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Vol. 61, Issue 29
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Farmers find themselves on the outside Fort Steele Farm faces crisis over agricultural land commission’s refusal to allow subdivision
SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
A local farming family is reeling after their plan to pass on the business to a daughter was effectively shut down by the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC). Sharon Mielnichuk and Mike Malmberg want to sell Fort Steele Farm to their daughter, Maxine Malmberg, and her husband, Russ Sheppard. The farm lies in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), so they applied to the ALC to have a small piece of the farm subdivided off, where Mike and Sharon could live in their retirement. But the ALC denied
first as a commercial egg layer operation then as a roadside farm market. The farm produces honey, eggs, berries, more than 15 vegetable species, and includes a full-scale bakery. The farm hosts more than 500 students from kindergarten through Grade 3 annually from more than a dozen different schools. It also hosts outings from seniors complexes, special needs groups and youth organizations. It employs more than 10 people during peak season. After more than 30 years running the farm, though, Sharon and Mike are finding it more and more difficult to keep up with the physi-
the subdivision request, instead suggesting that Mike and Sharon live in a manufactured home on the property.
“Some of these farms are being sold, but it’s not farmers buying it. It’s people buying it for recreation, so they can run their quads and hunt. They are not ever intending to farm.” Jane Walter Mielnichuk and Malmberg have owned and operated Fort Steele Farm since 1979,
cally draining work. They began to think about what would happen to the beloved home and business. The choice seemed to be to sell the entire property, or seriously
reduce production to a scale they could keep up with in their retirement. “The size of the parcel and its location make it highly desirable to new owners with no
agricultural interest,” said Mielnichuk. “In either case, the agricultural production and opportunities on the parcel of land would be diminished. As farmers who have devoted a
large portion of our lives to developing the agricultural potential of this parcel, these options are not very palatable to us.”
See FARM’S , Page 3
CONSPIRACY TRIAL
Agent had criminal record, killer tattoo
‘That’s them bragging they’ve killed someone?’ C A M F ORTEMS Kamloops Daily News
An RCMP member testified Thursday there was no mistaking a federal prisoner on the run who was reported to be armed and hiding out in Cranbrook. That prisoner, who walked away from a halfway house in Vancouver and was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, was John Garry Shank. Months later Shank would become
a police agent and is expected to be the key witness against three men in a murder conspiracy trial underway in Kamloops. Cpl. Lee Gregor said during testimony that Shank’s tattoos included a spider beside his left eye and an elaborate design on his neck. The markings were obvious in a mugshot distributed to police.
See CONSPIRACY , Page 5
PHOTO COURTESY INTERIOR HEALTH
Callie Drader is pictured getting her immunization shot at the Cranbrook Health Unit in advance of her September entry into Kindergarten. The Cranbrook Health Unit is offering immunization booster shots to all Kindergarten-aged children, between four and six years old. For an appointment call 250 420-2207.
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