The Chilliwack
Progress Thursday
19
3
32
Comedy
Key find
Basket ball
Ultimate comedy is back.
Museum repatriates war medal collection.
Rogers causing trouble for Falcon foes.
Scene
News
Sports
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T H U R S D AY, J A N U A R Y 1 7 , 2 0 1 3
Sweet deal on new public works yard a step closer After five years, the city is ready to redevelop former ‘Candy Land’ property Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
Big changes are coming to the city-owned site on Luckakuck Way in Chilliwack. The property will be the new Operation Centre, housing utilities, purchasing and public works for City of Chilliwack. That move will enable the over-capacity local RCMP detachment to expand into the old public works facility on Kiernan Drive. It’s a plan that’s been in the works for several years, said Mayor Sharon Gaetz. “We’re thankful the dominoes stood up for this one,” she said. The concrete structure between Lickman and Evans Road on the Luckakuck site went up in 2005. It was phase one of the doomed Candy Land theme park project. The shell has sat unused for years, spurring many to ask what the ultimate use of the property would be, she said. Now a plan to re-purpose it for the new public works yard is moving ahead, with permission obtained from the Agricultural Land Commission for city use of the agricultural property. A request for expressions of interest (RFEI) to make the site changes and building additions was issued last week and closes Feb. 8. That means they’re finally ready to make an estimated $5.2 million in site improvements and the money has already been budgeted for in the long-term capital plan. The original vision by Candy Land Entertainment Corp. for a candy-based theme park was unveiled by Bill Coombes of Chilliwack with much fanfare at city hall in 2003, with MLAs and economic development officials nearby. But the theme park never materialized when the plan failed to attract major investors. Phase two never went ahead after the concrete shell and other site improvements were completed. Continued: WORKS/ p5
Diane Paterson received a letter in the mail from Canada Post stating she must raise the height of her rural mailbox by more than a foot by Jan. 25. The base of her mailbox, which currently sits at about 28 inches above the roadway, should be at about 42 inches. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Canada Post on the hot seat for proposed changes to rural mailboxes Robert Freeman The Progress
Some residents in rural Chilliwack are hopping mad about changes to their mailboxes that Canada Post is demanding in the dead of winter. And if the changes are not made by Jan. 25 their mail won’t be delivered. Diane Paterson on Chilliwack Central said she got a notice from Canada Post this week telling her to raise her mailbox to 42 inches — or else. “If I don’t get my mailbox
raised by Jan. 25, then they don’t deliver my mail,” she said. But the 64-year-old wondered how Canada Post expects seniors to dig a hole in the frozen ground in the middle of winter. “This is just insane what’s going on here,” she said. However, it appears that Canada Post is now backing off in Paterson’s case, and she will be able to wait until the spring thaw to raise her mailbox. Paterson did not know how many other residents received notices from Canada Post, and
whether they will be getting the same “spring thaw” notice. Canada Post officials in Chilliwack and Ottawa did not return phone calls to answer why the changes are needed and how many residents are affected. But Dolores Roberts on Prairie Central said she was told unofficially that 135 notices have been sent to residents living on Prairie Central, Chilliwack Central, Annis Road and Gibson Road. “I’m one of the 135 they’ve singled out,” she said. But in Roberts’ case the height of the mailbox was not
DLN 8692
ALL NEW 2013
$1.25
45930 Airport Road 604-795-9104
1-13H M17
CADILLAC ATS “NORTH AMERICAN CAR OF THE YEAR” – North American International Auto Show
the issue, but rather installing magnets so the mailbox can be opened by the mailman without getting out of his car. “I found out it’s for when the regular Canada Post delivery people are on vacation, and (replacement drivers) don’t have right-hand vehicles like the regular mailman,” she said. The replacement drivers will have a long pole to deliver the mail without getting out of the truck, she said. “I won’t get my mail delivered, if I don’t have (the magnets) put in by Jan. 29,” she said. Continued: MAIL/ pW4