28 Wednesday; April 3)-1994

Page 2A

MEN

(The Castlegar Sun

Blueberry still looking for fire protection

By NANCY LINGLEY
& FRANK ISERNIA’;
Approximately 225 homes in.

the Blueberry Crock Irrigation 33

District have no formal’ protection
against the devastation of a house

are.

"It's not possible’ for: the
community to form a volunteer fire
department," said Bill, Cook, a
member of the Blueberry Creek
Board of Trustees. "We have no"
tax base. We investigated that
Possibility, but ‘it's far too costly."

Randy Matheson, RDCK
administrative assistant, agreed.

"What happens in a small
community like that. is’ the
Regional District will’get a request’
from the residents or the director
for fire protection," he explained.
"We looked at setting up a fire hall
and found the tax base is just not
large enough to set up a fire
department on its own."

The RDCK then approached
Castlegar about possibly supplying
service to Blueberry,: ‘said
Matheson, but that’ was a.
“deadend. So the next logical step
was Genelle.” :

Consequently, the RDCK,
Regional. District of Central
Kootenay, is in negotiation with its
neighbor, the RDKB, Regional

. District of Kootenay Boundary, for
fire ;

Name: Dave

Truck &

Where you work: I

Castlegar likes: The people
Castlegar dislikes: None
Best kept Cast

What you do there: Everything

secret: Z

‘g Island

Pet: Dog (Tasha)

Vehicle: “big boat”
What would you rather be doing? Sitting in Bahamas!

services for one of
its smaller communities, :
This, despite the fact that
Blueberry Creek is closer to
Castlegar than Genelle, ard, at one
time, the B Creek

services to the community such as’
fire protection and street lighting. |

» ‘That's why the Board was formed |: ‘

in the first place,

“contract, the Board at that time
decided to take it to a public,

»mecting. The Board was told by: °

some of the old people out here
that if they wanted to live in Trail
or Castlegar they would."

Since that time, the population
mix of Blueberry Creck has
changed added this resident.

"Now it's becoming more of a
mixture. of newcomers and
younger, working people. But
there's still a fair amount of retired
people and old-age pensioners,"

‘There was an “immediate surge
of enthusiasm for obtaining some
degree of fire protection when the
last house burned down," said
another resident of the area. "They
sprang a fair amount of money for
firehoses and that’ type of
equipment. A group of about 14
even began to practice with the
new Robson/Raspberry Fire
Department. That lasted about
three’ or four weeks,"

As well, there are fire hydrants
in place in Blueberry Creek.

“They're put in as-a matter of
course anytime there's a hole dug
in the ground anywhere near a
main pipe. It's cost effective."

Blueberry Creek would not be
the first RDCK community to
obtain fire protection service,
courtesy of the RDKB.

Currently Fairview, a small

Y.
Irrigation District could have had
such an agreement with the then
Village of Kinnaird.

ity of several dozen
homes located on the opposite side
of the highway from Blueberry, is
protected by the Genelle Fire
Di

, "But rather than just sign the Hee
‘out here read about Ootischenia

resident, "Then they sit up, and
poke their heads ‘out, and say
‘where's ours?! oe )

“But if, by some mischance, a
house ‘should bum down, all hell
would be popping here.”

"And everybody would blame
somebody else."

Negotiations are still in the very
Preliminary stages. But people
have indicated that they want fire
protection." * ©;

"Every once in a while people

getting something for their fire
department, like that big Go BC
cheque," said the Blueberry

Time for a change

“There was a good
hammered out with Kinnaird even
before, Kinnaird became a part of
Castlegar," stated a resident of
Blueberry who wishes to remain
anonymous..."At that time the
Board of Trustees had the power,
and still does, to provide essential

under an
that was made in 1987 to cover 43
homes, and extended in 1989 to

- include seven more in the upper

Fairview area,

“The matter will go to.
referendum when, and if, we can
get an agreement," stated Cook.

Sun staff photographer Brendan Halper, temporarily
on the wrong side of the camera, points out that
Daylight Savings time takes effect this weekend. Set
your clocks ahead on hour before going to bed on
Saturday night. SUN STATE ENOTO / Naney Lngey,

Castlegar City Council meetings soon accessible to all

‘Musical offices solve

By FRANK ISERNIA
Sun staff writer

wnt

offices that are situated at 1402
Columbia Avenue, across the road
from the Service Station.

Castlegar City Council has
finally decided that it is time to put
up or move out.

Effective April 6, Council
Chambers will be accessible to
everyone.

