The District closed the file on his Peachtree development permit after it expired over the weekend, but Gaetan Royer says he still has plans to invest in his site at 5760 and 5766 Beach Ave.  “We still intend to invest in and develop the site,” said Royer, when reached by phone this afternoon. I’ll do a quick recap: Royer’s development permit for his five-storey residential / commercial project, granted in 2018, was set to expire (after a...

Travis Nixon is Peachland’s new BELO - Bylaw Enforcement Licensing Officer. He’s a local, and was introduced to councillors during last night’s Zoom meeting. Mayor Cindy Fortin welcomed him. “You’re part of the big Nixon family,” she said. “I am,” said Nixon. He’s one of ten kids in the family and has lived here 33 years - “since I was two, and I have no plans to leave.” He says he’s really excited to settle in to his new role. “I’m really...

Whether the District needs someone to coordinate climate change projects caused another exchange today between Mayor Cindy Fortin and Councillor Pete Coolio. Words got so heated the Mayor asked to cut off the councillor’s voice as they spoke over each other. I’ll have more on that in a bit, but first, a preamble on what this four-hour meeting was all about:  Councillors are dealing with the draft operating budget for 2021. Each department has...

Close to $200,000 worth of upgrades to Peachland’s municipal building. A new pickup truck and better public washroom facilities. Maybe even a new classroom for firefighter training. All these wishes may come true over the next year or two - because councillors are dealing with a $1.65-million influx in the form of a COVID Safe Restart grant from the province. The cash is meant to help municipalities recover from the economic fallout of the...