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Recycling plant consumed by fire Kim Dianocky, manager of Bluewater, the firm that has the The future of recycling in the contract to sort recycling. Bluewater has about 30 employNorth Okanagan is temporarily ees on site on a daily basis. uncertain after a devastating fire. “They are devastated. It’s the A mass of flames engulfed the Bluewater Project recycling facility unknown, where do we go from here?” said at the Greater Dianocky. Vernon land“I have fill at about been there 9:30 p.m. 11 years and Friday. It it feels like was here that my house every local bu r ne d residential down.” blue bag was The first sorted. reports of “We have the fire some options. came from It may mean RICHARD ROLKE/MORNING STAR Coldstream shipping to Part of the Greater Vernon recycling facility r e s i d e n t s K e l o w n a ,” collapses on itself during a fire Friday. who could said Dale see a bright Danallanko, glow in the recycling and disposal facilities operations man- night sky. “There was a lot of equipment ager with the Regional District of in there, hundreds of plastic bags North Okanagan. The office and equipment area and cardboard,” said Jack Blair, were completely destroyed, while Vernon deputy fire chief. “There was also the release firefighters were able to save the of propane gas (from canisters) bundling area. RDNO will ultimately have to which made the fire violent.” The primary goal of firefightdetermine if a new facility is constructed as it owns the building ers was to keep the blaze from spreading. and land. “It was a defensive fire. We “We are looking to see what equipment is salvageable,” said weren’t going to send anyone in RICHARD ROLKE
Morning Star Staff
RICHARD ROLKE/MORNING STAR
Flames devouring the Greater Vernon recycling facility virtually became unstoppable for firefighters Friday. there,” said Blair. A lack of fire hydrants meant water had to be hauled in constantly by crews from the Vernon, Coldstream and BX-Swan Lake fire departments. Access to the site became challenging as Birnie Road, which leads to the landfill, is narrow and there was little room for fire trucks
to turn around. Bundles of recycling will need to be ripped open to reveal any hot spots. “We will keep an eye on it,” said Blair. A cause had not been determined at press time. “It’s far too dangerous to get into it at this point. We need to
fully suppress the fire first,” said Blair. Residents hauling trash to the landfill are asked to be cautious. “Anyone with respiratory issues should delay their visit because it is smoky up here or they can go to our Armstrong or Lumby facilities,” said Trafford Hall, RDNO administrator.
School district facing $2.2 million shortfall KATHERINE MORTIMER
Morning Star Staff
Regardless of how little or how much money comes from the Ministry of Education, the Vernon School District is required by law to present a balanced budget each year. And each year, that is exactly what happens. The problem is that as enrolment dips, funding drops, which means cuts to both staff and programs. This year is no exception and secretary-treasurer Randy Hoffman has presented a bylaw for trustees to approve the balanced budget, which will leave the district with a projected shortfall of $2.2 million. “Enrolment drives our funding and we must send our enrolment projections to the ministry by Feb. 15,” said Hoffman. Superintendent Bev Rundell said the 2013/14 school year is projected to be down about 176 students across the
system. “That is projected to decline for the next few years and when we look at available spaces in the secondary schools, we’ll have 879 available spaces,” she said. “We’re very concerned about enrolment, but especially at the secondary level. At Fulton, we’re looking at 701 students in a school built for 950 students. Kal has 552 and it was built for 800; VSS was built for 950 and it will be at 877; Seaton was built for 900 and it is at 701.” Elementary schools will also be faced with a surplus of spaces, and the district is moving towards a place where the number of high school graduates is equal to the number of kindergarten kids coming in. “We have approximately 550 kindergarten students coming in, with about 750 Grade 12 students leaving,” said Rundell. “It impacts funding but it also impacts the choices at secondary schools, making a difference in the number
of courses offered. It doesn’t paint a bright picture of ever returning to 10,000 students in our district.” While there will be a decrease in funding from the ministry, the district is currently in funding protection and “buffered” from the loss of students for this school year only. The recently announced provincial budget will result in many school boards across the province having to make difficult decisions, said Hoffman. “After reviewing the budget, the BCSTA said school boards will not be funded for cost pressures,” he said. Cost pressures include rising costs such as MSP, pension and utility rate increases. “So we will see costs that we’ll have to fund within our existing budget in order to have a balanced budget.”
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