City of Castlegar Council
meetings will be held in the old

Then, following the old musical
offices formula, the Engineering
Offices will be relocated to City
Hall.

Council has been under fire
over inaccessible City Council
Chambers. A set of steep stairs
pose quite a dilemma for the
disabled

City Engi

ing to attend city

meetings,

“Anybody that has been
downtown to City Chambers
knows about the steep stairs. You
just can’t get up them, and
apparently it’s too steep a grade for
a chairlift,” said Alderman Kirk

problem temporarily .

h ”

an i y
held in Castl
recently, Alderman Marilyn
Mathieson said that the steep stairs
leading to Council Chambers was
an embarrassment. Although this
move is a step in the right

irecti hi has mixed

During

Duff. “We're quite i in the
disability awareness thing, so it
only makes good sense that we do
everything we can to accommodate
the disabled.”

feelings about it.

“The Engineering offices offers
accessibility for anyone wanting to
attend Council meetings, but the

& Celgar
Continued from 1A

Simons Ltd. “It’s a union project
and there are restrictions on
employment.”

Other concems identified in the
discussions included the need for
communication to get out into the
community; the hope that local
businesses would keep prices
competitive because, “once we
lose business, it’s hard to get it
back”; and the co-ordination of
construction traffic to the lay-
down area with chip truck traffic
to the dumper should be
addressed.

Browne also promised that the
latest list of contracts with contact
persons included would be kept at
the downtown Info Office and the
office could be phoned for that
information.

“It’s too dangerous for people

just to wander around down on the
site," stated Fox, asking that those
who wished to see the contractors
please telephone for appointments
first.

“The primary purpose of this
seminar was to open the lines of
communication,” said Browne. “It
was an opportunity to meet face-
to-face and discuss our mutual
interests. We intend to do more
and more of this as the. project
proceeds.”

Talking it out. Construction
Manager Cathal: Fox of
H.A. Simons Ltd., left, and
Bryan Loewen, Castlegar
Branch Manaager for ICG
Propane at last
Thursday's Business
Opportunities Seminar.

ini: people,” said Duff.
Engineering, planning, building
ion, and all other services
that were handled at the

are not

she said. “
Mathi d that

although Council has moved up

the. street, City Hall is still
inaccessible for the disabled.
“But,” she added, “as
renovations are made, the issue of
making City Hall completely
ible will be addi a

engineering building will now be
located at City Hall. :

Kenn Hample, city director of
engineering and public works, said
that the second phase of a

Duff explained that Mayor
Audrey Moore’s office and City
staff will remain in the City Hall
building.

“It seems pretty silly for the
city operations to be divided up
into different places. In my
opinion, it makes it harder to

of City Hall
is almost complete and a draft
report is currently being reviewed.

j

*

r

Wednesday, April 3, 1991

The Castlegar Sun

By NANCY LINGLEY,

Bev Kennedy leave

the board organized committee

Sun Editor

Bev Kennedy found herself in
an interesting situation last Thurs-
day afternoon, s

She entered the business

st was really good,
because it allowed them to get a
lot accomplished and they could
see the results of their hours spent
as volunteers,”

One of the major projects

PP jointly
organized by the Celgar Pulp
Company and the Castlegar and
District Chamber of Commerce as
Chamber manager. Then, at 4
p.m,, Kennedy took on her new
position as an assistant to the site
manager for Gotaverken Energy
Systems, Ltd., the company that
will supply and install the new
Celgar recovery boiler and precip-
itator, just in time for the, again
jointly-sponsored, Celgar Busi-

Bev Kennedy

ness After Hours get together.
“I enjoyed my experience with

: the Chamber of Commerce,” said

Kennedy, who took on the posi-
tion of Chamber-Manager on Feb.

3. 28,-1988. “I leamed a lot and met

a lot of wonderful people. I also
leamed how to work with a volun-
teer board. Everyone should do
that at least once in their life.” .

Kennedy‘had nothing but praise”

for her board of directors noting
that, among other things, “the way

during her time as
chamber manager was the recent
study prepared by the Chamber on
the effects of the proposed Celgar
expansion — or lack of it.

“The study was very well
received,” said Kennedy. “It was
very readable for a technica
feport.”

Another project Kennedy is
justifiably proud of is the compila-
tion of a Community Resource
Book, even though it will probably
never become a mass-produced
volume. The information was put’
together with the help of summer.
student work. 7

“It’s massive,” said Kennedy.
“We haven't figured out a way to
reduce it to something we can
reproduce in a feasible way.”

The “book” contains all the
information anyone could want on
Castlegar and area said Kennedy.

