Table of Contents
What Happened at City Hall
From a big win on Westside policing to a heated debate about power lines, this meeting covered a lot of ground. Here’s everything Council decided, and a few things they’re still figuring out, in plain English.
Quick Facts About This Meeting
Short on time? Here’s the snapshot version of what went down on April 14.
Mayor Milsom Goes to Victoria and Comes Back with Six New RCMP Officers
The biggest news from this meeting wasn’t a vote, it was the result of a trip. At the end of March, Mayor Gord Milsom travelled to Victoria with Peachland Mayor Patrick Van Minsel and Westbank First Nation Councillor Jordan Coble to meet with provincial Minister of Public Safety Nina Krieger. The topic: the long-standing police staffing shortage on the Westside.
The outcome: the Province and RCMP have agreed to allocate six new officers and one civilian support person to the Greater Westside. Mayor Milsom described this as a 38% increase in provincial staffing, and only the second time provincial officer numbers have been bumped since the Westside policing agreement was originally signed back in 2009.
West Kelowna has been pushing for more officers since 2018. The Westside is one of the few areas of comparable size in BC that doesn’t have a dedicated municipal police force, it relies on RCMP officers partly funded by the Province. After the recent split of the Central Okanagan RCMP detachment, the shortage on the westside of the lake got even worse. The new officers are set to begin placements right away.
Mayor Milsom was clear that while this is a genuine win, it can’t be a one-time thing. Some of the data the Province uses to assess officer needs is now several years old and doesn’t reflect how much the area has grown. Council will keep pushing for a forward-looking staffing plan. The Minister and RCMP also agreed to meet annually with Westside local governments to check in on resource levels going forward.
While in Victoria, the Mayor also raised concerns about the Speculation and Vacancy Tax. West Kelowna has been contributing to the fund but hasn’t seen the same level of affordable housing investment as other Okanagan communities. The recent cancellation of the provincial Community Housing Fund only makes that gap more noticeable.
West Kelowna’s Power Problem and a $200M+ Fix That Has Residents Divided
BC Hydro came to Council to present on the West Kelowna Transmission Project, a project that’s been discussed for over 18 years, and the debate it sparked is something residents should pay close attention to.
Here’s the core issue: nearly 70,000 people on the Greater Westside (West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation, Peachland, and parts of Summerland) are currently served by a single transmission line running from a substation near Merritt. If that line goes down for any reason, wildfire, equipment failure, anything, there is no backup. The Westside is the largest population centre in BC without a redundant power supply. The 2024 Smith Creek and Brenda Creek wildfires came uncomfortably close to that line.
BC Hydro’s proposed fix: build a new transmission line from the Westbank Substation, run it along the western lakeshore, then under Okanagan Lake, connecting into FortisBC’s existing system in Kelowna. The project is estimated at over $200 million, with construction possibly starting as early as 2029 and wrapping up around 2032.
For the overland portion, BC Hydro presented three possible routes to Shannon Lake Substation. Option 1 along Old Okanagan Highway came out as the clear community preference in a survey of about 1,700 people. A resident-led petition called “Powering Our Future Without Harming Our Neighbourhoods” gathered over 570 signatures in support of this route. But the bigger question isn’t which route, it’s whether the line will run on overhead poles or underground.
Community opposition to overhead transmission poles was strong at the meeting. The Shannon Lake Neighbourhood Association urged Council to advocate for underground infrastructure, citing concerns about visual impact, loss of vegetation, and effects on property values. BC Hydro’s own survey of about 1,400 respondents confirmed most residents feel the same way.
That said, BC Hydro’s project team noted that underground high-voltage transmission at this scale is unusual. Overhead poles are the standard approach for lines of this voltage, and burying them would cost significantly more. The final decision on method hasn’t been made yet and will weigh community feedback, environmental impact, and cost together.
Council directed staff to set up a formal community meeting in May to gather more public input, and staff will return with a recommended City position at the April 28 meeting. BC Hydro expects to identify a preferred route for all segments by the end of 2026.
Transportation Master Plan Almost Ready, but Council Wants Some Changes First
Council reviewed the draft Transportation Master Plan, which will shape road safety priorities, cycling and walking connections, and transit improvements across the city for the next 20 years. They’re not ready to adopt it yet, though, and asked for revisions before they do.
