Gasthaus on the Lake food drive up 400 per cent over last year

Food drive a huge success

Photo: Jamie Morgan

A Peachland restaurant's discount-for-donations campaign has generated more than 1200 discount cards.

A Peachland restaurant saw this year's foodbank fundraiser jump by 400 per cent over last year.

Gasthaus on the Lake launched its second food bank drive in November, offering diners a 20 per cent discount on their entire bill, including alcohol, in exchange for non-perishable food donations.

The fundraiser ran until the end of February, and according to organizer Jamie Morgan, marketing manager for Gasthaus on the Lake, is was "very successful."

"Over 1,200 discount cards were given out between the COFB locations, with the Summerland Food Bank and the Gasthaus collecting for the Peachland Food Bank.

"Redemption was up over 400 per cent from last year and we discounted a total of $7,049.25 off our guests' bills that redeemed the discount cards between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28," Morgan says.

Peachland limits food trucks on Beach Avenue

Vendor plan scaled back

Photo: Google Street View

Beach Avenue and 13th Street in Peachland in an image captured during the summer.

Peachland has backed away from an idea to expand food trucks and mobile vendors at summertime hotspots.

A policy adopted Tuesday, after being pared down at the previous council meeting, will allow vendors at the doggy beach/boat launch, and along the waterfront at Beach and 13th, where the inflatable waterpark and paddleboard rentals operate.

Three licences for vendors and food trucks will be permitted at the dog beach.

Two retail licences and food truck licence will be offered at Beach and 13th. The Wibit waterpark and paddleboard operation will take the retail licences.

The policy also restricts mobile vendors to rentals only — not sales.

A sauna that operated this winter on the beachfront and seemed to be popular will be addressed in a later recommendation, Mayor Patrick Van Minsel told council.

Retail and food operations for special events like the May long weekend car show are handled with special-event licences, council heard.

Coun. Terry Condon noted the rules suggest vendors keep the noise levels down, but don’t enforce it.

“It is a suggestion and we strongly recommend to the vendors that they adhere to these noise levels to avoid any complaints which will affect future applications that they may have,” answered Planning Manager Jared Kassel.

Central Okanagan Emergency Support Services will hold a mock disaster in Peachland

Preparing for the worst

Photo: Kathy Michaels

BC Wildfire fights fire on Drought Hill in July 2025.

Peachland is preparing for emergencies.

The Central Okanagan Emergency Support Services team is bringing over 100 volunteers to Peachland
for a mock Muster Exercise between noon and 3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 28

According to Kari O’Rourke, communications officer with Central Okanagan Emergency Management, events like this one provide ESS volunteers with the opportunity to review and refine plans, prepare for different types of situations, and exercise their skills and training in a simulated environment.

"There will be a scenario, and that will be revealed on the day of the live exercise. So it'll be a really good opportunity for the volunteers to get some experience and make sure that our processes are working appropriately," says O'Rourke.

There are already 130 volunteers registered to help, so organizers are no longer looking for volunteers.

The live event will be located at the Peachland Community Centre, it's just an opportunity for us to make sure that we have the ESS processes working during an actual event," O'Rourke says.

Emergency Support Services provide short-term basic support for people impacted by disasters, like last year's Drought Hill wildfire.

The program is financed by the provincial government and administered by the Central Okanagan Emergency Management Program.

Peachland sticking for now with afternoon council meetings

Sticking with early meetings

Photo: Pat Bulmer

Peachland municipal hall

A potential candidate in Peachland’s upcoming byelection backed out because of council’s meeting times.

Coun. Terry Condon didn’t name the wannabe contender, but raised the point as council considered whether to stick with 3 p.m. start times for regular council meetings, held on two Tuesdays most months.

Last May, councillors voted to move the meetings from 6 p.m. to 3 p.m. on a trial basis.

“Administration has not observed any significant change in public attendance at regular council meetings as a result of the revised start time. Online viewership has also remained generally consistent,” a report to council said.

Condon suggested council add a sunset clause to the latest motion, so the next council, to be elected in the fall, can change the time if it suits them better. He was told they could do that anyway.

Peachland will have a byelection on March 14 to fill the council position vacated when Keith Thom died in November.

Plan for Beach Avenue surveillance cameras in Peachland not legal

Camera plan not legal

Photo: Unsplash

Stock photo of a security camera.

Peachland’s plans to put surveillance cameras at each end of Beach Avenue would violate privacy regulations, council heard on Tuesday.

“In short … after completing a privacy impact assessment and consulting with the office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, it’s clear that as originally proposed, the program is not compliant with (the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act),” corporate officer Jennifer Sawatzky explained to council.

