Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - North Shore News - A11
Ferry repair impacts Coast sailings
Jane Seyd
jseyd@nsnews.com
B.C. Ferries has begun its summer tourist season juggling ships and schedules that operate out of Horseshoe Bay after an engine repair to one of its regular vessels proved more involved than expected. A major $3 million engine repair to the Queen of Surrey will leave the Horseshoe Bay-to-Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay-toLangdale routes with four ships instead of five for the first half of
Townhouses will be LEED platinum standard From page 9 material at the time. The building features a unique multi-faced roof that was intended to show off the structural uses of plywood. It was designed by architect Ron Thom, who went on to build several private homes on the North Shore as well as numerous university and college buildings in Eastern Canada. He was named to the Order of Canada in 1980. But the Canadian Plywood Association has long since finished their tests and wants to move their offices into a more appropriate building. The CertiWood structure is not on any of the city’s heritage lists, although staff had been considering it. The developer, Adera Equities, has taken a few stabs at a plan for the lot. In October of 2009, they brought forward a plan for a building with a floor surface ratio of 1.4 times the lot size, considerably larger than the 1 FSR settled on for the area by the recent Marine Drive planning study. Adera also managed to irritate several councillors by trying to drum up neighbourhood support for the larger design after it was rejected. The plans that were unanimously approved at city council June 28 call for three three-storey buildings with a total FSR of 1, as required by council. The developer also got approval for another 5,586 square feet of building in return for a range of environmental features. The townhouses will be the first residential building in British Columbia to be built to a LEED platinum standard. The project will include solar water heating, wastewater heat recovery, and a particularly effective heating envelope. Although he voted in favour of the project, Coun. Rod Clark said he was unconvinced the city was getting enough in return for the density bonus. “It seems like a lot for environmental benefits,” he said. “I don’t see these as city benefits so much as for their marketing brochures. If we’re giving up 12.5 per cent, I want to see benefits.” “This is a good project,” said Coun. Craig Keating. “It adds to the neighbourhood. It’s a beautiful building.”
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the summer. Deborah Marshall, spokeswoman for B.C. Ferries, said the corporation will still provide the same number of extra sailings to Vancouver Island in July — just at slightly different times. The ferry to the Sunshine Coast will operate with nine extra sailings each week instead of 12. Extra sailings to and from Langdale will primarily be aimed at moving weekend traffic on and off the Sunshine Coast, with late night sailings leaving Langdale and West Vancouver on Friday and Sunday nights. The modified summer schedules from Horseshoe Bay will be in effect until the end of July when the Queen of Surrey is expected back in service. The ship is being repaired at the corporation’s Deas Dock on the Fraser River. The ferry suffered a crankshaft failure May 4 that caused one of its two main engines to seize. Marshall said the repair involved getting a new engine bed plate, which weighs 13 tonnes, shipped in from the engine manufacturer in Germany. One month later, mechanical problems on the in-fill vessel, the Queen of Coquitlam, resulted in cancellation of service for several hours following an oil leak from one of its gearboxes. That problem has now been fixed, said Marshall. Marshall said tourist traffic hasn’t been too much of a problem on the ferry routes so far. However that is expected to change soon as school is now out for the summer. Travellers are advised to check schedules and current conditions on B.C. Ferries’ website at www.bcferries.com
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