The plan is built on public consultation and is meant to guide how transportation projects get prioritized in the City’s annual budget and capital planning. Once Council is satisfied with the updates, the plan will come back for formal adoption. The specific changes requested weren’t detailed in the public summary.
Four Annual Parcel Tax Bylaws Advance, with One New Addition
Council gave three readings to four parcel tax bylaws that will come back for final adoption at the April 28 meeting. Three of these are annual renewals, they come back every year. One is brand new. All of them show up as separate line items on property tax bills for the properties they apply to.
An annual renewal that funds the regional codling moth control program. In plain terms: male moths are sterilized in a lab and released into orchards, where they mate without producing offspring. Over time, the moth population drops without any chemical pesticides. It’s a biological pest control program that protects local apple and pear orchards, and it runs across the Okanagan as a regional initiative.
An annual renewal covering West Kelowna’s share of regional waste reduction services run by the Regional District of Central Okanagan. This is what pays for curbside collection, composting, recycling education, and other programs that keep stuff out of the landfill.
An annual renewal that covers West Kelowna’s share of running the regional transfer station at 2640 Asquith Road. That’s the facility where you can drop off large items, hazardous materials, and anything else that doesn’t fit in your curbside bins.
This one is new and a bit different from the others. Green Bay is a small inlet off Okanagan Lake in West Kelowna where sediment and sand have built up to the point where safe boat navigation is only possible in peak summer. Waterfront property owners around the bay started a formal process under the Community Charter (BC’s legislation that governs what municipalities can and can’t do) to have the channel dredged.
The total Phase 2 dredging project is estimated at around $950,000. This particular bylaw covers the consulting costs for engineering and environmental work needed to actually plan the dredge, not the dredging itself. Only the 38 waterfront properties around Green Bay are subject to this tax. Eventually, the full dredging cost will be split among those same properties, with each owner on the hook for roughly $24,300, repayable over 20 years. The neighbourhood was strongly in favour: 33 of 38 affected owners signed the petition supporting it, representing about 90% of the assessed property value in the area.
A New Bylaw to Make Sure Every Building in West Kelowna Has a Proper Address
Council adopted a new Civic Addressing Bylaw. That might sound boring, but it matters more than you’d think as the city keeps growing through infill housing and new development.
It sets up a consistent, city-wide system for how address numbers get assigned to buildings and structures. Without clear rules, new builds, especially infill housing like secondary suites, carriage houses, and small multi-unit developments, can end up without proper addresses, or with numbering that confuses emergency responders, mail carriers, and utility companies. The bylaw also makes sure there are enough available numbers in each block to handle ongoing densification as the city grows.
Recreation Fees and Cemetery Rules Are Both Getting Updated
Council gave three readings to two more bylaws that will come back for adoption at a future meeting.
This update adjusts program and facility rental rates at City recreation facilities. The goal is to better recover operating costs and bring West Kelowna’s prices in line with comparable regional rates. In plain terms: some recreation fees are going up. The exact rate changes will be confirmed when the bylaw is formally adopted.
Updates the list of offences and fines for unauthorized activity at the City’s memorial gardens (the West Kelowna Municipal Cemetery). The current rules around penalties needed to be modernized so they’re actually enforceable and consistent with how bylaw enforcement works today.
The City’s New Software System Is on Track for a 2027 Launch
Council got a progress update on the City’s Oracle Fusion ERP and HRIS implementation. That’s a mouthful, basically, it’s a new software platform that will run West Kelowna’s finance, purchasing, and HR functions all in one place instead of the patchwork of older systems that don’t talk to each other very well right now.
The project is on schedule to go live in early 2027 and is still within its approved budget of $2.1 million. When it’s done, city staff will have a single, cohesive platform instead of juggling multiple disconnected systems, which should make day-to-day administration a lot more efficient.
Fast EV Chargers Are Coming to City Hall, Funded by the Province
Council approved the use of $87,200 in provincial grant funding from BC’s Local Government Climate Action Program to complete an electric vehicle charger installation at City facilities.
The project will expand both fleet charging for City vehicles and public charging options. Most notably, it includes new fast-charging stations at City Hall, which will give residents a public charging option in that area. All costs are fully covered by the provincial grant, so there’s no draw on the City’s own budget.
What’s on the Table at the Next Meeting
Several items from this meeting are coming back for formal adoption at the April 28 Regular Council Meeting, plus the City’s response to BC Hydro following the May community meeting.