FRIDAY
S I N C E
1 8 9 5
AUGUST 3, 2012
Trail native returns to share expertise
Vol. 117, Issue 150
110
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Page 10
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF
ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO
ICE ARTIST
Receding river reveals damage Bill could be ‘hundreds of thousands’ BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
JIM BAILEY PHOTO
Brent Iachetta carefully fills in the template for the blueline as the Cominco Arena staff continues to install the ice surface for the upcoming season. The rink will be back in action by Aug. 12 with the start of hockey school.
The waters of the Columbia River are now receding but are leaving a huge cleanup task and a bill for damages for the City of Trail to pick up. It is estimated costs for assessing and repairing the damage caused by the highest river level in over 50 years could peg for “hundreds of thousands of dollars,� said the city councillor in charge of the public works’ portfolio. Although the city’s engineering department is currently estimating damages, Gord DeRosa said there’s going to be major costs to the city once the water of the river has returned to a normal level and assessment, and repair, can begin. He pointed to the condition of the over taxed storm sewer lines that feed into the regional system as one of the major concerns, and likely one of the major costs of what infrastructure was damaged. “If, in fact, the water table put them underwater, the question is did that put strain on those pipes since they are only clay lined pipes?� he asked. “Are they still connected? Unbroken? That is something that has to be determined.� But Thursday the Columbia River had come down three feet from its high of approximately 215,000 cubic feet per second on July 22 from the Hugh Keenleyside Dam near Castlegar. The river is expected to continue dropping
See RIVER, Page 3
RDKB wants voice in regional sewage decisions BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff
Once the piper has been paid in the dispute over regional sewage service a new player is waiting to join the dance. The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) Area B director has made it known she will be seeking a voting seat on the committee that deals with management of the service. Linda Worley said the rural area intends to get involved in the service once arbitration between Trail and Rossland is settled later this year.
A portion of Area B has paid into the service for years—the lower main road of Oasis and Rivervale—and it has become imperative those people have a say at the decision-making table, said Worley. “This has always been a sore point since our residents are paying into the service, we cannot represent them,� she said. “Currently, any decisions can be made and the residents and the director have no say.� A motion was passed at the last RDKB board of directors meeting that the sewer committee revisit the par-
ticipation of electoral Area B as a full partner in the regionalized sewer service, and consider the matter of cost apportionment for the service, notwithstanding capital costs. Although Worley now sits at the sewage committee table, it is a courtesy extended from other committee members. She can only give opinion and does not retain a vote. But after the province’s arbitrator weighs in, if two thirds of existing parties in the service say they would welcome Area B to the table, then Area B would have a vote.
“Currently, any decisions can be made and the residents and director have no say.� LINDA WORLEY
And that arbitration process could be concluded at the end of the year, said Trail city councillor Robert Cacchioni. Trail and the City of Rossland now have to decide if they will choose final arbitration or proposal arbitration
as the process moves forward and the arbitrator is chosen this month. Cacchioni said the City of Trail wants the arbitration process complete by December, 2012. “That’s an important date for us. The budget is set for the subsequent year, 2013, and at this point we are paying 68.75 per cent,� he said. “If the arbitration (decision) comes in at any less than that, which I am hoping it does in terms of fairness and equity, our costs would be reduced.� It is costing the
city over $106,000 extra per year than is “reasonable,� said Cacchioni, according to a mediator’s report finding on the terms of the current agreement. Overall, the city pays around $1.7 million annually as their portion of the sewage service. Trail city council began the process of arbitration with the City of Rossland to determine the correct percentages of shared costs for sewage service in the Greater Trail region last month. The Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
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(CSCD) advised in a May 10 letter to council that arbitration in the long-running dispute between the two municipalities was the only recourse left. For four years the question of who pays what portion of the cost of sewer service among Trail, Rossland and Warfield has been booted around like a political football.
See SERVICE, Page 2
No Paper There will no paper Monday, August 6th to allow for BC Day. Publication will resume Tuesday.
Contact the Times: Phone: 250-368-8551 Fax: 250-368-8550 Newsroom: 250-364-1242