THURSDAY
S I N C E
MARCH 27, 2014
1 8 9 5
Vol. 119, Issue 49
105
$
INCLUDING G.S.T.
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
CREEPY CRAWLERS
REGIONAL GOVERNANCE
Warfield mayor calls for change BY ART HARRISON Times Staff
The dust is hardly settling in the furor over Warfield council’s decision to opt out of the Trail Resident Program (TRP) and the mayor of the community is calling for consideration of a regional municipality as a possible solution. “I’m for it. We’ve all gone there,” Warfield Mayor Bert Crockett said Wednesday. “We’ve got to move this forward. There are 21,000 people in this valley and so many levels of government.” Monday’s village council meeting saw a sizable crowd descend on Warfield council chambers with residents voicing objections to the further fragmenting of recreation and cultural opportunities in the area. By opting out of the TRP Warfield residents join their neighbours in Rossland and Beaver Valley in having to pay cash for using Trail’s recreational facilities and library, leaving the city of Trail holding the tab for maintaining the various facilities and programs. “We’re just extremely disappointed in this decision, Trail and Warfield have always seemed like practically one city to begin with,” said Trail Mayor Dieter Bogs. “It’s hard to think of any other two communities that are more closely aligned in our communities. From the joint citizen of the year, to our Ambassador program, all our history of recreation together and now they decide that the contract signed 50 years ago isn’t good enough.” But Crockett maintains the problem is more of a regional issue. “This recreation thing is just one of many issues in this area,” Crockett said. “You’ve got water, sewer, the hospital, everyone taking sides, if we could even eliminate one level of government it might make things more manageable.” With an approaching civic election in the fall, Crockett feels this might be the opportunity to start taking a look at the possibility of a regional municipality. “It’s clear cut, a district municipality would mean that you share with everyone in the valley, even if it cost a little more to set things up,” he said. “If we got away from the politics and got better governance in the valley, the cost would be worth it.” Bogs said that Trail has always been in favour of amalgamation but has been met with resistance from the other communities in the area. See WARFIELD, Page 3
SHERI REGNIER
David DeRosa, superintendent of ecosystems at Teck Trail Operations, held the attention of budding biologists seven-year -old Mackenzie Graves (front) and Annelise Morrison, 6, at the Trail and District Public Library Tuesday afternoon. The interactive play included live bugs, pond water and local flora, and leads up to the library’s inaugural Science Fair Competition slated for April 1 at 3 p.m. The fair is part of the library’s after school club for children 9-12 years old. For information, contact children’s programmer Darcee O’Hearn at 364.1731 or email dohearn@trailibrary.com
City seeks support to tear down Old Bridge BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
Trail’s Old Bridge was a 50/50 operation between the city and the province until it was taken out-of-service several years ago, according to the city’s mayor. But with the latter refusing to buck up half the estimated $5 million cost to tear the century-old crossing down, this week Trail council committed to taking a more assertive approach with the government to get the job done. “This was a major topic of discussion with Katrine (Conroy, NDP MLA) at our last meeting,” explained Trail Mayor Dieter Bogs during Monday’s council meeting.
“We focused particularly on the Old Bridge and what we need to do to remove it in terms of the government picking up their fair share of the cost.” The city has met with the province on several occasions seeking financial assistance to decommission the 100-year old structure, but to date, no action has been taken. “In the past, we’ve met with a municipal affair minister and other bureaucrats,” he said. “But they have only offered to make their engineering expertise available at no cost.” Bogs said the city needs more than that. There is no legal mandate to take the bridge down
unless there is an incident such as structural movement detected. “We want to make sure that we lay the foundation to get rid of the bridge before that occurs,” Bogs added Wednesday. “Since the province operated it for the first 50 years, until 1961, they should be an equal partner in getting rid of it.” Removing the Old Bridge is a separate matter from constructing the new pedestrian bridge, which is set to break ground this summer. The projects can have different timing and without a law in B.C. at this time to take a bridge out of commission, there is no direct connection between the two.
However, the two crossings do serve a purpose in addition to a pathway across the Columbia River. The region’s aging sewer line currently hangs from the old structure and could wreak more havoc to the city than a crumbling bridge. “The biggest liability facing us right now is the sewer line,” said Bogs. “That is why we want if off as soon as possible because there will be a hefty environmental penalty if the line breaks and spills sewage into the river.” The pedestrian crossing will house a new regional sewer main, second waterline and fibre optic conduit, and will have the capacity to carry an additional utility line.
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