Referendum considered for Summerland BC police station - Where do you stand on this issue?

Referendum considered for Summerland BC police station - Where do you stand on this issue?

Sgt. Mona Kauffeld of the Summerland RCMP detachment shows the fingerprinting area in the police station. The cells surrounding the fingerprint area have been condemned and the building, converted to a police facility in 1975, has not seen significant renovation work done in many years. Elsewhere in the building, officers are working from a cramped office area and electronic equipment is being housed in inadequate places. John Arendt Summerland Review

By John Arendt - Summerland Review
Published: June 22, 2010 4:00 PM
Updated: June 22, 2010 4:07 PM

Now that a counter petition on the proposed police station has failed, the municipality will likely go to a referendum to consider whether the community will get a new facility.

Earlier this month, the proposed facility was defeated when a total of 1,247 signatures were received, more than the 843 needed to defeat the approval process.

Before proceeding with a referendum, Perrino said municipal staff will hold a work shop to determine why the proposed facility received so much opposition and what information was lacking.

"We're not going to go out of the gate until we're ready," Perrino said.

When information is presented for the referendum, she said it will be done in order to show the facts and let the public make the decision.

Perrino said a strong effort to collect signatures in opposition to the facility was part of the reason the approval process failed.

Reinhold Prochnau spent six weeks collecting signatures for the petition. He said the proposed building would be large enough to house all the Summerland and Pentiction officers and would meet the needs of both communities for 30 years.

Perrino said the information was inaccurate and the size of the facility is determined by the RCMP.

"I will never be able to compete with someone going door to door and telling fabrications of the truth," she said.

The proposed facility is to be around 835 square metres and is expected to cost $5 million. The municipality would need to borrow $3.125 million, to be repaid over 20 years.

A referendum on the proposal could be held in late September. The cost of holding a referendum is expected to cost $25,000.

In order for a referendum to pass, it would require a majority of the ballots cast.

Referendum considered for Summerland BC police station - Where do you stand on this issue?