“There’s information on what
to see and do, where to rent a boat,

» go horseback riding, rent a hall,

service club information, recre-
ation club information, fishing
information — what to catch
where, bed and breakfast places,
not only in Castlegar, but in the
whole Kootenay. We try, in the.,
directory, to cross-sell the whole
Kootenay region. There’s also
about eight pages on the Doukho-
bor culture. and history. I don't
know where else you could find
all that in one place,” she com-
mented. “And it’s all on computer
and easily updated. We're trying
very hard to keep it up-to-date.”

Sections of the master copy
can, and have been, photocopied
for people or organizations with
specific needs she added.

As Chamber Manager,
Kennedy carried on the day-to-day
functions of the Chamber and
looked after the Business Informa-
tion Center and the Travel Info-
Center.

“It was kind of three jobs in
one,” she said. “I think the Cham-
ber provides quality service to the
Visitof afd to the’ community as‘a “"~
whole.

“The community has become

s Chamber.

Recognizing a job well-done

SUN STAFF PHOTO/ Nancy Ungley

Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce President
Jim Craig presents outgoing Chamber Manager Bev
Kennedy with a going away gift at the Celgar Business
Opportunities Seminar held at the Sandman Inn last
Thursday afternoon. Kennedy is leaving the Chamber to
take a contract job with Gotaverken Energy Systems
Ltd., one of the contractors working on the Celgar Mod-
ernization and Expansion project.

more and more d on the

> Kennedy has no doubts that the,

Travel InfoCenter for the informa-
tion it can supply. The Chamber is
a supplier of information. It was

, very rare. if we couldn’t find an

answer’of some sort ‘for anyone?
And we give accurate information.
If it’s not accurate, forget it.

Chamber will do just fine without
her.

“The Board is going to ensure .
. that the Chamber continues to run
” inthe Stifhe malitier asit has,"she -

promised.

Wednesday, A’ southwesterly

give cloud with occasional s

pA 68)
OUTLOOK: The forecast for

of moist Pacific alr will continue to

breaks and the odd shower. Highs
will range from. 12 to 14. The outlook for Thursday and
Friday calls for the southwesterly flow to continue how-
ever the air mass will be a little drier with more sun.

flow

unny

20.4/31 6.4/

Precipitation: Rain

0.4 cm. 0.4

Sunshine: == Number of
, * Hours

37.30 1

A LOOK BACK AT THE PAST WEEK:
Temperature: Max/Date Min/Date

Snow

Norma!
Mean

5.0

Mean

27 5.0

Normal
Total:

Total

0.8 cm. 7.9 cm. ©

Normal Number
of Hours

30.6

Red Mtn. and Whitewater on

Forecast pro

REMARKS: A cool northwesterly flow the first part of
the week gave localized snowfalls of nearly 15 cm. to

15 to 40 cm. were recorded through the East Koote-
nays. By the end of the week a ridge of high pressure
moved over southern B.C. resulting in record breaking
daily maximum temperatures at many localities.

The South - East Interior Weather Office
at Castlegar, B.C.

the 25th. Snowfalls from

vided by

A CPR railcar that was carry-
ing ammonia Phosphate sulfate
fertilizer was partially derailed
when the car began to rock back
and forth and the wheel came up
over the rail said Steve Morris,
manager of public affairs for B.C.
for the CPR. -

“There was no track or equip-
ment failure," he stated,

. The incident occurred at 5 p.m.
on the evening of Friday, Mar. 15.
“The wheel of the car came off

\.ffof-the track.in the area of the’

Dairy Queen and the partially
di

iled car was dragged all the
way to the area bebind the Purola-
tor offices before the train was
brought to a stop.

No special reason

An eyewitness said that, “peo-
ple were trying to run alongside
the train to catch the attention of
the CP workers.”

Two cars behind the car that
left the track was a tanker car car-
tying sulphur dioxide, a liquified
gas that is poisonous if inhaled
and is also Sammable, although it
does not ignite readily. °° 5"

At the time of the incident,
CPR spokesperson Jane Mudry
stated that no one in the City had
to be notified of the derailment
because no hazardous commodity
was involved and the incident
relatively minor. “g2

“Sometimes railway car w!
come off the tracks," said Moris.

| FEEDBACK

By NANCY LINGLEY
Sun Editor

The Slocan Valley has been described, by a well-known and

The first phase invol

evaluation. The purpose of the

second assessment was to evaluate

the. mechanical and electrical

systems as well as the architectural

needs to bring City Hall to
with the Building Code.

those Tt only
makes sense to have all the staff
under one roof so that they can be
managed properly by the

A further report concluded that
City Hall requires some upgrading,
but is structurally sound.

di on the 30th.

