TUESDAY
OCTOBER 28, 2014
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Vol. 63, Issue 207
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Use of old fire hall denied until renovated ARNE PETRYSHEN Townsman Staff
The city couldn’t grant a request from the Salvation Army to use the old fire hall for 54 days as part of the program that provides Christmas Food Hampers and toys to individuals.
Captain Kirk Green, from the Salvation Army, wrote that in order to provide for the estimated 300 families in need the non-profit needs a suitable building and the old fire hall would do it. “Preparations begin in early November with the
storage and arrangements of goods and culminate on December 22 with hamper pick-up and delivery,” Green said. “For the purposes of this request, we would appreciate the use of the building from November 1, 2014 until December 24, 2014.”
However, at the Oct. 20 council meeting, CAO Staudt said the old fire hall would not be available for the extended period of time the Salvation Army is requesting. Staudt wrote back to Green saying that the city
had just had a contractor remove the asbestos in the old fire hall and as a result the facility won’t be available for public use until it is renovated. “The fire chief did say that if it was for one day, or something like that, they might be
TREVOR CRAWLEY PHOTO
Flowers of remembrance for Cpl. Nathan Cirillo have been anonymously placed around the Cenotaph at Rotary Park in Cranbrook as the tragedy from last week’s shooting at the National War Memorial resonates across Canada. Cirillo’s body has returned to his hometown of Hamilton, Ont, for the funeral on Tuesday. Cirillo was shot and killed by a gunman while standing guard at the Memorial last Wednesday.
able to make the fire hall available for something on a one-day activity window,” Staudt said, adding that the fire chief was going to contact the Salvation Army, but noted he didn’t believe there was anything available from the city at this time. Mayor Wayne Stetski said he’s been looking into the request. “Coun. Scott and I were talking about it earlier and were wondering if maybe a realtor might know about something available that a business person might want to open up and let them use for free,” Stetski said. Coun. Diana J. Scott said the Sunrise Rotary used to use the building in the Tamarack Centre next to the Columbia Theatre, but that now houses Glow Yoga. “Something like that may be available, or the Subway restaurant on the strip has moved down a few blocks to a great big new fabulous place. Their (old) location is sitting vacant.” Scott noted that it was too bad no one would be able to watch the meeting, as it wouldn’t be broadcast on Shaw due to election rules (which have since been revised; the Nov. 3 meeting will be broadcast). Coun. Gerry Warner suggested the Telus building. “That’s one of the biggest buildings downtown and it’s not all occupied,” Warner said. “We use it as an incidence centre when there is an emergency, there’s good space there.”
WHAT’S THE BUZZ!
Rural communities to discuss mosquito treatment TRE VOR CR AWLEY Townsman Staff
Area residents out in the Bull River, Fort Steele, Mayook and Wardner communities will get the chance to hear a preliminary assessment on mosquito populations and breeding grounds next week.
A few local residents have spearheaded the effort to get a report done after a few tough mosquito seasons, according to Rob Gay, Area C Director for the RDEK. Culex Environment Ltd. completed the report for the aforementioned communities, which do not have a
mosquito treatment plan. “There has been a great deal of work behind the scenes by a group of residents to gather historical data regarding mosquitoes and the next step was to have a formal assessment done so we have a baseline understanding,” said Gay.
Residents and representatives from Culex Environment and the RDEK will deliver presentations on Monday, Nov. 3 at the Wardner Community Hall. The areas have been without a treatment plan for over 10 years, according to Gay. There was a proposal
that was voted down by residents before his time as RDEK representative. “We’ve done this before in Wardner and it actually went to a vote and was turned down,” said Gay. “It was before my time in politics, but I wanted to make sure the community was be-
hind it [this time].” After an initial community meeting, residents agreed to go to the next step, which was using some community-directed funding from the Columbia Basin Trust to complete a Phase One study.
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