Progress
The Chilliwack
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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 • W E D N E S D AY, J A N U A R Y 7 , 2 0 1 5
Property values remain stable Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Stability is once again the operative word in property values across the Fraser Valley for 2015. BC Assessment sent out assessment notices to 193,000 property owners this week. A typical single family home in Chilliwack is valued at $388,000 on the 2015 roll, which is up from $374,000 the year before. It’s an increase of 3.7 per cent for the “typical” Sardis house that BC Assessment used for 2015 calculations. A sample home in Sardis is chosen to establish a typical benchmark value for the roll, and it’s a reflection of movement in the marketplace. A typical Chilliwack condo, or strata apartment, dipped from $183,000 to $178,000, while the typical townhouse shifted slightly from $275,000 to $273,000. “Most homes in the Fraser Valley are remaining stable in value compared to last year’s assessment roll,” said Raj Sandhu, acting assessor. It was a similar situation last year. Most property owners across the valley will see property value fluctuations in the -5 to +5 per cent range, he said. That was the same range of values for 2014. The FV assessment roll increased from $90.7 billion in 2014 to $94.3 billion for 2015. But that’s only about half the increase seen in the assessment roll from 2013 to 2014, when it spiked from about $80 billion up to $90.7 billion. Continued: MAIL/ p5
Dick Van der Knyff uses a chainsaw to cut branches away from power lines leading to his house on Camp River Road Monday morning. The power to his house went off around 11 p.m. Sunday. That night several large branches broke off from a number of trees on his property, narrowly missing his house. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Snow and ice bring down trees, cut power It could take several more days for city crews and Chilliwack residents to clear debris left by Sunday’s snow and ice storm. The first major winter event of the year brought down branches and, in some cases, whole trees in parts of the city. Power was knocked out to more than 3,000 costumers in the region, BC Hydro reported. The most severally affected area was north of the Fraser River, where people in Agassiz, Harrison and Seabird Island were in the dark for much of Monday morning. In Chilliwack, the western part
of the city – particularly near Old Orchard Road – was affected. By Tuesday, power had been restored to most areas. However, there were still a few isolated pockets (18 customers in the Chapman Road area) still waiting for the lights to go on. The snow created havoc on the roads. But it was the ice that became the real headache. The City of Chilliwack estimates more than 200 city trees were damaged. Crews were on scene on Spadina Avenue Tuesday morning, removing damaged branches and assessing
what could be saved and what needed to be pruned. Branches also littered the road near the airport on Young Road, as well as Yale Road, Garrison Crossing, Little Mountain and Chilliwack Mountain. The city says it could take until the third week in January to deal with the mess. Priority will be given to branches that pose a risk to pedestrians or traffic. Downed trees also created havoc on Highway 1. But it was a rock slide that had the greatest impact. Eastbound lanes were being diverted at Highway 9 to
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Highway 7 while crews worked to clear debris off the highway. The road was reopened to traffic at around 11 a.m. Tuesday According to Roger Pannett, volunteer weather observer with Environment Canada, totals for Jan. 4 were 44.7 mm of rain and freezing rain and nine cm snow, for a total precipitation amount of 53. 7 mm. Record for the day was the January all time and daily total of 119.6 mm on Jan. 4, 1914, Pannett said.
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