PENTICTON | 171 Main Street, Penticton, British Columbia V2A 5A9 | | Phone 250.490.2400 | Fax 250.490.2402 | www.penticton.ca

THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF

DOG RELATED PRODUCTS OR CARE - ADVERTISEMENT OPPORTUNITY

The City of Penticton is offering an advertising opportunity tocompanies that are related in some aspect to dog related products or care.

The City provides 100% bio-degradable bags for responsible dogowners to pick up their pet’s sanitary waste for disposal. For theprice of $850 including tax your company advertisement and/orlogo will be placed on 400,000 bags which will be distributed, atapproximately 55 locations throughout the city, during theremainder of 2014 and into 2015. Five ad spaces, of approxi-mately 48 cmÇ each, will be available on each side of the bag fora price of $850 per ad space.

If your company is interested in participating in this opportunityplease contact the City of Penticton Purchasing Manager byemail at cathy.ingram@penticton.ca or phone (250) 490-2555.Opportunities will be granted on a first paid, first serviced basisand shall be received no later than 2:00 pm, Friday, March 21,2014.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALThe City invites qualified companies to provide a proposal for:2014-RFP-04 SKATING LESSONS – FALL 2014/WINTER 2015 ANDSUMMER 2015Please note the Closing Date & Time: March 25, 2014 @ 2:00 pmFor a complete copy of the Request for Proposal, please visit theCity of Penticton website: www.penticton.ca/purchasing.

VIBRANCY UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN DOWNTOWN PENTICTON!

Revitalization on Westminster Avenue and Martin Street is onschedule. Along the 100 and 200 Blocks of Westminster Avenue,pavers are being removed, electrical work continues and curbingis set to begin.Local businesses are OPEN for BUSINESS and look forward toserving you. Fencing is in place to allow for safe and consistentpedestrian access throughout the construction process. For more information please visit: www.penticton.ca/downtown orfollow us on Facebook.com/cityofpenticton. If you have anyquestions or comments, please email the Business Liaison atriley.gettens@penticton.ca.

TOP 40 UNDER 40

By DAVID CROMPTONPenticton Herald

The South Okanagan always “felt likehome” for Erin Trainer, but she neverimagined she’d actually live here.

Erin, 31, and her husband, Erick, lefttheir jobs as journalists at CTVVancouver Island in 2011 to move toSummerland and start their own communications company, ET2media.

“I never would’ve told you 10 yearsago there was a chance we’d be livinghere,” said Trainer, who resides inTrout Creek. “I always enjoyed cominghere every summer as a child visitingour grandparents. We just love it herethough … the lifestyle, the small-townvalues, the healthy environment and be-ing able to create a career and life here.”

After getting her political science de-gree at the University of Victoria andbroadcast journalism degree at BCIT,the Coquitlam-born Trainer worked forfour years as a news writer and associ-ate producer at CTV.

The Trainers decided to leave theirjobs and move to Summerland — whereErin’s parents reside — and openET2media.

Using their skills as videographers,storytellers and producers, the Trainersspecialize in creating strategic videosfor businesses and organizations.

With the growing trend towards using video as a marketing tool, Erinsaid the South Okanagan was an idealplace to open the business since therewasn’t a lot of competition in the sector.

“Being trained journalists, we offereda unique perspective on how to dothings,” said Trainer. “You’re able tonetwork rather quickly here. A lot ofour clientele has been acquired throughword of mouth.”

One of her fondest moments was whenthe Trainers modelled for PentictonTourism’s “You Are Here” campaign,including on the cover of the 2013tourism guide and billboards.

The Trainers have seen their businessevolve and the number of repeat clientshas reinforced they are delivering aquality product. The services have beenexpanded to include event management,video blog training and photography.

“I enjoy working with people and loveseeing others succeed,” said Trainer.“Erick and I have always worked to-gether, we both have our own skill setand complement each other well. Welearn a lot from each other.”

In 2013, Trainer became manager ofthe Penticton Farmers’ Market.

“This contract suits me well as Istrongly believe in supporting small-scale farmers and educating peopleabout the benefits of eating fresh, local

food,” said Trainer.Trainer recently completed her

Fitness Theory class and hopes to startteaching fitness classes soon.

Actively involved in the community,Trainer started the Trout CreekCommunity Association in early 2013,organizing community cleanups andinitiating several other projects.

Trainer also writes for Wine Trailsmagazine, participates in yoga and exercise classes each week, supports lo-cal organizations such as SOVAS, fos-ter cats for the BC SPCA, and hikes,snowshoes and mountain bikes aroundthe South Okanagan regularly.

Trainer said it is “cool” to be nomi-nated along with other young entrepre-neurs and community-minded local res-idents in the Top 40 Under 40 program.

“We’re very supportive of each otherand I always enjoy reading about themin the newspaper,” said Trainer. “We’revery honoured to be recognized.”

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-By Penticton Herald Staff

With the Ellis Street bike route now settled,Penticton city council is now switching itsattention to Vancouver Avenue.

Council approved a plan Monday night toreview the Vancouver hill area separatelyfrom a newly endorsed share-the-road pro-posal for the northern portion of Ellis Street.

The move followed council’s unanimous endorsement of a recommendation to reducethe speed limit to 30 km/h along Ellis fromWade Avenue to Vancouver Avenue and add

“sharrow” markings on the pavement to indicate shared bicycle and vehicle lanes.