SUN STAFF PHOTO / Nancy Lingley

_@ Guidelines

Continued from 1A

document,” said Mr. Hughes.
Moreover, neither of the Vander
Zalms had ever mentioned the
sculpture before this, and in fact

did not buy the statue with the
money.

‘Mr. Hughes surmised that the
$20,000 was an advance to ensure
the Premier would use his “best
efforts” to secure the Petro Canada

* property adjoining the Gardens for
Tan Yu. a

+ Mr. Vander Zalm certainly. did

\ use jhis “best efforts” on Tan Yu's

behalf, but breached the conflict of

interest guidelines further by so

doing. : As':Premier he called

William Hopper, the’ president of

Petro’ Canada’'on‘Aug.,20 to

« “facilitate the sale of this property

to Tan Yu." aes

-Zalm’s: initial denial

Petro Canada eventually Bold the .

land to Tan Yu without ever
putting it up for public tender. Mr.
Hughes surmised that Tan Yu used
the Premier as his go-between
anticipating he’d get just such a
deal. His role was to find out what
would be an acceptable price.

Yu the “red carpet” treatment
during closing days of the Fantasy
ns negotiations.

The Premier arranged for Mr.
Tan to meet with Finance Minister
Mel Couvelier, to have tea with
Lillian Vander Zalm in the
Premier's office and to have lunch
with Li G David

Moreover, Mr. Hopper

“that the fact is that the Premier:

making the contact ‘helped open
the door’ for the purchasers.”*

Mr. Hughes also stated he must -

“draw an adverse inference against
the Premier,” from: Mr: Vander

of ‘the -

Lam. At the same time he was
helping Tan Yu in his efforts to
start a bank in British Columbia.

* Calling these actions
“unprecedented” Mr. Hughes said

life” and “his apparently sincere
belief that no conflict existed so
long as the public wasn't aware of
what was going wrong.”

‘Mr. Hughes noted, with a touch
of constemation, that the Premier
kept his closest advisors as well as
Finance Minister Couvelier and
Mr. Lam in the dark about-his
negotiation with Tan Yu because
he thought their knowing about it
would put them in a conflict of

_ interest. But ‘the Premier seemed
unable to :believe that: his

that a “ c
would be that the “‘red ‘carpet’

to it, in
fact, only when confronted with
the Petro Canada’: CEO's
testimony. ('.°5.) :

“Mr. Hughes found the Premier’

further breach’of conflict-of- :

interest guidelines by giving Tan

would only continue if’

Tan Yu purchased the Premier's

property.”* ry
Mr. Hughes traced Mr. Vander

Zaim's repeated Violations to two.”

“problems: “an ‘inability to draw a‘,
line between his private and public

ige could cx ise him.
-As for the Premier's belief that

“the news media ‘was to blame: for °

2 the ‘charges: of conflict of interest
/ against him, Mr. Hughes stated:

hat went on that was wrong,
not the média’s discovering’ and

"publicising of those events.

Temperature... -
High This
ay

_/ Low ©

Precipitation

Rain

2. Snow

Total Precip.

‘Sunshine :

WEATHER OF MARCH

. A ridge of high pressure lay just off the B.C.

coast for most of March, 1991, moving cool, dry air

gy ‘own the province in a northwesterly flow. On occasion
surges of moisture were caught up in the flow resulting in

unseasonable heavy snowfalls to portions of the Kootenay
and Columbia regions. The ‘ridge of high pressure moved
inland during the last, few days of the month giving a.
record breaking daily maximum temperature of '20.4'

Temperatures for the month were slightly below normal

ing in a mean of 3.1 degrees, .3 of a degree below
normal. In the dry northwesterly flow total rainfall was
‘27% of normal at 11. 3 mm. The occasional surges of;
moisture caught up In the cool air gave 29.6 cm. of snow
or, 164% of normal. Castlegar Airport recorded 116.6
hours of sunshine, 95% of the normal March total. Mea
surable precipitation fell on 15 days.

