Up front: Windstorm claims Tzouhalem cross and much more On stage: Avenue Q far across the tracks from Sesame Street
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Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Busy weekend for fire crews Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
D
Andrew Leong
Duncan firefighters and paramedics remove an injured man from a house fire at Hykaway Road just before 9 p.m. on Saturday.
ouble fire trouble kept Duncan’s crews hopping Saturday — and left a man in hospital. Fire chief Mike McKinlay said his crews snuffed a wood-shop blaze in the morning, then extinguished a suspicious home fire that evening. About 9:26 a.m. Nov. 8 saw the DFD answer a call to a woodworking shop outbuilding at 3215 Doupe Road, where Cowichan Bay firefighters were also called for back-up. “The shop was a total loss,” the chief said. “There was also scorching to the outbuilding next to it.” The renter in a nearby cabin was uninjured while Duncan members tried in vain to save the insured shop, he noted. The fire involved some two-dozen firefighters and trucks from both halls. Saturday night at around 9 p.m. saw McKinlay’s crew of about 20 firefighters scramble to a blaze in a single-storey, vacant home on Hykaway (off Koksilah) Road. “One person was found inside. We got him out and he’s in the hospital,” he said of the insured wood structure he believed was repairable. more on page 4
Cowichan being asked if sportsplex deserves dedicated annual funding Kathy Santini
News Leader Pictorial
T
he Cowichan Sportsplex. Is it a community asset that needs the security of dedicated regional tax funding annually in order to thrive? Or is it a special-interest operation that should continue to justify its public funding from the Cowichan Valley Regional District on a year-to-year basis? That’s what voters throughout the CVRD’s
nine electoral areas are being asked during Saturday’s municipal election. Cobble Hill resident Bill Dumont knows which way he will vote. The tax watchdog says he has no issue with the sportsplex’s mandate of providing recreation opportunities to local residents. What he does take issue with is the Chesterfield Sports Society funding from the CVRD becoming an annual line item, instead of a grant. “Once that happens, it’s never looked at again,” Dumont said. He criticized the facility for having a top-
heavy administration and lower-than-marketrate rental fees. “Why are we giving away services for so cheap?” he questioned, adding only $70,000 or 17.5 per cent of the facility’s funding comes from rental fees. “It’s a big issue because it’s tax money.” Sportsplex society board member Barry Waters said the organization operates using a paid executive director, an administrator, three full-time and two part-time staff, as well as an army of volunteers. According to the 2013/14 budget, total
labour costs amounted to about $250,000 annually. Total budgeted administration costs for last year were $145,274, which included $110,000 for staffing, plus insurance, legal and accounting fees, among other minor items. “The fees that are charged are comparable to other facilities,” Waters said, adding some people think the fees are too high, others too low. “There’s lots of discussion all the time on user fees.....we’re priced where we should be.” more on page 7
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