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It appears the Penticton Fire Department won’t be getting a new boat anytime soon.
Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen staff were asked to look into response times for Naramata Volunteer Fire Department and PFD to gauge whether a new fire boat would be in the interests of the regional district.
In the meantime, the request for a $80,000 grant to help buy the boat, which would cost about $180,000 altogether, was declined RDOS budget talks.
Naramata has a relatively new boat, but PFD chief Larry Watkinson says it wouldn't be as fit to deal with the rough waters of Okanagan Lake as the boat Penticton is looking at. Similarly, Penticton's current boat is aging and will soon be unfit for Okanagan Lake, according to Watkinson.
Director Andrew Jakubeit of Penticton, who noted that the city has already footed $100,000 of the bill, offered to split the cost in half and pay $40,000 one year, and then again the next year.
Still, the RDOS board did not bite.
Naramata director and chair of the board Karla Kozakevich said it would be difficult to justify to her constituents spending $80,000 in taxpayer grants for the boat, when her community had to spring for its own boat.
"Our new boat was around $47,000 which there was some fundraising and then taxpayer dollars," she said. "We didn't ask any other area to contribute."
Director George Bush from Cawston, however, argued that people from his electoral area do go to Okanagan Lake on the beach, and drive along the highways along the lake.
"Our citizens could possibly benefit from something like this," Bush said. "If it saves a life, this little bit of money means nothing."
Director Peter Waterman of Summerland offered a potential solution where Penticton, Summerland and Naramata would take on certain portion of the cost, higher than the others.
Staff will provide a preliminary report on response times of the Naramata and Penticton boats at the next budget talks, but likely won't have a completed report for at least a few months.
