Progress
The Chilliwack
Friday
38
3
Sports
News
19
Life
Hockey
Poppies
Helping
BCHL season starts with Showcase.
Project maps Chilliwack’s war dead.
Local women make a difference.
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • F R I D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 1 4
District readies for Monday school start The Chilliwack school district will delay an upcoming professional development day and reschedule first-term final exams in efforts to accommodate the shortened school year. In a letter to parents, school superintendent Evelyn Novak said school staff could be in schools by as early as today, provided the tentative deal reached between teachers and their employer was ratified on Thursday. (Results from that vote were not available before The Progress went to press, however they are online at www. theprogress.com.) BCTF president Jim Iker was urging members to support the deal. He said the agreement provides for “hundreds of new teachers” as well as raises for regular and substitute teachers and improved extended health benefits. What it means to Chilliwack parents is a return to classrooms for thousands of students. Novak said first-day procedures will be in place Monday if the agreement is ratified. That will mean a shortened day and early dismissal as staff determine the number of returning students and staffing requirements. “This first day of school with students is important as it allows us to greet students, set preliminary classes and schedules, and finalize staffing levels at each of our sites,” Novak said. “Following this first day, regular school hours will be in effect.” A Pro-D day that had been planned for either Sept. 26 or Oct. 3 (depending on the school) is being rescheduled for January or February. Novak said the district has yet to confirm when final exams for the first term would be held, but said the ministry of education would allow them to be moved into February. “At this time, with current information, it is unlikely that we will see any adjustment to the length of the school day or adjustments to the Christmas break or spring break,” she added.
Ken Dueck, part of the Canada Lands Rotary Trail rebuild project, talks about the engineering that has gone into the new dike construction along the Vedder Rotary Trail. The reinforced dike includes steps (to his left) that will allow easier access to the water’s edge. GREG KNILL/ THE PROGRESS
Vedder trail project near the finish line Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Hang in there a bit longer. That’s the message to loyal users of the Vedder Rotary trail. The fenced-off section near Peach Road is expected to stay in place for a few more weeks as the finishing touches on the project get completed. Rebuilding part of the trail has been ongoing for months as part of the Vedder Bank Protection project by Canada Lands Company. Trail users have been patiently using an alternate route all summer long, as a section underwent reinforcement. The work had to be done
within the fisheries work window which closed on Sept. 15. “We did meet that deadline for the rock work,” said Ken Dueck, director, real estate for Canada Lands Company. “Now we’ll be putting in shrubber y, landscaping and clearing blackberry bushes on the north side.” Rip rap in the form of large boulders, and new flat stone stairways, are now in place along a 600-metre section of the heavily used trail. “It makes it safer for people to get down to the river.” Some dead tree removal will keep the trail section closed behind the blue fencing for at least a few more weeks, said
Dueck. “We’re trying to get it all done now,” he said. As one of the busiest trails in Chilliwack, “it’s like a freeway of people.” The project is connected with the new River’s Edge mixed residential project being developed by Canada Lands. Without reinforcement, the trail could vulnerable to severe damage from future floods fuelled by heavy fall rainfall. In 1990, the popular trail was washed away. “We want it looking just as nice as possible,” said Dueck, adding that the project conforms to the strictest engineering standards as well to with-
stand the high velocity of the Chilliwack-Vedder river system. “The Vedder is not a snowmelt river like the Fraser, it’s a rainfall river. That’s the nature of the flow.” Once the trail is reopened, the alternate route will be closed — at least temporarily. It will be reopened and remain part of the trail network in the area once invasive plants are removed and native species are planted. The Rotary Vedder Trails sees about 18,000 visitors a month during summer, and an estimated 15,000 in winter. jfeinberg@theprogress.com twitter.com/chwkjourno
No Phone Line? NO PROBLEM! Retail 85¢ Box $1.00
PLUS PST
45140 Yale Road West • 604-792-8055 www.contactsecurity.com
3-14F CS7
Switch to Contact Security and use your existing internet connection for HIGH SPEED MONITORING!