ALDERGROVE STAR AR ALDERGROVE STA Your Hometown Community Newspaper for over 54 Years
| Thursday, August 9, 2012
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In a Lather for Women’s Hospital
More residents to get break on fire insurance By NATASHA JONES Aldergrove Star
KURT LANGMANN PHOTO
Volunteers scrubbed the Aldergrove Fire Hall #3 truck at the Bentley for Babies fundraiser last month in Aldergrove as firefighters watched. The annual car wash, barbecue and bottle drive for B.C. Women’s Hospital raised over 2,000. See letter to the editor inside this issue.
Shoppers heading south on the rise Black Press
Cross border shopping is on the rise, and Langley residents are among those who are taking advantage of the close proximity to the U.S. border. Many locals report that they buy their gas exclusively across the line, while others do a weekly grocery shop in the U.S. to get a better price on cheese, milk and meat. Prices in the U.S. for certain items like cheese or running shoes can be up to 50 per cent cheaper than in Canada. In June, Canadian border services officers processed 581,404 travellers, which is an 18 per cent increase compared to the 475,562 travel-
lers processed over the same period last year, said Faith St. John, Canadian Border Service Agency spokesperson. The increase is also likely due in part to new duty free rules, implemented two months ago. As of June 1, personal exemption limits increased to $200 from $50 for absences of 24 hours or more and to $800 for absences of 48 hours or more. However, there are no personal exemptions for same day shopping trips, said St. John. Langley residents have easy access to four border crossings — at Peace Arch, Pacific Highway, Abbotsford, and Aldergrove.
The increase in B.C. residents shopping in the States has been on the rise for several years, but is spiking even higher lately, also in part because of the strong Canadian dollar. The B.C. long weekend is a busy one at the borders, with Monday seeing the most traffic. Last year, 40,000 vehicles came through the local border crossings. In total, around 130,000 vehicles crossed the border on the long weekend. It’s recommended travelers try to plan their return so that they arrive at the border outside peak hours. The best time to arrive is before 5:30 p.m., said CBSA.
Meanwhile, in June, 596 people who tried to enter Canada were turned back at the border, including a couple of Americans with links to gangs. Last month, crossing guards made 17 weapons seizures, including two grenades at the Aldergrove crossing on June 18. Two U.S. residents travelling from Florida to Alaska were stopped and the grenades were discovered in their trailer. As a precaution, a perimeter was set up and the Lower Mainland Explosives Disposal Unit was called in. The pair withdrew their application to enter Canada.
Thousands more Langley residents will see huge savings on their house insurance premiums, thanks to the expansion of Langley Township’s superior tanker shuttle service accreditation. To be accredited by the Fire Underwriters Survey (FUS), a fire department must prove it can provide an alternative water supply and delivery system that can establish and maintain a flow of 900 litres per minute within five minutes of a fire engine arriving on the scene of a fire. The water supply must be sustained for two hours. In May, the department took on the third and final phase of testing for the FUS accreditation in southeast Langley. Through a demanding documentation and training process, crews proved that they can quickly move and maintain an effective water supply to fires in remote areas where hydrants do not exist. Last year, FUS accreditation was received for the southwest area of the municipality. The leading co-ordinator for the process is assistant fire chief Pat Walker. On July 23, he told council that the process was a “massive undertaking that involved the entire fire department.” Now that the process is complete, residents in most rural areas will benefit and see substantial insurance savings, Walker said. FUS does not set property insurance rates, but is responsible for publishing the Canadian Fire Insurance Grading Index that is used by insurers across Canada on which to base insurance rates. Residents who want to know if they are in an accredited area should contact their insurance provider. “Because fire is a major concern, it is an advantage to live near a fire hydrant or fire station,” Walker said. “In urban areas, proximity is not usually a problem and this is reflected in insurance rates. But in more remote or rural areas, the distance may be greater, which influences the cost of your insurance.” In some cases, residents living in accredited areas have seen their insurance premiums drop by up to 50 per cent, a savings of hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dollars. “Residents can also be secure in the knowledge that Township fire crews are capable of shuttling tankers and supplying the water needed to fight fires in more remote locations,” Walker said. How to better get the word out prompted a brief debate among council members. Councillor Bob Long was not happy spending $5,000 to send out notices to advise residents of the accreditation in their areas. “I think people can figure it out,” Long said, suggesting that staff examine less expensive ways to communicate the information. “I don’t need a staff report to tell me it’s a good idea,” said Councillor Charlie Fox. A majority of council voted to spend $5,000 to send 3,000 notices.
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