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Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Volume 57 No. 44
Is $33,000 too far for a bridge? Cameron Orr Is Duck Creek Bridge worth $33,000 to the District of Kitimat? Councillors were wrapping their heads around that question as a deadline of Nov. 1 looms to make a choice, or else likely see the bridge get taken away. The loss of that bridge would be felt by many in the community, notably the Kitimat Snowmobile and Hikers Club, of which their president Chad Fournier was present for a special Oct. 22 council meeting. Also there to present the situation was Brian Wakita, owner of JHW Construction, and Peter Ponter, a concerned citizen on this issue. The core of the matter is that the Duck Creek Bridge is coming to the end of its life. The Rio Tinto Alcan owned structure is already marked as a “drive at your own risk” bridge and according to e-mails from RTA’s Regional Economic Development Manager Kevin Dobbin, the company is leaning towards closing the bridge, but have not yet ruled out any other option. A company already in town working on Little Wedeene Bridge, and needing a stable bridge over Duck Creek, quoted $30,000 to RTA to bring in a re-decked bridge bought from the Forest Service to put over the existing Duck Creek Bridge as a temporary measure. (It wasn’t clear how temporary it would be.) Putting in that bridge would give time to all involved parties to discuss what they want to do for a permanent solution to the crossing; to make the bridge crossing permanent is estimated at an additional $30,000. According to Brian Wakita in e-mails to the District of Kitimat, RTA didn’t respond quick enough to Surespan’s suggestion (the timeline given by Surespan was quite short) so Surespan has rented a bridge and will be removing it once their work is done in mid-November. Surespan has since indicated that they would still bring in that re-decked bridge and place it where their rented bridge is now at the end of their job. To do so now will cost an additional $3,000, or $33,000. That all lead to a discussion at a special meeting of council, where the District was asked to pay that $33,000, primarily to benefit the many backcountry recreation users in the community. Brian Wakita explained to the Sentinel in an e-mail that the bridge is between the town and JHW’s rock quarry. His motive in bringing the matter forward was to capture cost-savings while Surespan was in town. “As a road that has been primarily used by Kitimat residents for the last 18 years...it is my opinion that this bridge should be funded by the principal users,” he said in an e-mail. Continued on page 2
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
1.34 INCLUDES TAX
$
The 33rd annual Aluminum City Telethon on Oct. 21 was a great success, raising close to $58,000 at last count. Above left, operators were standing by to take pledges by phone. Below, Edwin Empinado leads some brave volunteers through a magic routine. And that’s Monique Miller hosting the show with afternoon co-host Mayor Joanne Monaghan. More on the Telethon on page 3.
Rallying behind coastline Last Wednesday’s Defend Our Coast rally brought out nearly 100 people to the City Centre Mall to protest Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipeline Proposal. The event was organized by Lucy Tolhurst-Mcrae and coincided with numerous other Defend Our Coast rallies in the province, which were spun-off from a major rally in Victoria on Oct. 22, which drew close to 4,000 people. “My biggest concern with the whole Northern Gateway project is the tankers,” said Lucy. “This is our place here. I spent most of my teen years down on Douglas Channel with my dad on his boat...and I just can’t imagine coming upon those tankers every single time that you go out on the Channel.” She believes an environmental catas-
trophe is inevitable if the pipeline were to go through. As people gathered they heard words from speakers such as Douglas Channel Watch’s Murray Minchin and the Haisla’s Gerald Amos. “My real concern...is food security. Security of our grandchildren’s ability to harvest like I’ve done all my life,” Amos told the crowd. “I want to say that every time we gather like this, my hope gets even deeper that we are going to look after the legacy that we leave our children,” he continued. Minchin was back in Kitimat for the rally, hot on the heels of days of questioning at Joint Review Panel hearings in Prince George. “Even if it’s greenlit, it’s going no-
where,” he said. The crowd filled the upper corridors of the City Centre Mall after, passing by MLA Robin Austin’s office, chanting in opposition to the pipeline project.
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Sea Cadets are coming back ... page 6