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Wednesday, January 22 • 2014
Vol. 6 • Issue 59
Leafs edge Braves in hard fought game Page 15
Creating sculptures in the sand Page 11 Users could pay 2.85% more
Hydro seeks rate increase
*Rate & offer subject to change. Terms & conditions apply.
I MY Credit Union WINTER’S HERE. WE’VE GOT WHAT YOU NEED.
SAM VAN SCHIE Nelson Star Reporter
Snow Tools Ice Salt Eco Friendly Ice Melters
More than just a farmers store
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Sweet taste of maple syrup Visitors to the fifth annual Winter Carnival at Whitewater had the chance to sample some maple syrup, poured steaming hot into the snow then scooped out to create a sticky, delicious treat. The annual event attracted a huge crowd and featured snow carving, live music, marshmallow roasting and more. See page 2 for details. Kevin Mills photo
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510 HALL ST 250-505-5055
Two encounters occur on one farm near Kaslo
Cougars destroyed KIRSTEN HILDEBRAND Nelson Star Reporter
Two cougars were destroyed last week – one after attacking two dogs in the same neighbourhood just south of Kaslo. In the almost 10 years on their farm, Angela Burton had never had an encounter with a cougar, until this week when two different cats visited. She lost a turkey and a few days later, she was awoken in the middle of the night to discover a cougar tangling with her dog. It all started the morning of January 13. “My dog
was going berserk in the back field,” said Burton. Her husband walked their two children down a long driveway to the school bus while she went to check what was amiss. “I discovered the gate on my turkey pen had been ripped off,” she said. “It was all crumpled in a heap and there were feathers everywhere.” That gate was well made, strong and included electric fencing and barbed wire but it didn’t keep the cougar from its turkey meal, one of 12 heritage breed birds. A trail of blood led to the bushes on the Continued on Page 4
Nelson Hydro has requested a general rate increase of 2.85 per cent beginning April 1, in light of the higher cost of buying power from FortisBC. Fortis rates went up 3.3 per cent on January 1. This impacts Nelson Hydro because it buys about 45 per cent of its power from Fortis each year — the hydro generating station on Bonnington Falls doesn’t produce enough to cover all of the city’s power needs during peak times. Nelson Hydro general manager Alex Love was at a city council meeting Monday to inform council of the need for an increase. He’ll formally ask councillors to approve the change in early February, then it will go to the BC Utilities Commission for review before taking effect in the spring. “We are forecasting the lowest rate increase in the province,” Love said, adding that residential hydro rates in Nelson are already about 11 or 12 per cent lower than what FortisBC offers. BC Hydro, which provides power to most of the province, is requesting a nine per cent rate increase for April 1. If the new Nelson Hydro rate had come into effect January 1, it would have only needed a 1.97 per cent increase to generate the same amount of revenue. In addition to paying more for wholesale power purchases, Love said Nelson Hydro’s internal costs have increased because of pole replacements and vegetation management around poles, which has helped to reduce power outages. He cited an example of a wind storm this past summer that left much of the Slocan Valley without power, but only caused two issues in Nelson affecting around 70 customers. “In years gone back we could have easily had four- or five-thousand customers off and two days of steady work,” Love said. City manager Kevin Cormack commended Nelson Hydro for staying on top of its capital upgrades and maintaining healthy reserve funds, noting that a much higher rate increase would be needed if they had not been so proactive.
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