Sunniva Inc SNNVF

Notes from the Okanagan Falls public meeting, April 23

[Sunniva4Life]

Here is Laureen M Heisler's post from the Facebook group:

 

"Info from the Sunniva Inc. Public Open House Information Session April 23,2018 at Okanagan Falls Seniors Centre.

 

The presentation was given by Duncan Gordon / Chief Operating Office of Sunniva Inc. The following are from my notes I took at the open house.

 

Sunniva currently has a development proposal plan for the old Weyerhaeuser property at 1655 Maple Street, Okanagan Falls(OK Falls), BC and a development proposal plan for the Senkulmen Business Park on the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) in Oliver, B.C. Duncan mentioned that whichever property they receive approvals for first, will be the property that they develop. At present, the process in obtaining approvals from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) for the OK Falls property is further ahead than is from the OIB property. Any development on OIB land requires Government involvement, which has slowed down the progress in Oliver. Therefore, Sunniva is going ahead with the OK Falls development.

 

Sunniva development in Okanagan Falls, BC

 

Duncan confirmed for me that the facility will be funded by Bank and Subordinate Debt Financing. Sunniva does have a Financing Partner but Duncan would not tell me who the Partner is/are, he just smiled. I said, “you’re not going to tell me, are you?”. He just smiled again. I asked Duncan what the timeline for licensing and financing is, but all he would offer is that it is in the works and that there is an order in the process that takes place for the licensing and financing.

 

[[ Edited to include the following: Sunniva will be purchasing the property from Weyerhaeuser. ]]

 

The ground testing that began last week on the site, continued today. The property has contamination and requires clean up and the removal of derelict building structures. As no permit is required for grading the site, Sunniva will be breaking ground this week with plans to begin grading next week (the week of April 30 – May 04).

 

Sunniva is currently waiting on Development and Building permits from the RDOS. The representative from the RDOS that was at the open house indicated that approvals/permits could besometime within May. (Mark Stewart, please correct me if I got the timeline wrong).

 

In addition, Sunniva will be required to do an ecological study and a traffic study as well as upgrades to the existing Weyerhaeuser road.

 

Once all permits have been issued and building construction begins on the first greenhouse facility, the timeframe for completion of the build is anticipated to be between 3 to 4 months. The construction on the second greenhouse facility is anticipated to begin between 18 months to 2 years after completion of the first facility.

 

Sunniva estimates that there will be 240 full time jobs and no temporary jobs. First greenhouse is estimated to employ 150 people and the second greenhouse is estimated to employ 90 people.

 

The greenhouses will have odor control. No air exhaust from the cultivation zones. A small volume of air exhaust will be from the roof vents and chiller house but not the cultivation zones. Carbon cassette filters or UV light and high-pressure mist lines will be applying non-irritating enviro-friendly odor control.

 

They will have an incinerator on site (a Health Canada requirement) to burn the waste (stems, roots etc.)

 

The greenhouses will have black out screens to prevent light escape. The green house operations will be from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday to Friday.

 

Water will come from rain water off the roofs of the building and fed into a recovery pond as well as from wells.

 

Around the perimeter of the property will be landscaping that will help make the facility blend in more with the surrounding landscapes. The Office building glass will be imprinted with a picture of the Peach Cliff mountain that will be in the background of the facility looking north.

 

When the facility is complete Sunniva plans on planting a crop every single week.

 

There were a lot of questions asked of Duncan by the local residents. After the presentation and Q&A’s, the residents my husband and I spoke with were in favour. I am guessing that there were some not in favour, but we hadn’t spoken with any of them."

More info from Laureen... when she was asked what is her subjective feeling about Sunniva's future and the general impression she has after having attended the meeting:

"I feel very optimistic. My impression is that the RDOS want Sunniva here and are doing whatever they can to legally fast track the project through the system. The company is willing to take the risk and fund site cleanup ahead of receiving any permits. This tells me they are very serious about this project. There is no doubt in my mind that they are Not some fly by night company, but that they are going to be a real mover and shaker in the industry. It is obvious to me that they are doing everything they can to get up and running ASAP in order to capitalize on and take advantage of being in production shortly after legalization/Implement... in Canada. I personally think that they only thing that could put a halt to building on the OK Falls site would be contaminated aquifers below the property. As it was a sawmill from 1965 to 2007 and given the amount of oil/fuel that most likely was spilled on the ground from machinery etc., it is a possibility that there has been leaching over the years. Sunniva is testing for this."

More:

"Duncan had mentioned last night the name of the construction company. I couldn’t remember but Mark said Ledcor was mentioned. They are a huge company. They were recently awarded a 6.4 million dollar contract for the expansion of the Penticton Airport. I am relieved because left up to the local construction companies, the build would be a slow build. https://bit.ly/2HJVPWV "