Hello,
I write this letter to request caution, not criticize anyone or their ideas.
My name is Dean Corbett and our family has lived in the Sidley area since 1982. We moved from the city in search of a place with wide open spaces, friendly people and a fine sense of community. We found a wonderful combination of those values on this mountain. I believe that the search for those same values brought many of you here.
I was impressed by the turn out and quality presentations at the AMCS AGM last Thursday. I appreciate the work that you all have done in your organizations, committees and interests. I am, however, concerned with a general trend that seemed to be coming out in the meeting. I hope that everyone will take time to consider the changes that some of the ideas would bring to our mountain.
I am dismayed with the idea of creating more signage and lighting at the various subdivision entrances. We live higher up the mountain. We can see the amount of light pollution that comes from Osoyoos, Oroville and Oliver. It really does light up the nightime sky. I know it is foggy on Hwy 3 sometimes and turnoffs can be missed, but when you go slowly, note the distance from the bridge at Osoyoos on your odometer, you should know where you are. That information would be convenient for your visitors to find your turnoff. The amount of money, energy to fundraise for lights, the electricity consumed and all those extra things could be avoided by knowing how far your turnoff is from the bridge. If you still believe that lights are needed, some small solar powered garden lights around the statues may work. Please don’t pollute our night sky with more street lights. There are plenty of signs cluttering up the highway and making the area look semi-urbanized. Again, the amount of energy expended in creating and erecting more signs could be used to further other projects like FireSmart and the AMFD.
I am not a great fan of Fortis Inc, their methods or rate structure. Compared to our prior electricity companies though, they have provided us with far more dependable service. I appreciate Nick Marty’s input regarding electricity rates, but one fact was missed out. Those people who have access to natural gas have to pay for that energy. If that cost was calculated into the total energy cost of heating and running your home, I believe that total cost would be less alarming than presented. Natural gas has never been available around here, and I don’t think there have ever been plans to provide it. That should have been considered prior to building and more energy efficient home designs could have been employed.
It seemed that the general tone of the meeting was to make this area a better community which is great, but with more people and thus more services. Please take minute to consider why you moved here in the first place. More residents will want more citified services, which if delivered, will again mean more people moving here.
Do you want to turn this into a more urbanized area like what you left behind or do you want to keep it more like the place with the values you were searching for and that brought you to our mountain in the first place?
Dean Corbett 800-661-9114