Date

1991

Record

pr person who makes his home there, as a place where people
who want to live with their backs up against the mountain, and only
one road in and out, go to settle. It is a beautiful and rugged area that
does not lend itself well to major economic opportunity except for
tourism and, perhaps, forestry, which, in the minds of many Valley
residents would destroy the home they love. ©

Beth James is a resident of the Upper Valley who feels strongly
about her home and how it is looked after. So strongly that she took
the time to write a 15-page economic development plan based on her
thoughts and feelings. Castlegar Sun Editor Nancy Lingley drove up
the Slocan Valley a couple of weeks ago and visited Beth at her home
located beyond Summit Lake. With the snowcapped mountains
framed in the windows of her house, Beth spoke about her vision for
the land she loves,

ee

Beth moved to the Slecan Valley eight years ago from the Lower Main-
land. Although she grew up near Lillooet and is not native to the Valley,
Beth's mother grew up in the Valley and she feels her roots are here. Her
1S-page document, she says, is not so much a completed plan as a basis
to start from.

“It’s more a Ora It's a bottom-line prop
from which all economic activity could take place. I used to call it an eco-

‘any choice?

Is back-to-the-land se!

sufficiency realistic? Do we have

: ‘up there’ in paper towers away. from the land.

nomic plan, but after I'd talked to people, 1 found an economic plan was
more detailed. You take each option and detail it. That's not what it is at
all. I just looked at what we've got. What we have to start with.

“What we have, all things considered, is probably the very best in the
world. We have clean water, unpolluted air and soil.

“This area used to be agriculturally self-sufficient. There’s still a good
market gardener with a large market garden in Nakusp, but he doesn’t
even supply one-tenth of the need in this Valley. : é x

“Why import food when we don’t need to? Why not go back to the
land?

Beth feels that going back to the land is more than just gardening.
Forestry, but forestry on an individual scale not as big business, is also a
major part of her idea.

“We have the forest. In the forest there'is a huge potential for develop-
ment, In the old days, just about every family had men who logged and re-
logged the land. We need to get into the forest for surplus cash.

“It’s not as if it’s a new idea. There wouldn't be a need for retraining.
But we would be able to buffer ourselves against the kind of things hap-
pening like the last six months with the lay-offs in forestry.

“Not only would it provide a secure basis for long-range economy, but
it would alleviate some pressure on the environment. The forest is one of
only two buffers left between us and disaster. We have to keep it alive. We
have to give up a lot of the expense that it costs to run silviculture that is
d d anyway. In silvi they don’t feed the trees. You can’t
expect to raise a forest without food. On an 80-year rotation, they never
et past old-growth, That’s not even half a tree’s lifetime. .

- “IE people want to think it through from the bottom line, they have to

come up with something like that. :

Beth is isn't altogether certain why she was the one to “come up with
something like that’.

“I just felt compelled, There’s no reason why I should do it. I don’t
have any training.

“But throwing money at environmental problems never works. Our
mentality is buy it to fix it. That won't do when it's the environment. The
thing that is missing is not buyable. Organics have to be allowed to sur-
vive.”

Beth admits her ‘plan has at least one major flaw.

“The biggest problem is that nobody wants to go back to work that hard
for that little money. After people get used to making $120 to $150 a day
driving truck or in the bush, they don’t want to do that sort of thing.

“That sort of burst my bubble.

“Most people I talked to about this said it won't happen. But they did
say it should happen. 5

Tt makes total sense to me. We have all the problems in the world with

food. The multinationals are all doing one thing, combining everything
into’ bigger and bigger blocks. Then the ones that make the decisions are
+51 thought this would be a good way to get back to basics.” :

“Beth practices what she preaches, She is trying to develop a local mar-

< ket for her raspberries and lettuce and even uses ducks for slug control.
. She is also involved in raising pygoras, a cross-breed goat that provides

the fleece of an Angora on a pygmy-sized animal,

su.And she feels right at home in the Slocan Valley.

“T really like the people and I really like knowing the people that man-
age parts of your life, like the ones that look after your vehicle and the
shopkeepers. I’m by their basic soundness. I’m amazed
at how together they are. They teach you a lot. They’ve taught me a lot in
the last eight years.

“I'm distressed right now, though, by the friction between people that
are pro-industry and people that are pro-environment. It’s very hard for
environmentalists to understand how you can prioritize anything else.

“It's hard to get a grip on the conflicts. There shouldn't be any. :
I'm afraid we're going to lose our forests, and then lose everything. No

. people ever created a forest. People create plantations. Those are nice

‘stands’ but not forests. Ss *
“That’s why I wrote that thing. Rather than fret, why not put it out?
“I'd love to be proved dead wrong. I don’t know an environmentalist

that woulkin’t love to have someone convince us we've got nothing to

worry about. Tea
“A lot of tired environmentalists say nothing will happen until people

have had the Bejesus scared out of them. oh
“But it may be too late right now.” ie aN