CLUB WANTS CITY TO TURF TURF DECISION
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GARDENING IN YESTERYEARS
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FRIDAY
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MARCH 13 2015
SC RAP-IT MARCH 24-29 2015
www.burnabynewsleader.com
Concord Pacific buys Sears property Mario Bartel
photo@burnabynewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
Byrne Creek streamkeeper Paul Cipywnyk shows how fish are counted in the creek using a special Gee trap. His group of volunteer streamkeepers recorded their third best count of cutthroat trout and coho salmon fingerlings living in the creek in the past 13 years in their annual fish census on the weekend.
Streamkeepers smile at fish count Mario Bartel
photo@burnabynewsleader.com
Paul Cipywnyk is loving the early spring weather. But he’d be even happier if some April showers arrived sooner rather than later. That would help ensure a good spring and summer for the fish residing in Byrne Creek which is sourced from rainwater and snow melt that’s soaked through the ground around South Burnaby. There’s been barely any of the latter this winter. But that hasn’t kept his team of volunteer Byrne Creek
streamkeepers from recording some of the best results last weekend in the 13 years they’ve been surveying the waterway’s population of year-old coho and cutthroat trout fingerlings. Cipywnyk said his crew counted 70 juvenile cutthroat and three coho that found their way into the dozen Gee traps that had been placed in quiet pools all along the length of the creek for 24 hours. The young fish are attracted into the trap’s conical openings by a bait of salmon roe and cat nibble. Once in, the fish can’t get out until they’re
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released after being counted by the streamkeepers. Cipywnyk said the count was the third best the group’s ever recorded. That means the fish are happy with their environs. “They’re healthy and they’re growing,” said Cipywnyk. He said the group was particularly pleased to find the three coho fingerlings as that confirms adult fish are returning to the creek to spawn. Cipywnyk said the survey results were a bit of a surprise because he hadn’t seen many fish during his
almost daily walks along the creek. And a bug census taken earlier in the year showed fewer and smaller insects like mayflies that are the fingerlings’ main source of food. “We were a bit worried,” said Cipywnyk. Now the streamkeepers’ next concern comes from above. If the mild, relatively dry weather continues into spring and summer, the fish habitat could start to evaporate. “So far, we’ve never seen Byrne Creek run dry,” said Cipywnyk. Please see CREEK’S, A4
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The chair of Burnaby’s community development committee says it’s too soon to tell what Sears’ sale of its property at Metrotown might mean for redevelopment of the 8.9 acre site. The department store company announced Wednesday it has sold three of its properties, including the one at Metrotown, to developer Concord Pacific for $140 million and it plans to lease back the stores. The other properties are at the Cottonwood Mall in Chilliwack and in Calgary. Sears said in a press release it will continue to operate the stores under long-term leases. Sears unveiled a vision for the property in 2013 that included a new flagship store, five mixed-use, highdensity residential towers and two office towers on top of podiums containing retail and commercial space. But Coun. Colleen Jordan said the department store company never made a formal application to the city to begin the redevelopment process. Please see ORIGINAL, A4