Along the Fraser The villain behind sockeye decline. p6
Helen Mussallem remembered. p15
THE NEws
Anti-bullying Amanda todd’s mother speaks out. p3
www.mapleridgenews.com Friday, november 16, 2012 · serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢
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The gate at the Ceed Centre on 223rd Street is now locked.
CeeDs of discontent neighbour feuding with society over homelessness by Phil M elnyc h u k staff reporter
You might not describe them as the best of neighbours. For Port Haney resident Tyler Ducharme, the Community Education on Environment and Development Centre on 223rd Street is “cupcakes and sprinkles … unless you’re living beside the place. “It was an absolute hell this summer, just non-stop crazy.” Ducharme is fed up after living just to the west of the centre for the past nine years. He says the district-owned lot attracts the homeless or drug addicted who find the fenced grounds a cosy place to set up camp in the evening after the community and environmental programs in the old school house wrap up for the night. “We get the full brunt when it turns into a camp,” Ducharme says. People are sleeping for “weeks on end” at the centre, either in the front or behind. “It was an absolute gong show.” He aired his complaints at council on Tuesday and says the CEED Centre causes more problems than the nearby Maple Ridge Treatment Centre or the One-Way Club for alcoholics. see CEED, p8
William Norton is worried about water seeping onto his property from the Pitt River, on the other side of the dike behind his house.
No deal yet in drainage suit Man who sued city says engineers refuse to sign off on dike work by M o n i s h a M a r t i n s staff reporter
A man who lost a lawsuit against Pitt Meadows for a drainage problem on his property has been unable to reach a settlement with the city. William Norton and the city’s lawyers can’t agree on what constitutes “reasonable expenses.” Since they are unable to reach an
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agreement, provincial court judge Thomas Woods will have to make the decision for them. The city wants Norton to cover court costs up to $11,000, a large chunk of which is an engineering report. Norton has agreed to pay for half of the engineering report, which amounts to around $4,000, but also wants the engineers, who designed and constructed the dike, to sign a “comfort letter” that states: the construction of the McQuarrie Road ramp and dike conform to accepted engineering practice and provincial standards “specifically the removal of internal runoff and seepage water to protect the necessary infrastruc-
Index Opinion Along the Fraser As we Age Home&gardening Acts of Faith Community Calendar scoreboard
ture and private property.” The city is refusing to sign the letter, hence the stalemate. “I don’t understand why they won’t sign it,” said Norton, noting his request isn’t unusual since all city dikes must comply with provincial standards. Norton sued the city for $24,000 – the cost of replacing and installing a new septic tank. He represented himself in court. Norton, who owns High Country Outfitters, lost the lawsuit because he failed to prove the municipality’s improvements to a dike in 2007 increased the flow of water onto his McQuarrie Rd. property, to the point where it
damaged his septic tank. The dike improvements were done in preparation for an unusually high spring freshet in 2007 that came with the threat of a flood. Judge Woods found Norton’s claims floundered because he failed to establish adequate proof of a link between the city’s dike improvements and the failure of the septic tank that the court found was at least 23 years old. Norton said he needs the city engineer to sign off on its dike improvements in order to sell his property, located at 18681 McQuarrie Road. see Drainage, p5
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