EAGLE VALLEY
NEWS
Local services in spotlight at Early Years Fair Page 6
Snowmobile club seeks grant to complete shelter Page 7
Wednesday, October 16, 2013 PM40008236
Vol. 57 No. 42 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (GST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Council agrees to partnership with Splatsin Protocol agreement: Collaboration intended to benefit communities. By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
Sicamous council has agreed to work with the Splatsin First Nation for the betterment of both communities. Last week, council received a visit from Splatsin Chief Wayne Christian and band council members Daniel Joe and Reno Lee. They were there to explain a protocol agreement proposed by the band to the District of Sicamous. The intent of the agreement is to establish effective communications between the two governments, with the shared objectives including the collaborative pursuit of economic development opportunities, long-term We’ve been trying servicing strategies for to fi nd a way to rewater, sewer and fire proestablish ourselves tection; a policy concernback here in this area ing the protection of culbecause it’s quite tural and archeological signifi cant to our resources; and “developpeople. ing shared principles in Chief Wayne areas of mutual concern Christian respecting environmental Splatsin First Nation stewardship and sustainable communities.” The agreement would not replace legal consultation requirements, nor does it extinguish, abrogate or diminish aboriginal rights or title. “I guess our vision for this area is, we want to see Sicamous… be a vibrant community again,” said Christian. “Because what we’re noticing, as probably you’re noticing, is a lot of our young people moving out of the valleys and going off to Alberta and going off to other parts of the world to seek employment. So what we’ve been doing in our quest to sort of reestablish ourselves in our territory is enter into agreements with different cities.” The band already has protocol agreements with Lumby and Enderby. See Economic on page 2
Liability: The Malakwa Community Hall has been condemned for public events as it is no longer covered by liability insurance. The local community association is looking at possibly having to replace the facility. Photo by Victoria Rowbottom
Malakwa community hall condemned
By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
Bad news from their insurer has put the Malakwa Community Centre Association in the precarious position of having to replace the community hall. The association’s president, Gord Hynek, says their insurance company will no longer provide liability coverage for public use of the structure for fear the roof might collapse. The decision by the insurance company stems from an engineering report which came as a result of structural integrity and snow load issues that had gone unaddressed. Now the association is looking at options, including potential grants, which Hynek has found aren’t plentiful when it comes to possibly replacing a building. “There aren’t that many grants for capital projects,” said Hynek. “It’s easier to
I saw it myself, one of the laminated beams was delaminating where it was sinking the most. So we have a structural problem. Gord Hynek Malakwa Community Centre Association get grants for programs and that type of thing. To rebuild something, especially a building, that’s what we’re finding, we’re not having any luck with any of that right now.” Hynek has been a member of the association for two years and was elected president in May 2013. In that time he’s learned that for the past 10 years at least, there have been issues with the roof leaking in up to 20 different places throughout the building, particularly in the spring when the snow melts.
“Finally it got to the point where we need to do something,” said Hynek, explaining the association decided to contact their insurance company to see if they had any coverage for the roof. He says their response was to send out an engineer to investigate the building. Prior to this, however, the association brought in a builder to do some preliminary work. What they found wasn’t reassuring. “He got a scaffold in and took the soffit off of the ceiling,” said Hynek. “There we
could see there’s an obvious dip. Once you see it, you can see it from any angle. It looks like it dips in about eight inches.” They also found one of the beams that supports the roof to be delaminating. “So that was just taking a little snapshot of what’s up there,” said Hynek. “I saw it myself, one of the laminated beams was delaminating where it was sinking the most. So we had a structural problem.” Afterwards, Hynek learned the arched beams tend to move according to the season. Further investigation found black mould in the insulation, as well as water damage in the drywall in the kitchen/bathroom addition to the hall. On Aug. 16 the association received the engineer’s report, See Resident argues on page 2