“The main issue is that the cameras would primarily collect information to support law enforcement investigations, which municipalities are not authorized to do. Surveillance must have a municipal operational purpose, be proportionate and protect privacy. Continuous broad monitoring for law enforcement purposes does not meet those requirements.

“We can, however, protect our assets. We can protect municipal buildings, especially when there has already been instances or cases of vandalism or other crime at those facilities."

Council’s motion late last year proposed installing cameras that would operate 24 hours a day and record vehicles entering and leaving Peachland. The idea was if crime or mischief happens downtown, the camera footage could be used to find a connected vehicle.

Cameras pointed at municipal properties that are vandalism targets are permitted, Sawatzky said.

“Camera operation should be limited to defined risk periods,” a report to council said.

Sawatzky suggested council instruct her to prepare a report on where additional cameras may be used.

Some councillors seemed to be searching for loopholes in surveillance camera rules, but “as much as we want more, this is all we can get,” said Coun. Alena Glasman.

Peachland has cameras now operating outside of public washrooms, municipal hall, the public works yard, 50-Plus centre and Cousins Park.

Road segment to close permanently in Peachland for new fire hall

Road to close for fire hall

Photo: District of Peachland

A segment of San Clement Avenue in Peachland will be closed to make way for a new fire hall.

One end of San Clemente Avenue will be closed off to make room for a new Peachland firehall.

Council on Tuesday agreed to close the road at the 13th Street end, near Highway 97.

Four lots near that end of the street will be combined to become the new firehall location.

Seven properties will have to exit via 12th Street.

San Clemente resumes a little to the south on the east side of 13th.

As San Clemente is also near the 13th-Highway 97 intersection, the closure will be a safety improvement as well, Planning Director Darin Schaal told council.

“Closure of the intersection would actually improve traffic safety in the area. It is extremely close to Highway 97, which creates some potential conflicts with vehicles as they exit the highway.”

The paperwork to get the job done will cost about $10,000 a report to council said.

Three readings of a road closure bylaw were approved Tuesday. A public notice was issued Wednesday in advance of final approval, set for the March 10 council meeting.

In a 2022 referendum, Peachland residents approved borrowing to $17.5 million to build a new protective services building. Council announced at its previous meeting plans to build a basic firehall would now proceed.

Peachland wants its own secondary power line

No backup for Peachland?

Photo: BC Hydro

West Kelowna's BC Hydro substation.

A second power line crossing Okanagan Lake to serve the Westside will be a welcome addition, Peachland councillors agreed Tuesday, but they wondered why are there no plans for a second line to Peachland.

Councillors were briefed on BC Hydro’s plans to run an underwater transmission line from Fortis’s substation in Kelowna to Hydro’s station in Shannon Lake.

The line would back up a power now coming from Merritt and, theoretically, end the hours-long outages West Kelowna and Peachland seem to endure with some regularity.

An exact underwater route must still be determined, Hydro officials told council. The project would be scheduled for completion around 2032.

An open house on the project is scheduled for 4-7 p.m. today at the Shannon Lake Golf Course.

“Once the line in 2032 is connected to the Shannon Lake substation, that’s all fine and dandy, but then it stops,” said Mayor Patrick Van Minsel “And we come after that, Peachland-Summerland. What are the plans if something happens on our line if we only have one line coming in? What happens then if that line is disturbed?”

The line crossing the lake will be a transmission line. The line to Peachland is a distribution line — different projects, the Hydro folks explained.

“The lines that come into Peachland are distribution lines. They’re smaller capacity lines. So if there’s a disturbance on one of those lines, then that’s just a matter of the Westbank crew to respond to restore power. It’s not connected at all to this transmission project” said Dag Sharman.

Van Minsel understood that, but was still concerned there’s no backup for Peachland.

“Look at putting in a second line that could be used in case the other one fails because we are growing as a town,” he advised. Our needs are going up. We have some projects in the next 10-15 years coming to fruition. We will need way more power.

“Shannon Lake, that’s all fine, but we’re still in the same situation we were 20 years ago.”

Coun. David Collins was among those suggesting Peachland might need more power in the future.

Sharman said he’s consulted with experts and “Peachland has sufficient capacity,” but he promised to get some information for council.

As for concerns a plug could be pulled on plans for a second line as they had in the past, CEO Jessica McDonald said: “It’s funded by BC Hydro ratepayers. It’s part of our 10-year capital plan.”

