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

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PENTICTON LIBRARY SURVEYHelp the library serve you better! Penticton Public Library is holdinga community survey from Dec. 1 to 20. The survey takes about 5minutes and is available online:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PentictonLibrarySurveyDon’t use the library? That’s ok, we want to hear from you too! Entera draw for a chance to win one of three great prizes: $150Downtown Dollars or $100 gift card from Cherry Lane Mall or $50gift card from Cherry Lane Mall. Find out more at 250-770-7781.

2013 CHRISTMAS GARBAGE & RECYCLING SERVICEGarbage and Recycling pickup for Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013 will be picked up on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013.

Garbage pickup for Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014 will be picked up onSaturday, Jan. 4, 2014.

For more information please call 250-490-2500.

Penticton Herald, Wednesday, December 18, 2013

A3

Council rejectsproposal for businesstax cut that wouldincrease taxes forresidential ratepayers

By JOHN MOORHOUSEPenticton Herald

A proposal to reduce businesstaxes while increasing residentialtaxes has been rejected byPenticton city council.

The city’s fiscal review advisorycommittee had recommended thatthe tax rate for business and com-mercial properties be reducedfrom 1.67 times the residential taxrate to 1.5 over a five-year period.

Colin Fisher, the city’s chief fi-nancial officer, told councilMonday night the revenue-neutralproposal would shift $473,000 incity tax revenues onto the residen-tial sector over five years. Thiswould result in a 2.5 per cent hikein residential taxes, while businesstaxes would drop by 7.8 per centover that period.

“In recent years, there has beensome concern over the slumpingeconomy and, in particular, the ad-ditional cost burdens borne by busi-nesses and commercial interests inPenticton,” he stated in a report.

However, the idea of forcing res-idents to shoulder a heavier taxload didn’t sit well with the major-ity of council.

Coun. Wes Hopkin notedPenticton al-ready offers oneof the lowestbusiness taxrates in theOkanagan. Thecity’s 1.67 multi-plier rate com-pares to 3.20 inVernon, 2.24 in

West Kelowna, 2.08 in Kelownaand 1.90 in Peachland.

“We’re actually considerably lessin terms of the onus we put on busi-nesses in the community,” he said.

Hopkin said a straight 10 per centtax cut for businesses would be avery aggressive move by the cityand might still not generate signif-icant economic growth.

“If you make the tax revenueneutral, all the money you wouldbe saving for businesses you actu-ally take away from the consumersof that business,” he said. “I thinkit’s just a bit of a shell game. You’renot going to be generating mucheconomic growth.”

Coun. Helena Konanz was thelone council member to supportthe recommendation.

Konanz said although she does-n’t want to place a heavier tax bur-den onto the backs of residents, thebusiness community needs a help-ing hand.

She noted larger businesses facehuge increases in their electricalbills — up to $20,000 a month insome cases.

“I’m hesitant about putting theload on our residents, but I don’tsee us reducing the load off our lo-cal businesses in any other way,”she said. “I don’t see us promotingbusiness as much as we could be.”

The fiscal review committee hadrequested the tax rate issue be in-cluded in council’s budget deliber-ations. A final daylong budget ses-sion will be held today at City Hall.

By ANDREA ANTHONYSpecial to the Herald

Getting together for agood cup of coffee withfamily is the feeling of anew business in

Okanagan Falls. Dogtown CoffeeCo. opened in February 2012, andit has become a popular meetingplace for residents of OK Fallsand the South Okanagan.

Owner Corrie Corfield, 33, hadbeen interested in running herown coffee shop since doing a re-search project on Starbucks andGood Earth Coffee while in thebusiness administration programat Southern Alberta Institute ofTechnology in Calgary.

“I was really taken by the ideathat (a) coffee (shop) is not somuch selling the coffee, but it’s amedium to create connectionswith people,” said Corfield.

“I want to give my customersthe very best product I possiblycan, but it’s not because of mylove for the product, it’s my lovefor the people. When you careabout somebody and you’re in-vested in that relationship, youwant to give the best to them.”

After moving to OK Falls fiveyears ago from Penticton withher husband to buy a house andraise their family, Corfield real-ized there was nowhere to go fora cup of coffee in town and decid-ed to do something about it.

Corfield said it was a struggleto find a location for her shop, de-spite there being so many emptybuildings in OK Falls, due tolandowners not wanting rentersand the price of rent.

She does not feel that the poten-tial of OK Falls is being reached.

“OK Falls has kind of a stigmathat it’s just a place you gothrough, and nobody wants tostop and spend any time,” saidCorfield. “People drive throughOK Falls with blinders on.”

Corfield said she hopes to be acatalyst for the community andshow other people that DogtownCoffee is a small business that is

not only surviving but thriving.“My sales are up 85 per cent

over year one, which I’m blownaway by.”

As for the name, Dogtown CoffeeCo. comes from Dogtown being theoriginal name of OK Falls.

