The Chilliwack
Progress
Since 1891
Frid Friday day
29
3
Sports
Soccer
News
Syrian
Extra time winner sends Sardis to provincials. Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R
5
News
Fort Mac Prom dresses
Refugees make a home in Chilliwack. •
FOUNDED IN 1891
•
W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M
for fire victims. •
F R I D AY, M AY 1 3 , 2 0 1 6
Former Safeway site sold Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
Continued: SAFEWAY/ p12
The former Safeway site in downtown Chilliwack, which has sat vacant for more than a decade, has a new owner.
%off
50 Retail 85¢ Box $1.00
PLUS PST
Alarmes Batteri expires
0
Sept. 3
Conrad Lindblom of Rocky Ridge Vegetation Control was in Chilliwack with 30 of his goats for a pilot project with City of Chilliwack to control some Japanese knotweed near the Royalwood Golf Course. JENNIFER FEINBERG/ THE PROGRESS
Goats get a taste of Chilliwack Animals proving effective against Japanese knotweed Jennifer Feinberg The Progress The big question was whether goats would want to eat the gnarly weed known as Japanese knotweed. And the answer is a resounding yes. They like it; they really like it. Conrad Lindblom of Rocky Ridge Vegetation Control was in Chilliwack this week to take part in a pilot project near the Royalwood Golf Course, coordinated by City of Chilliwack. “Knotweed is a very invasive plant that’s hard to kill,”
Lindblom said. They were working on a big, thick swath of Japanese knotweed, that looks a bit like bamboo. The invasive plant was choking out all other vegetation on the bank against Evans Creek in Greendale. But the goats slowly chomped through most of the knotweed in a just a couple of days. “I never met a weed the goats didn’t like,” quipped Lindblom. They’ve been hired in the past for removing thistle and knapweed, he said, but knotweed is a whole new ball game
for them. It took a while for the weedloving goats to get enthusiastic about it. “They were cautious on the first day, just like when anything new is introduced, but they are going right after it now,” he said. Lindblom spent a couple of days at the site. It was his second time in the community. The first was in March when the goats targeted Himalayan blackberries and that trial was also a success. Lindblom was watching the goats Wednesday alongside researcher Natasha Murphy.
Murphy is working on her master’s degree in Ecological Restoration at BCIT and SFU, studying the efficacy of goat browsing on invasive plant species. “They are incredible,” she said about Lindblom’s goats, who were blissfully chomping. They would strip all the leaves and stalks off the plants for about an hour or more and then lie down for an hour or so to chew their cud. When they first arrived, the stand of knotweed was so thick, you couldn’t see the water of the creek. By the end of the second day the whole area opened up, Continued: GOATS/ p4
LOCAL OWNER. LOCAL EMPLOYEES. Because when it comes to your safety... LOCAL MATTERS. CALL US FOR A FREE QUOTE C
604.792.8055
09/15F CS4
A ‘sold’ sticker appeared this week on the large ‘For Sale’ sign on the old Safeway site. The property at Main and Kipp, covering an entire city block, was bought by Surreybased real estate developers, Mann Group, The Progress has learned. All eyes are on the site because any significant revitalization of Chilliwack’s downtown is believed to hinge on what happens to it. “It’s very early in the process, and things are changing week by week,” said Ryan Anderson of OTG Developments, who confirmed the old Safeway property had been purchased. Anderson was hired for his expertise as a local land-use consultant to guide the Mann Group through the maze of paperwork involved with the land purchase and redevelopment process. “They are very encouraged and happy to be initiating this process, and they believe there are great opportunities to be had here,” said Anderson. Subjects have been removed and the closing date on the sale is set for later this summer, he said. Since the demolition of the old Safeway building last November, many have been speculating about what will become of the large