A controversial proposal to introducemarked bike lanes along Ellis, while elimi-nating at least 55 parking stalls along the westside of the street, was rejected by council.Nearby business owners feared the loss ofparking would result in a dramatic loss ofbusiness.

Similar concerns were expressed by theowners of The Bench Artisan Food Marketon Vancouver Avenue. Although they caterto many cyclists, most of their clientele parks

on the street.Council voted 4-2 to separate Vancouver

Avenue from the Ellis Street “sharrow” pro-gram, with councillors Helena Konanz andJohn Vassilaki the only ones opposed.

Konanz said although she would not like tosee a lower speed limit on the Vancouver hill,the share-the-road program makes sense, provided no parking is lost.

“I don’t want those businesses along theVancouver hill to have to worry about nothaving parking,” she said.

However, Coun. Wes Hopkin said more dis-

cussion with affected property owners is re-quired.

Many business owners along Ellis claimedthey were never contacted by the city fortheir opinions on the original bike networkproposal before the plans were unveiled lastfall.

Mitch Moroziuk, the city’s director of op-erations, said further design work will occurin late summer or early fall on the city’s bikenetwork plan as it pertains to VancouverAvenue.

Organizers say they were never given a chance to present their side of the story

By JOHN MOORHOUSEPenticton Herald

A downtown community garden is being given the boot byPenticton city council.

However, a spokesperson for the Penticton UrbanAgriculture Association wonders why council made its decision without hearing their side of the story.

Council has denied a request by the community gardengroup and the Downtown Penticton Association (DPA) to extend its licence to use city-owned property near the former Nanaimo Hall site at Ellis Street and Wade Avenue.

Council revealed details Monday night of the decisionmade in-camera on Feb. 17.

The city will not renew the existing agreement, which expires on June 30.

Coun. John Vassilaki said one of his concerns was overthe condition of the community garden.

“It was very, very messy. They didn’t keep up with theplan that they brought forward to city council,” he said.

Vassilaki noted the city also has plans to develop an 88-stall parking lot on the site.

Coun. Helena Konanz said although the urban agricul-ture group had some good ideas, they appeared to sufferfrom a lack of volunteers.

“The ones that worked on it, worked very, very hard, butthey just couldn’t keep it up,” she said. “They couldn’t keepup the lot and keep up the gardens.”

Council gave approval in 2011 for the Urban AgricultureAssociation, in partnership with the DPA, to transform theNanaimo Hall site and adjacent city-owned lots into an urban agriculture centre featuring composting boxes,xeriscape landscaping, bike racks and more. The city grant-ed a three-year licence to use the site for a dollar a year.

Eva Durance, past-president of the Urban AgricultureAssociation, said Tuesday council’s decision not to renewthe licence caught them completely by surprise. She notedthey had recently applied to increase the allotted space forthe garden.

“We had no indication whatsoever that there was goingto be any problem,” she said.

“It’s looks heck of a lot better than when it was a weedy,garbage-strewn lot.”

She noted the group’s volunteers worked hard to keep theweeds down while holding a number of composting work-shops and other events. A garden shed was added.

The organization also donated more than 800 pounds ofproduce grown in the garden to the Penticton Soupateriaand Salvation Army food bank over the past two years.

Durance said she understands that City Hall received acomplaint about the appearance of the site, but claimed thegroup never got an opportunity to explain the situation directly to council. It also appears that a letter outliningthe association’s plans never got forwarded to council.

She also wondered why council would prefer to see a park-ing lot on the site rather than a community garden.

Mitch Moroziuk, the city’s operations manager, notedthere is no money in this year’s budget for developing theparking lot and no directive yet from council on such a project.

The Urban Agriculture Association now hopes to appearas a delegation before council at its March 17 meeting inhopes of convincing the city to change its mind.

‘Lost patrol’ recalled tonightThe author of a book following the trail of the legendary

“lost patrol” of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police will ap-pear in Penticton this evening.

Keith Billington will be at Hooked on Books, 225 MainSt., at 7 p.m. Billington was part of a 1970 dog sled ex-pedition that followed an 800-kilometre route from FortMacPherson, NWT, to Dawson City, Yukon. This was acommemorative journey of the Mounties’ 1911 patrol,which experienced a tragic outcome on the same trip.

Billington will present a slideshow and read passagesfrom his book “The Last Patrol” published by Caitlin Press.

Alarm boxThe Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen fire

dispatch centre received the following 911 calls:Tuesday4:20 a.m. Bridgeman Road and Highway 97,

Summerland. Motor vehicle accident.5:18 a.m. Calgary Avenue, Penticton. Medical first re-

sponse.Monday7:51 a.m. Duncan Avenue West, Penticton. Medical first

response.8:07 a.m.Wilson Street, Penticton.Medical first response.10:03 a.m.Richter Avenue, Hedley.Medical first response.1:09 p.m.Martin Street, Penticton.Medical first response.3:06 p.m. Highway 3, Hedley. Medical first response.5:18 p.m. Stocks Crescent, Penticton. Carbon monox-

ide alarm.8:21 p.m. Main Street, Penticton. Medical first response.9:16 p.m.Burnaby Ave., Penticton.Medical first response.

Bikes on Vancouver hill to get a separate look from city

Urban gardengets the boot

DAVID CROMPTON/Penticton Herald

Erin Trainer is owner/operator of ET2media along with her husband, Erick.

No better place to be

Penticton Herald, Wednesday, March 5, 2014

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