Trail Daily Times, April 04, 2012

Page 1

WEDNESDAY

S I N C E

1 8 9 5

APRIL 4, 2012

RTCC ready for new golf season Page 9

Vol. 117, Issue 66

110

$

INCLUDING H.S.T.

PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF

ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALM SALMO

Airport data paints Trail more reliable than Castlegar

A CUP OF CRAFT

BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff

TIMOTHY SCHAFER PHOTO

Jordan Card, 16, puts the finishing glaze on a ceramic cup she made in the Kootenay Columbia Learning Centre’s ceramic and construction pre-employment program at the Trail Middle School. The students will have their work showing in the Visac Gallery April 11-18.

Improving air accessibility remains a top priority for the region –whether it’s out of Trail or Castlegar, according to the chair of the East End Services Committee that governs the city’s airport. Kathy Wallace is reacting to reliability data collected at the Trail Airport recently presented to Trail council, which paints Pacific Coastal out of Trail far more reliable than Castlegar’s Air Canada service to Vancouver. In January this year, Trail sat at about 91 per cent reliable service while Castlegar slid to approximately 74 per cent; February found Trail reached 83 per cent reliability and Castlegar sank to 69 per cent. “I think that our Trail Regional Airport is providing a needed service in the area and you can see that by the passenger numbers,” said Wallace. “I also know that Castlegar is working on improving their reliability and we’ll probably see something happen there in the next year, I’d expect.” Castlegar councillor Russ Hearne questions the accuracy of the figures, as he said the airlines operate under

completely different regulations when it comes to safely departing or landing. “Through their own policy, Air Canada ceiling heights add, I believe, a kilometre of visibility as well as 100 feet of ceiling height on top of what the minimum standards are,” he explained. “We’re certainly not happy with the ceiling limits that they have to operate in and that’s why the city is working hard on improvements.” Hearne said air control beacons are installed in and around the local mountains and devices that could communicate with the beacons and provide a virtual flight path are now being investigated. “This would lower limits drastically, which would greatly improve reliability of landing and taking off and it would also allow for night departures, which is fantastic for emergencies.” Castlegar’s airport operates strictly on user fees while the Trail Airport is partly funded through regional taxation. Wallace said the committee has to find a balance when moving forward with improvements to the Trail

See FUTURE, Page 3

Pending runoff puts preparedness in place BY TIMOTHY SCHAFER Times Staff

Lord willing and the creek don’t rise is the state of the union in the Beaver Valley. Even though the heart of spring runoff is still one month away, eyes are beginning to turn to one of the region’s trouble spots for flooding: the Beaver Creek. The recent rains have swelled the waters of the creek as it makes its way through the village down to the Columbia River, putting creekside folk into a wary state of existence.

Historically the creek jumps its banks on properties that border it — including Creekside Community Park in Fruitvale — in mid May, but the current height of the creek isn’t a concern just yet, said Village of Fruitvale chief administrative officer, Lila Cresswell. “About this time of the year we get a bit of a rise due to rain and low level snow melt,” she said. The weekend rains likely brought some flash flood issues, said Dan Derby, deputy regional fire chief with the Regional District

of Kootenay Boundary, but so far nothing has been reported. He said it was important for people to monitor their own drainage systems right now, as well as catch basins, to make sure they are clear. “We live in an area that is prone to some low level flooding in some parts of the region, but in saying that, it doesn’t happen every year,” he said. “That could change in the coming weeks depending on the weather. However, at this point we are not very concerned.” The highest risk area

in the Greater Trail region continues to be Fruitvale where homes border Beaver Creek, he said, as well as the Kettle River area (through Grand Forks) and Christina Lake on the regional level. The village checks the level of Beaver Creek daily when it begins to look like the water level is rising, said Cresswell, with gauges installed at the Columbia Gardens Road Bridge and at Marsh Creek. Additional point people are also measuring on the creek at either end of the village.

See SANDBAGS, Page 2

TIMOTHY SCHAFER PHOTO

Creek levels are already on the rise in the Beaver Valley

Contact the Times: Phone: 250-368-8551 Fax: 250-368-8550 Newsroom: 250-364-1242

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Trail Daily Times, April 04, 2012 by Black Press Media Group - Issuu