The Parksville Qualicum Beach News Tuesday, February 12, 2013
www.pqbnews.com
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BSS GRAD
Parade route approved Street closures in effect for Dry Grad event on June 28 AUREN RUVINSKY
writer@pqbnews.com
Parksville city council approved the Ballenas Secondary Dry Grad parade route and street closures for June 28. Grad president Rebeka Thompson, vice president Nicole Weismiller and parent committee chair Sue Street presented to council asking for the required public event approval. They are estimating the grad class of about 225 students will be in 100-150 vehicles in a parade lasting about 90 minutes, following the successful route of the last few years. “Although there were safety and traffic concerns regarding the parade two years ago, enhanced security and traffic procedures put in place allowed last year’s event to proceed without incident,” states the staff report on the item. “There is every reason to believe this year’s event will be run as safely and successfully as least year’s graduation prom parade.” The parade will start around 5 p.m. at Springwood Middle School, head down Moilliet Street and along Morrison Avenue to a big red-carpet arrival at the high school. Carrie Powell Davidson excused herself from the discussion, “Because I am on the committee for the Dry Grad 2013, I’m going to excuse myself for a conflict of interest.” The rest of council unanimously supported the motion.
B.C. CONSERVATIVES
Want to have a good rant? It’s a town hall meeting with a twist, and your opportunity to win a prize for your best rant. On Saturday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Civic Centre in Qualicum Beach, the B.C. Conservative Party candidate for Parksville-Qualicum, Dr. David Coupland, will be hosting a town-hall style forum where the people not only get the opportunity to meet and discuss important issues with the candidate, but also get the opportunity to have the stage. “We’re Conservatives but we’re not all stuffy,” said Audrey Cope, Coupland’s co-campaign chair. “It’s a way to have a little fun.” For more information, visit www.davidcoupland.ca. — NEWS Staff
LINDA MATTESON-REYNOLDS PHOTO
DIVE TEAM PRACTICE: The Canadian Naval Reserve Port Inspection Dive Team spent Saturday and Sunday doing exercises in North West Bay, Nanoose. Petty Officer Second Class Igor Sevik identified that there were two teams doing manoeuvres from the entire Canadian Western Region, Manitoba-west. “Recruits are required to dive a minimum of every 90 days to keep up their proficiency,” said Sevik. Petty Officer Second Class Russ Parker explained that the mandate of the Dive Team is search and recovery and performing underwater inspection of ports and harbour facilities. Rigorous training as well as physical, medical and mental fitness are essential. “Diving, like any other activity is a perishable skill,” added Parker. “A regular dive schedule and exercises such as these allows our divers to be relaxed and confident in their skills and familiar with the equipment.”
INNOVATION
Coin-operated garbage disposal NEIL HORNER
news@pqbnews.com
If there was a garbage bin on the star ship Enterprise, Erik Duivenvoorde has a pretty good idea what it would look like. That’s because the Qualicum Beach innovator has designed a device that would fit in very well taking the gum wrappers of either Jean Luc Picard or Captain Kirk. “It’s a unit that can be installed on the front of garbage bins which makes users pay to get rid of their waste by the bag,” Duivenvoorde said. “It would be an application for apartment buildings, parking lots, grocery stores, hardware stores and shopping areas where people would go and conveniently get rid of their waste instead of making separate trips to the landfill or transfer station.” The device involves a rotating drum, he said, which has an opening to allow one bag of garbage to be disposed of, once a $2 coin has been deposited. “It’s like a barbecue door,” he explained. “It has an inner drum and a
space where you have enough room for one bag and when you close it the door locks again and the bag drops.” The device, called a PayDump, could prove a boon to rental housing units, which currently pay to have their bins picked up and emptied, he said. “Right now, if an apartment has a number of units and their waste bill for those units is $500 a month, if you put a pay-as-you-go unit in there, they could turn their trash into cash,” he said. “They would make money from the bin instead of having it as an expense.” Duivenvoorde said the device can be fitted on top of regular garbage bins with minimal modification. “A campground in Port Alberni gave me the idea around two years ago,” he said. “It had high expenses in waste — from $5,000 to $6,000 a month. I wanted to help them and suggested they put a compactor in, so they could go in to empty it once a month instead of twice a week.” The idea, he said, included the sale of tokens at the campground store for trash disposal.
Duivenvoorde got a patent for the idea and, a year and a half ago, took it to the television show, Dragon’s Den, but it didn’t make the cut.
NEIL HORNER PHOTO
Erik Duivenvoorde shows off the invention he hopes will catch on across the nation.
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