The Town of Oliver has reformatted its community airport oversight group appointing two members of council and two members of the public.
On the committee, a recommending body, are Mayor Pat Hampson, Olivier Combret, Graham Jenkinson and Councillor Jack Bennest.
Mr. Jenkinson was named Chair of the group.
Airport Committee – review of requests for additional land from air cadets and other land planning matters – August 18th 10am
Oliver Parks and Recreation Society Board meeting – August 18th 7pm
Town of Oliver gives $1000 grant in 2010 to Festival of the Grape due to a lack of sponsorships this year.
Town of Oliver has waived all building permit fees for the reconstruction of the Frank Venables Auditorium at SOSS in the amount of $21,800.
The owners of a wrecking yard that suffered a major fire earlier this year have been given one green light to re-develop the property. 
Owners Arthur, Rosa and Timothy Griffith (operator Darcy Griffith) of 33645 Sawmill Rd were given the go ahead to have their property rezoned to Residential on the northern portion and Industrial on the southerly portion. This would allow for a new residence, resumption of a non-conforming business and riparian protection. Members of the Area C Planning Committee were surprised to hear that a soil study showed no contamination after 40 + years of operation as an auto wrecking yard. The decision if approved in Penticton at the RDOS Board will allow the owners to construct a new home & offices and continue in their efforts to clean up the area. Operator Darcy Griffith says the business is certified at the highest standard (Gold) with the auto recycling industry. Up to ten employees work at the facility at full production according to Griffith.
Thanks to the Vernon Star
The Okanagan Transportation Committee consists of chambers of commerce from Sicamous to the South Okanagan representing more than 4,000 businesses.
This Committee has been meeting regularly for several years now as they strongly believe in the need for the Ministry of Transportation to develop an integrated, multi-modal transportation vision for the Southern Interior region.
“A focused, long-term plan for our region is critical to the economic viability of our community and the North Okanagan”, said Greater Vernon chamber president Jonathan Jones. “The investment in planning must be a priority as we continue to experience growth throughout the Okanagan Valley.”
The chambers believe there are many opportunities for innovative projects and initiatives that should be looked at directly and indirectly related to transportation issues, which are critical to the future economic success of the province. The need for transportation infrastructure that encourages and supports economic growth is a fundamental element of a prosperous economy. However, the infrastructure that exists in many parts of the province does not support economic growth, and in many areas, results in a deterrent to the prosperity of the surrounding communities.
“As our region grows, successful navigation of the challenges this growth will present to the transportation network and infrastructure will become increasingly important to our economic prosperity,” said Okanagan Transportation Committee chair Norm LeCavalier. “This issue is not going to disappear and we need to start working on this immediately.”
The viability of the local and regional economy is directly linked with the transportation network that serves it. This network includes provincial highways, rail systems, local roads, transit service, cycling and pedestrian corridors. The Okanagan chambers, backed by their parent organization, are recommending to the provincial government that it is time to take immediate action to work with municipalities and regional districts to develop a vision for the Okanagan Valley transportation corridor.
Penticton Western, Kristi Patton Friday July 23
With the wind subsiding fire crews were able to get a handle on the wildfire in Okanagan Falls which is now considered 100 per cent contained.
Elise Riedlinger, fire information officer at the Kamloops Fire Centre, said crews are making good progress with hand guards around the fire to keep it to about 30 hectares in size. The alert of a wildfire first came in at about 2 p.m. on Thursday notifying Okanagan Falls volunteer fire department and the Ministry of Forestry of a blaze between McLean Creek Road and Eastside Road, about 10 kilometres outside of Penticton. At that point it was estimated to be at seven hectares.
“Yesterday the winds were about 40 km per hour which really increased the fire behaviour. Once they calmed down crews could get a handle on the fire,” said Riedlinger. “It grew quickly … within the first couple of hours it grew to 30 hectares.”
While there are structures in the area, no homes have been impacted or are immediately threatened at this time.
According to Riedlinger the fire is a rank 1 or rank 2 as of Friday morning. The fire intensity rank system enables firefighters to communicate a summarized assessment of fire behaviour. A rank 1 fire is smouldering ground or a creeping surface fire. This type of fire burns in the ground fuel layer and have no open flame and produce white smoke. A Rank 2 fire is a a surface fire or a fire that burns in the surface fuel layer, excluding the crown of trees. This type produces visible open flame and have little or no spread, which is the speed at which the fire extends.
Riedlinger said there are still 50 firefighters on the site, one helicopter and a second helicopter for bucketing is on standby in Penticton. Members of the Okanagan Falls fire department are also assisting and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The Kamloops Fire Centre reminds that all open burning is currently prohibited within their area, including fireworks or burning barrels of any size or description. The ban does not prohibit campfires that are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide or smaller, or cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes. People lighting a campfire must maintain a fireguard by removing flammable debris from the campfire area and must have a hand tool or at least eight litres of water nearby to properly extinguish the campfire.
