morning Star newspaper.

Seems the 20 parking spaces within the park proper aren't sufficient in summer.
So park attendees access Sovereign by parking on adjacent Ormsby Drive, a residential street.
Who could've predicted that?
Ahem

You can't blame the District of Coldstream entirely.
They've only recently been handed the park(s) in their jurisdiction from the Regional District of North Okanagan.

But now that Coldstream is considering closing Ormsby Drive to non-resident parking (perhaps even for residents), they'll be blamed for vehicles finding a spot whenever and wherever they can.

But they'll study it for a while.
A novel idea...seeing whether the park does indeed attract people in vehicles.

"Maybe the 20 parking spaces were sufficient in winter," grins Kia. 

Ought'a be a one week hiatus for a bureaucrat to sit in a vehicle with a traffic counter.
Or a consultant.

Who Made Them God?

Out of the blue.
A name, the Urban Development Institute.

In today's "Call for Volunteers" newspaper ad for 13 volunteers for the Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC), Greater Vernon Water says the committee will comprise, in part, "one (1) representative from the developer class (can be the Urban Development Institute or other representative group)..."

Huh?
The Urban Development Institute?
Who the heck are they?

Are they a local group?  nope

Are they residents/homeowners/water-using taxpayers of a nearby area?  nope

Here's their Board of Directors...

Not to be too cynical...(well, maybe)...do these mega-executives look like they care what their or anyone else's water rates are, even if they lived here, which they don't?

The group self-describes:  "premier industry body representing over 600 of British Columbia’s leading residential, commercial, industrial and institutional developers."   Their media releases are here.

"The difference is that we aren't able to get up and leave when we're finished in a community," offers Kia explaining..."who were supposed to separate water lines as a development permit requirement for their projects."   


GVW never ceases to amaze residents...