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Tuesday, March 26, 2019 | Your community newspaper since 1916

CITIZEN PHOTO BY BRENT BRAATEN

Black tie affair Sean Farrell, far right, from the Community Arts Council announces the second annual Mayor’s Black and White Ball for the Arts that will be held at the Civic Centre on May 4. The event is a partnership between Prince George Community Arts Council, Theatre Northwest and the Prince George Symphony Orchestra. Joining him were, from left to right, Selen Alpay, Canadian Tire store owner and title sponsor of the event; Linda Rempel, president of the Community Arts Council; Kim Royle, director of the PGSO; Teresa Saunders, general manager of PGSO; Marnie Hamagami, general manager of Theatre Northwest; and Mayor Lyn Hall.

Holmes elected Carrier Sekani chief Citizen staff

CITIZEN FILE PHOTO

City engineer Adam Homes explains the work that was underway to repair the Willow Cale Road Bridge over Haggith Creek in April 2018. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is working with the City of Prince George to bring the crossing into compliance.

No deadline given to make creek crossing fish friendly, DFO says Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says it is “actively working” with the City of Prince George to bring a crossing over Haggith Creek up to a fish-bearing standard but has not imposed a deadline to get the work completed. The statement effectively confirms what engineering director Adam Homes told city council during its March 11 regular meeting when asked if further work is in store because the culvert that was put in place is undersized. Homes said DFO will eventually want the city to remove the culvert “but we’re saying that for public safety, for the time being that culvert can’t move.” He added that while the remediation work was being carried out the ground moved again and, in response, more fill was put on top of the culvert. “That ground needs to consolidate. That could take years and years to happen,” Homes said. In an emailed response to queries from The Citizen, DFO spokesperson Janine Malikian said the culvert, part of the construc-

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tion of a bridge where Willow Cale Road crosses the creek, is perched above the outlet pool by 1.5 to 1.7 metres. “At this height, the culvert is a full barrier to the passage of any species of fish using the system, and prevents the upstream migration of species utilizing Haggith Creek, including rainbow trout, lake chub, juvenile chinook, and northern pike minnow,” she said. Replacing the culvert with a larger one is not the only option, she indicated. “The suitability of a culvert depends on a number of factors, including the ability to pass flows during floods as well as the ability to provide unimpeded passage for all life stages of fish,” she said and added DFO has asked the city to “investigate potential solutions to restore fish passage through the culvert.” She said habitat within the creek supports a healthy invertebrate population, which in turn provides a food source for fish in the Fraser River. “Rainbow trout, lake chub, juvenile chinook, and northern pike minnow have been observed to utilize Haggith Creek downstream of the culvert,” Malikian

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said. “The total number of fish that may be produced by the system is difficult to accurately predict and is dependent upon a number of factors. However, the habitat that is observed to exist above the culvert is considered to be suitable fish habitat.” Work on the crossing so far has added up to $6.8 million. Of that, $3.1 million was spent on work carried out from September 2016 to March 2017. A further $3.7 million was spent on another round after cracks appeared in the new asphalt on the south side of the bridge, indicating unstable ground beneath by early August 2017. The crossing was closed for a further 10 months The culprit turned out to be an unstable layer of clay about 20 metres below the surface that was undetected in a geotechnical survey, council was told. The full $6.8 million will be financed through a five-year loan. Debt servicing on the first $3.1 million has been incorporated into the 2019 budget while the remaining will be folded into the 2020 budget, delivering an estimated 0.95 per cent increase to the tax levy next year.

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Mina Holmes was elected the new Chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council on Thursday. She drew 415 votes to Mary Teegee’s 339 while 14 ballots were cast in favour of Kathaleigh George. “Thank you everyone for your support and prayers,” Holmes said in a social media posting. “I look forward to working closely with all community members and I believe the strength of our collective communities as we forge forward in a future of possibilities and opportunities.” Holmes went on to acknowledge Teegee and George. “It has been an honor to be part a this historic election in CSTC history. You are both amazing women I (look) forward to working with moving forward,” she said. It was the first time three

women ran for the post. A member of the Tl’azt’en Nation, Holmes has been the CSTC’s reconciliation table coordinator. She takes over from Terry Teegee, who became the regional chief of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations last March.

MUSEUM VICTORIA HANDOUT PHOTO BY SARAH MCCAFFREY

A Douglas fir beetle is seen in a museum insect collection.

Douglas fir beetle repellent available Citizen staff Property owners with Douglas firs in their back yards are being encouraged to pre-order a repellent to battle a beetle that has been plaguing the trees. Packets of MCH Repellent are being made available through Industrial Forestry Service Ltd. at a cost of $1.60 per tree or $4.80 per tree if it’s large and decadent. IFS is asking the public to preorder their repellent by March 31 to ensure that enough is ordered to meet demand. To guarantee effectiveness, the pods, which are stapled to the trees, must be put up between April 15 and 26.

Breast implant safety questioned HEALTH 18

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HOLMES

A large number of large Douglas fir trees within the Prince George municipal boundaries have been showing signs of beetle damage and many others are at increased risk of attack as the infestation has grown within the Prince George timber supply area. The repellent works by sending out a pheromone that tricks beetles into sensing the tree is full and that the food supply is insufficient for additional beetles. To make an order for the repellant, or for more information, contact Michelle Miller, Project Assistant, at mmiller@industrialforestry.ca, or 250-564-4115 local 260.

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