“It really speaks to the fact thatwe want to be a communityplace, and we’re all about OKFalls,” said Corfield, adding thatno matter what changes come forthe coffee shop in the future, itwill always be about the commu-nity of OK Falls.

“We’re always keeping our eyesopen for what the next thingwould be.”

Corfield has been looking intooptions such as setting up a foodtruck near Penticton SecondarySchool.

“I’m one of those people that(gets) on an idea and I stick withit until it either happens or dies,”said Corfield.

Being a town in the Okanagan,the winter months are muchslower for business than the

summertime. This is one of thebiggest struggles, said Corfield.

However, despite many busi-nesses in OK Falls closing for thewinter, Corfield said she hasmade it her priority to stay openyear-round.

“It’s kind of depressing to behere and have literally nothing todo (because) everything isclosed,” said Corfield.

Despite the slower pace,Corfield said she enjoys living inOK Falls because it is a goodplace to raise her family.

“All the good things that youhear about small communities . . .that people rally together andhelp each other out is true in aplace like this.”

Corfield lives only three blocksfrom Dogtown Coffee with herhusband and three children. Herkids are nine, six and four.

Corfield’s family helps her a lotat the coffee shop. Currently, theonly staff at Dogtown is Corfieldherself, her chef Karl Mancheronand her husband, Chris, who

owns his own business inPenticton.

“It’s pretty much a family busi-ness in every sense of the word,”said Corfield, adding that herchildren are often there servingcustomers and wiping tables.

Dogtown Coffee is located at5121 Ninth Avenue in OK Falls.Its regular hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday andSunday. At 2 p.m. everyWednesday and Saturday, thereis live acoustic music. DogtownCoffee will be closed Dec. 23-30 forChristmas.

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By Penticton Herald Staff

Penticton’s 10th biggest news sto-ry of 2013 happened in Memphis,Tenn., but had a direct link to the

SouthOkanagan.

At Graceland,the home ofElvis Presley, a

tribute artist from Penticton tooksecond place overall in the worldat Ultimate Elvis.

Adam Fitzpatrick had only beendoing “the Elvis thing” for fiveyears, and while he enjoyed re-markable popularity in his home-town, the rest of the world didn’t

realize how good he was.“I don’t know what to think. It has-

n’t hit me yet. It was just so amaz-ing,” Fitzpatrick said in a phone in-terview with the Herald the day af-ter his silver-medal performance.

Ultimate Elvis, sanctioned byElvis Presley International, is atournament of champions, andparticipants must first win a sanc-tioned event in the same year.

Fitzpatrick sang The Wonder ofYou and believes it was his bestperformance ever. News quicklytravelled back to Penticton thanksto his many fans who followed himto Memphis and tweeted updatesto his fans back home.

Fitzpatrick won the trip toMemphis by taking top honours atthe Penticton event. Attendance atthe local festival was up dramati-cally from previous years, and fes-tival chairman Terry Michels saidFitzpatrick’s presence was a bigpart of its success.

“What was interesting to see was

the increase in a younger group ofattendees,” Michels said, notingthe women in the mob rushing thestage to grab scarves were asyoung as 25.

Fitzpatrick, who bears a strikingresemblance to the King of Rock ’n’Roll, began his career when hetook to the stage in Penticton on adare from friends. That day, hewent on to win the 2008 amateurcrown, and with it came profes-sional status. Although he placedwell at the many festivals,Fitzpatrick had won only once be-fore, taking top honours in SanDiego in 2012 followed by a top-15finish at Ultimate Elvis.

He’s hoping the “second in theworld” title will lead to larger ven-ues. He’s heading out in the newyear on a 10-city tour of WesternCanada, complete with a full bandplus an opening act. Showing hisappreciation for the support he’sreceived from locals, he will openthe tour in Penticton on Jan. 25.

10

Even in the midst of Penticton city council’s final dayof budget deliberations, Mayor Garry Litke has foundtime for his Brown Bag Lunch.

The informal public discussion period with the may-or normally falls on the Wednesday following each reg-ular council meeting. Litke noted he received a numberof complaints over the cancellation of the Dec. 4 ses-sion due to a budget meeting that day.

Today’s hour-long Brown Bag Lunch begins at noonin City Hall council chambers, while the rest of coun-cil takes it own lunch break.

—— PPeennttiiccttoonn HHeerraalldd

JAMES MILLER/Penticton Herald

Adam Fitzpatrick takes the microphone for his final song seconds after being declared thewinner of the Penticton PacificNorthwest Elvis Festival. He laterfinished second at Ultimate Elvis.

2014 CITY BUDGET

Businesstax ratewon’t bereduced

ANDREA ANTHONY/Special to the Herald

Corrie Corfield is the owner of Dogtown Coffee Co. in Okanagan Falls.

TOP 40 UNDER 40

Connections matterto coffee shop owner

TOP 10 NEWS STORIES OF THE YEAR

City all shook up over tribute artist

Hopkin

Meet with mayorduring lunch today