January 4, 2010

OSOYOOS INDIAN BAND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

A schematic concept drawing shows the scale and size of the 207-acre light industrial and commercial park near Oliver, B.C.

Industrial park development

Osoyoos Indian Band moves forward with industrial park in Oliver, British Columbia

JEAN SORENSEN

correspondent

Ground-breaking on the second phase of the Oliver, British Columbia-based Senkulmen Enterprise Park is slated for early 2010 after the project received a $2.7-million federal government grant

“We are looking to have shovels in the ground in January,” said Chris Scott, chief operating officer for the Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corporation.

Tender calls are expected to go out shortly through a construction management firm, which has been chosen, but not yet ratified by the band council.

The name of the company is not being disclosed until approved.

True Consulting Group, out of Kamloops, did the initial engineering on the 207-acre development, which is expected to include five or more new phases at build-out.

The commercial and light industrial development, located at the north end of the Osoyoos Indian Band reserve on Highway 97 near Oliver, will stress stringent sustainable guidelines for building design, infrastructure and area development.

“Our goal is to deliver one of the most environmentally sustainable industrial and commercial park developments in Canada,” said band Chief Clarence Louie.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony in December marked the receipt of funding from the Western Economic Diversification Community Adjustment Fund and a step forward in what Louie has called a 40-year journey to develop the area.

The band first attempted to develop the area into a business and commercial park about 40 years ago, but approvals weren’t received.

The band, though, did find success in drawing in Brights Winery (now Constellation Brands) onto the site.

The winery has since expanded to more than 18 acres, employs 160 people and has about a quarter of a million square feet under roof.

The success made the band want to attempt to move forward with a second phase development.

“This (winery) really represented the type of blue-chip member we were looking for in the development of the park,” said Scott.

The latest park development is expected to translate into not only construction jobs for local First Nations, but also long-term jobs for local residents.

The band’s development company also has a number of existing businesses including NK’MIP Construction plus Oliver Readi-Mix, which opened on the reserve in 2002. It supplies concrete, aggregate plus forms, accessories and pre-cast products to jobs in the South Okanagan.

Four years ago, the effort to kick-start the enterprise park began in earnest.

“More specifically, we started to target raising the money and landing the infrastructure for this park,” said Scott.

There are 207 acres within the park, of which 112 acres are destined for development, with 72 forming a habitat area and wetlands, while the remaining land is a utility corridor.

“We have concentrated on habitat areas and even the connecting piece of land and the wetlands will allow critters to migrate through the parks,” said Scott.

Integral to the over-all project design to reduce impact on the environment, the park also features a residential area.

“A portion will be residential development at the south end, where employees can live and either bike or walk to work,” he said.

Green features are being used throughout the development.

Solar energy is being used for park lighting. A wastewater treatment system, by ECOfluid Systems Inc. of Burnaby, features an Upflow Sludge Blank Filtration (USBF) that provides a high treatment efficiency and includes biological nitrogen and phosphorous reduction.

Treated water is then purged further through the wetlands, which acts as a natural bio-filter.

A sanitary treatment plant will also feature a green roof and grey-water recycling will fufil irrigation needs.

Other features include: a district heat system using waste heat from the nearby winery; use of geothermal heat and cooling; and native plants for landscaping.

“In January, we want to start putting in the road, sewer and water and we hope we are ready to start construction in June 2010,” he said, adding the corporation is looking at an absorption rate of five to eight acres a year.

Complete build-out of the park is estimated to take 20 years and will include a total of 40 tenants.

Until the recent downturn in construction, Scott said the corporation was in serious discussions with several entities wanting to situate or build in the park.

However, Scott is optimistic that by summer, the economy will improve again.

The development corporation is available to either build a structure for a company or it will lease the land.

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