Black Press Media asked politicians in the Central Okanagan for their highlights of 2023.
What a year it has been for West Kelowna!
We delivered many key priorities while also coming together as a caring, compassionate and truly resilient community.
We achieved a major milestone of getting the Rose Valley Water Treatment Plant (RVWTP) operational. This was the single largest construction project ever undertaken by the City of West Kelowna. Council is very grateful to Interior Health, all city staff and contractors who worked to bring the plant online and to ensure we could provide drinking water, that exceeds provincial and federal standards, to all RVWTP customers this year.
Our community experienced an unprecedented battle with the McDougall Creek Wildfire this summer. I would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the firefighters and emergency responders who fought to keep West Kelowna safe. Our hearts go out to those who partially or fully lost their homes from the wildfire and we thank our community who helped with even the smallest recovery support.
We initiated efforts to make our community more accessible to all abilities with the opening of Julia91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s Junction. This first-of-its-kind fully accessible and inclusive play space, at Westbank Centre Park, provides the community with a place for people of all ages to enjoy. We also created the Accessibility and Inclusion Committee to assist staff and Council on strategies to help everyone fully participate in all aspects of community life.
Transportation improvements were made across the City as we continued our work to optimize connectivity throughout West Kelowna. The new Boucherie Multi-use Pathway not only enhances safety but also extends our active transportation infrastructure with the addition of 780 metres of bike lanes for our community. Overall, we added 10.4 lane kilometres of new sidewalks and bike lanes along with 8.9 lane kilometres of roads resurfaced.
Construction continued on West Kelowna91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s first purpose-built City Hall/Library Building to provide the Westside with a greater civic centre area. We91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™re looking forward to this new building being both a community landmark and gathering space.
Following a three-year process and extensive public consultation, we completed an update to our Official Community Plan which sets out a path for welcoming and accommodating more than 12,000 new residents by 2040 and making West Kelowna truly the place to be. We also established our first-ever Housing Strategy and a Corporate Climate Action Plan as we contribute to shape our community91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s future.
As we work to help our local business community prosper and to expand our tax base, we took important steps in establishing the municipally-owned West Kelowna Economic Development Corporation. This is an exciting time for our City, as this new corporation will focus on key economic growth opportunities, including attracting new businesses, employers, and investments to West Kelowna.
At the 2023 Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference, Council met with Premier Eby and nine Cabinet Ministers, and senior staff attended six senior-level meetings to advocate for increased investments in our community, to seek continued provincial investments in wildfire mitigation, to advocate for a redundant power supply and more.
This year we continued to embrace our community91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s strengths and diversity by collaborating with our good neighbour Westbank First Nation, the Farm Loop and the Westside Wine Trail to give our street banners a makeover. You can spot our new banners along the Boucherie, Glencoe, Smith Creek and Elliott Road areas.
We created new opportunities for arts and culture, by expanding our seasonal events which include spring and fall Art Exhibitions, Peruse the Parks and Twinkle Tour. We also had another excellent turnout at our annual holiday Light Up event and we even added a holiday craft market to the lineup of festivities.
Despite the challenges of 2023, we must take the time to recognize and celebrate our successes. On behalf of our Council, I am very proud of our accomplishments as we continue to move West Kelowna forward in strategic, meaningful and positive ways.
Looking ahead to 2024, I am grateful to our Council, the City91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s hard-working staff, and all members of our community who contribute so much to make West Kelowna a truly amazing place to live, work and enjoy.
As we wrap up this year, I wish everyone an enjoyable, safe and restful holiday ahead. Be kind to one another, enjoy the holidays with your loved ones and we wish you a very happy 2024!
