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JANUARY 15, 2014
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Vol. 119, Issue 8
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Prolonged sewer dispute finally settled
FIRST STEPS FOR FOOT BRIDGE
BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
A drilling rig from Surrey was at the East Trail site of the future pedestrian pipe bridge Tuesday afternoon. Mud Bay Drilling began the geotechnical phase of the project by boring six holes, approximately 30 metres deep, to collect soil samples. Engineers will use the results to prepare anchors and piers for the walking bridge, scheduled to begin construction later this year. The 300-metre (1,000-foot) walking bridge will start at the west end of Rotary Park, near the downtown parking lot on Groutage Avenue, and cross over the Columbia River to end just south of the intersection of McQuarrie Street and Columbia Avenue in East Trail.
After four years and tens of thousands spent on legal fees, Trail, Rossland and Warfield have finally agreed to settle a dispute over sewer service funding. Since the 1960s, Trail paid close to 70 per cent of the regional sewer budget following a formula created at that time, which was based on population and projected growth. The three municipalities have been at odds following a 2008 service review and an unsuccessful attempt to arrive at a consensus to resolve the dispute by formulating a fair allocation of costs related to what service each community received. The new cost-sharing agreement reduces the Silver City’s payment into the regional service by 6.4 per cent, and increases the cost to the Golden City by four per cent. Additionally, Warfield and Area B will have to buck up an extra two and 1.45 per cent respectively according to agreement terms. Translated to an approximate dollar amount, the settlement incurs an additional $56,000 for Rossland, $34,000 for Warfield, and Trail’s cost portion reduced $90,000, based on a $1.4 million budget, explained Coun. Robert Cacchioni during his report to council Monday night. Moving forward, the cost-sharing formula may fluctuate related to a user-pay system the administrator of the regional service, the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB), will implement by installing volume measuring flow meters later this year.
“We agreed in principal to move forward with these flow meters,” said Cacchioni. “By 2016 we would review the volumes and the (costsharing) percentages may increase or decrease at that time.” Each flow meter costs about $10,000, and a ballpark figure of $250,00 to $300,000 will be dispersed to cover additional infrastructure upgrades related to meter instalment, he added. A minutes of settlement agreement was reached late last week, confirmed Warfield Mayor Bert Crockett during village council Monday afternoon. “We were supposed to be sitting in chambers with lawyers in Vancouver on Jan. 8,” he explained. “To elude that situation, on Jan. 9 we had a teleconference,” Crockett continued. “The arbitrator accepted our minutes of settlement and a draft consent award was written up.” For village residents, the new agreement terms mean a hefty increase in the upcoming utility bill, according the mayor. “You can expect an increase in your sewer bill this year for sure,” said Crockett. “Right now we are looking at a 12 to 14 per cent increase.” Once the three councils sign on the dotted line, the agreement will be forwarded to the RDKB to formalize in an establishment bylaw, explained Crockett. “Now that this is done, we can move forward in discussions about the Trail foot bridge and the liquid waste management plan.” See LINE, Page 3
Trail market reports another successful year downtown BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
The Trail Market on the Esplanade grew in popularity every second Friday throughout the warm days of summer and continued to prosper during the holiday season when the market moved indoors to the Cominco gymnasium More people buying local meant the market doubled divi-
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dends paid to the city, this year topping $3,000. However, the surge of shoppers making downtown Trail a destination spot during last year’s 14 market days, was never about the money for Eleanor Gattafoni Robinson, a spearhead of the operation. “The money is irrelevant,” said the Trail councillor. “People loved coming to the market to socialize
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1180 Tamarac, Trail
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and shop,” Gattafoni Robinson continued. “And many of them visited stores in the downtown core that they didn’t even know existed.” During the market season, 158 vendors were on hand to display unique wares and artisan delicacies alongside the vegetable and fruit farmers. Attendance numbers ranged from 100 people during the driz-
zly days to crowds exceeding 300 when the sun was shining. Total revenue from all the markets (net of GST) came in just under $13,000, wrote Norm Casler, executive director of the Trail Chamber of Commerce, in a memo to council Monday night. “Picking up on the success of the first markets in 2012 this year’s markets have seen an increase in revenue, vendors and
attendees,” he said. “With people coming and going all day it is difficult to get an accurate count but we feel it was generally well attended and considered an outstanding market.” This year, the market venue provided opportunity for community fundraising, such as the Local 480 stall that had members on hand each week flipping See MARKET, Page 3
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