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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2013
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$3 million for water treatment By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
SOUP and bun
Jackie Lieuwen/Houston Today
Sydney, Lia, Emma, Emily and Abby serve buns to nearly 500 people, who attended GEMS Soupfest last Thursday evening. GEMS is a girls club run by the Christian Reformed Church with 94 local girls and 22 leaders from various local churches. The annual Soupfest event this year, raised $3, 848 to be split five ways between local “Love by the Bowl” soup kitchen, Salvation Army Food Bank, the local Malkinson family to help with medical expenses, a GEMS Home for Orphans and Esther school in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa, and Cindy Verbeek, a GEMS leader going on a service and missions trip to Kenya in April. See more photos on page 8.
The Government of Canada is giving $3 million to the District of Houston for a water treatment plant. Bob Zimmer, member of parliament for Prince George to Peace River; Art Kaehn, Union of B.C. Municipalities representative; and Barbara Lee Gale, constituency assistant for MLA John Rustad, all came to Houston for the announcement last Tuesday morning. MP Zimmer announced to gathered members of the public and town council, that through the Gas Tax Fund, government will cover 70 per cent
of Houston’s $4.28 million proposed water treatment plant. “This new water treatment facility will ensure that Houston residents have access to clear and reliable drinking water for years to come,” said MP Zimmer. “Our government is pleased to be helping your community and others across the province to build safe and effective water infrastructure. This investment will improve drinking water, and lower manganese levels in the water to make it look clearer and taste better,” he said. He added that the project will also strengthen the local economy and create good local jobs. See WATER on Page 2
Proposed TELUS towers to improve service west of Houston By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
TELUS plans to build two new towers west of Houston to improve cellular coverage and wireless internet for over 20 kilometres along Highway 16. TELUS spokesperson Liz Sauvé says the proposed 60-metre-tall, guyed towers, would be located five kilometres west of Houston and 16.5 kilometres west
of Houston, making highway travel safer and giving better coverage to rural residents in that area. She says that the $1 million project is dependant on approval from the Agricultural Land Reserve, but if everything moves along as they plan, construction will begin this year and the two sites will be live by 2014. The towers are part of the ten-year
Connecting B.C. Agreement (CBCA) that TELUS made with the provincial government in 2011 to improve wireless coverage throughout highway corridors in B.C., said Sauvé. