Open letter to City of Kelowna mayor and council:
In the December 12, 2016 council meeting referencing the proposed Tourism Kelowna Visitor Information Centre building agenda item, I note that the site plans as presented at the meeting by city staff indicate that virtually all landscaping outside of the proposed building footprint are to be at the cost of the City of Kelowna.
This was a surprise as virtually all information put to the public to-date on the Visitor Information Centre states that Tourism Kelowna is solely responsible for funding the construction not requiring any funding from the City of Kelowna and its citizens. Typically, landscaping is purely a development cost and one can’t think of too many developments in the city where the construction stops at the building envelope perimeter. Imagine if you will, the city and its citizens providing all landscaping for every new structure?
Be that as it may, and considering that the landscaping costs associated with the re-development of the Queensway parcel are apt to be quite extraordinary due to drainage, environmental concerns, and potential marine retaining walls as well as most landscaping will be of the “hard” variety, please provide myself and the public at large the anticipated landscaping and servicing cost estimates associated with facilitating the construction of the Tourism Kelowna Visitor Information Centre proposal.
Respectfully, I trust you will make this information available at your earliest opportunity and most certainly in advance of the public hearing slated for January 24, 2017.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Jim McMullan, Kelowna