Invermere Valley Echo, May 02, 2012

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VALLEY ECHO invermerevalleyecho.com

T he

56 Serving the Columbia Valley from Canal Flats to Spillimacheen since 1956

Bernie Raven teamraven.ca Serving you in all aspects of real estate.

250-342-7415 braven@cyberlink.bc.ca

926 - 7th Avenue, Invermere MAXWELL REALTY INVERMERE An independent member broker

May 2, 2012 Vol. 56 Issue 18

Lake Windermere Players return

Best in the province — U18 tryout photos

Page A11

Page A16

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Radium sawmill to reopen

Tired help

Long-rumoured Canfor investment materializes STEVE JESSEL reporter1@invermerevalleyecho.com

Rumours have been flying for months, but on April 26 Canfor confirmed that the Radium Sawmill will reopen later this year. A total of $38.5 million is to be invested in the mill beginning in May 2012, and funding will cover construction of a new planer facility, the installation of a biomass energy system and modifications to the existing sawmill. The mill is expected to reopen sometime in the fall or winter. Also included is the news that a further $1.5 million will be spent to improve drying capacity at the Canal Flats mill, acquired by Canfor from Tembec in November 2011. “These investments are critical to support the restart of our Radium division, which was indefinitely closed in May 2009,” Don Kayne, Canfor President and CEO said in a release. “The fibre in the Kootenay region is amongst the best in the world, and these investments will secure our ability to make topquality products here to supply global markets.” Village of Radium Hot Springs mayor Dee Conklin said she wasn’t necessarily surprised by the news, because of all the

SUBMITTED PHOTO Volunteers with the Invermere branch of Wildsight, the environmental group for the Columbia and southern Rocky Mountain region, participated in a wetlands tire removal project in Wilmer on Saturday (April 28). For the full story, turn to page A2.

rumours that had been flying around as of late, but said she was always hopeful that the mill would reopen. “We’ve been terribly optimistic over the last little while, there have been so many rumours on the streets, that you hoped — and we kept hoping with fingers crossed — that it was true,” Conklin said. “It’s absolutely fantastic not

only for our community, but for the whole valley.” The mill first closed in May 2009 as a result of a market downturn. The announcement also follows news in March that Canfor had plans to invest $50 million in the region, without specifying which facility would benefit. At the time, Canfor Director of Public Affairs &

Corporate Communications Christine Kennedy said that a key issue with the Radium sawmill had to do with the use of propane to heat the dry kilns, and estimated that due to the high cost of propane, those costs accounted for about STORY CONTINUES TO 'POTENTIAL' ON PAGE A3

MaxWell Realty Invermere www.maxwellrealtyinvermere.ca 926 - 7 Avenue, Invermere Ph: 250-341-6044 Toll Free: 1-888-341-6044

Daniel Zurgilgen 250-342-1612

Scott Wallace 250-342-5309

Glenn Pomeroy 250-270-0666

landman@cyberlink.bc.ca

scott@scottwallace.ca

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Bernie Raven 250-342-7415

Leslie Thomson 250-342-5994

Geoff Hill 250-341-7600

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