Petition doesn't sway directors regarding their Jumbo decision

Sep 11, 2009

Sally Waddington
Columbia Valley Pioneer
September 11, 2009

A petition against Jumbo received a lukewarm response from the Regional District of East Kootenay board last Friday.

Windermere resident Doug Anakin addressed the board of directors and presented more than 600 signatures from Columbia Valley residents.

The petition asked the regional board to reconsider and rescind a motion it made at the August 7th meeting. The motion, which passed eight to seven, saw the regional district ask the province to designate Jumbo Glacier Resort a mountain resort municipality. That means the regional district is not responsible for rezoning decisions for the four-season ski resort proposed for the Jumbo Valley, 55 kilometres west of Invermere.

In his presentation to the board, Mr. Anakin recalled an experience last year when he was cross-country skiing and fell into a deep snow drift, becoming buried in snow.

“I felt the same feeling four weeks ago on the lawn outside this building when I heard the regional district’s decision,” he said.

Mr. Anakin added that the petition signatories want to work towards a better solution.

“We are not fighting you; we want to help you as good citizens of the Columbia Valley,” he said. “We would like to work with the directors to find a better solution than giving the decision to the provincial government, which is so far away and doesn’t know the concerns of the people in this valley.”

After his presentation, Director Gerry Wilkie for Area G advised Mr. Anakin that the regional district will retain its decision-making powers over Jumbo until the developers signs a Master Development Agreement with the province.

“I didn’t know that and that gives us time to work for something better,” Mr. Anakin replied.

Despite Mr. Anakin’s appeal, the only motion regarding Jumbo at the meeting was put forward by Invermere Mayor Gerry Taft. He asked the directors to consider advising the province that an appointed representative of Jumbo Glacier Resort not be allowed a seat at the regional district board table.

“If there was a mountain resort municipality in Jumbo, it would have a council appointed by the Ministry of Rural and Community Development based on the recommendation of the developer,” he said.

“If and when there are enough people living in Jumbo to hold an election, then I would have no problem in that representative having a seat at the table. However, I don’t feel an appointed council should have a seat at the table.”

The board discussed the motion for around 15 minutes. Director Jim Ogilvie, who has been on the board on and off since 1967, reminded the directors that when Elkford first became a municipality, it too had an appointed council and thus did not hold a seat at the regional board.

“If we support this motion, we are taking back some of the responsibility we gave up at our August meeting,” Director Gerry Wilkie added.

The motion was passed unanimously.

Meanwhile, Doug Anakin was not the only delegation to speak about Jumbo. Bob Campsall, a councillor in Invermere and member of the Jumbo Creek Conservation Society, asked the regional district to schedule public hearings in the Columbia Valley about the issue, “so we as your constituents can be heard,” he said. “Let the people have their say.”

However, Director Ogilvie responded by telling Mr. Campsall that provincial involvement in Jumbo won’t be the first time. “There is always local and provincial interest in land-use decisions,” he said. “You win some, you lose some, but you have to move on.”

The provincial government continues to discuss an Accommodation Agreement with the Ktunaxa Nation regarding Jumbo Glacier Resort. The next step after that is to sign a Master Development Agreement for the resort.