Voting dates set for Peachland byelection

Byelection dates set

Photo: Pat Bulmer

Peachland municipal hall

Two days of advance voting have been set in Peachland’s coming by-election.

Advance polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Peachland Community Centre on March 4 and 11.

General voting day is set for March 14 at the same location with the same hours.

The by-election is taking place to fill the seat of Keith Thom, who died last year. The district initially sought permission from the province to not hold a byelection, because the next general election will be held in October, but was denied.

Five candidates have now stepped forward to seek a seven-month term at the council table in Peachland: Ali Bani-Sadr, Eric Hall, George McFarlane, Chris Richardson and Nick Walsh.

Contact information and websites for some of the candidates are here.

Peachland nixes expansion of food truck program

Food truck expansion nixed

Photo: Unsplash

Peachland cancelled the expansion of food truck program is response to concerns from residents and businesses.

A controversy was averted at Peachland council this week.

A proposed new outdoor vending and food truck policy was likely to cause spark objections — particularly over a plan to allow a mobile vendor and food truck on a trial basis at the north end of Beach Avenue, near Todd Road.

Councillors had a number of letters — mostly objecting — in their agenda packages citing that location.

But before debate could get started, Mayor Patrick Van Minsel offered an amended policy that would remove vendors from that location and Heritage Park downtown, and cancel a proposed vendor increase near Beach Avenue and 13th Street.

Councillors all had something to say, but were all in favour of the mayor’s proposal.

“We’re generally in agreement,” said Coun. Terry Condon, who proposed deferring Van Minsel’s motion to next meeting so it could be put into writing. The motion passed.

“Over the past five or seven years, we’ve put enough effort into trying to make, particularly, food trucks work in this town and clearly, they don’t,” Condon added.

The proposed policy now will allow a retail vendor and food truck at the doggy beach, and potentially a food truck at Beach and 13th. Those locations were previously approved for vendors.

Beach and 13th is where paddle board rentals and the Wibit water playground are located.

Bliss Bakery, in a letter to council, raised several concerns about having food trucks across from the bakery.

The Peachland chamber, in a letter, said mobile food trucks should not operate near any existing businesses “that offer similar products.”

Residents in the Todd Road area were concerned about bringing commercial operations into their residential area. Municipal staff thought increased summertime traffic warranted it.

Brian Hughes in Lakeshore Gardens liked the idea that he could grab a bite on his way home, but Beverley von Zielonka thought the “pristine beach” wasn’t the right spot for retail outlets. Mark Blaney was “firmly” against the idea as well.

Rose and Gary Kohlsmith wrote that “vending trucks are an illogical idea in a residential area,” adding “generator noise, music, conversations and late-night activity would be a problem.”

Gord and Lorena Hurtubise were worried about already-increasing congestion.

Peachland's new fire hall design will be 'simplified' to save money

Fire hall design to be simple

Photo: Pat Bulmer

Peachland's current fire hall

Peachland says it will be bargain hunting as it embarks on the construction of a new fire hall now that it has dropped plans to push out a local church.

Peachland council unanimously agreed this week to stop expropriation efforts of the Baptist Church. The municipality has previously said it needed the property to build a larger protective services building via a private-public mixed-use partnership.

In a news release Friday, the district revealed that a preliminary bid process in December for a public-private partnership shows that “current market circumstances do not make a project like this viable at this time.”

“We are very pleased with the pre-qualification process, in that it was robust and thorough and answered the questions that we needed answered,” said Mayor Van Minsel.

“We now know, at this time, a private-public partnership is just not going to work, but we had to explore higher uses for that valuable gateway area. I know I speak for all of council that we are happy to allay the concerns of the supporters of the Peachland Baptist Church and we commend its representatives for their patience and professionalism as we navigated these waters.”

The new standalone fire hall will be built on a land assembly on San Clemente Avenue adjacent to 13th Street.

In 2022, Peachland residents approved a referendum to borrow $17.5 million for the construction of a new fire hall. Since then, the district purchased property at 4223 San Clemente Avenue, adjacent to the municipally owned parcel at the corner of San Clemente Avenue and 13th Street for the project.

“After the referendum, general construction costs escalated rapidly due to volatile market conditions,” said the district news release.

“In order to make up for the unexpected funding shortfall, the district examined opportunities for a public-private-partnership through a market sounding and request for qualifications Process.”

The municipality will now pursue a “simplified” fire hall design.

That means cost-saving construction methods like prefabricated steel structures.

The district says it has also applied for a $7M grant from the Union of BC Municipalities to help fund the project, which will be designed to “meet regulatory requirements and allow the facility to grow as resources allow.”