To the editor:

Kelowna frequently states that the city is underfunded. Hence the large increases in property taxes and the huge backlog of unstarted or uncompleted city projects.

It seems strange then that the city should spend $11.9 million of our money for land that we donsa国际传媒檛 need, that they wonsa国际传媒檛 even allow citizens to use.

Troika planned to convert low-value land next to our city dump into much more valuable land by building a large subdivision on it. City council disallowed that scheme last year because of concerns that future homeowners would complain about dump operations, which are scheduled to continue for several more decades.

After that city decision, Troika announced that they were instead going to proceed with an already-approved plan for estate homes on that Diamond Mountain site. Months later, after a slowdown in Kelowna real estate sales, Troika changed their mind and instead requested that the city buy their land. Now, a huge pile of scarce taxpayer money is being spent on buying the Troika consortiumsa国际传媒檚 land, for more than the assessed value. Kelowna hasnsa国际传媒檛 needed to own that land for the 53 years that the landfill has existed. Apparently, we do need it and we need to pay more than itsa国际传媒檚 worth!

The next time that the city refuses to build a promised community project in your neighborhood claiming sa国际传媒渁 lack of fundssa国际传媒� keep this travesty in mind.

Al Janusas

Kelowna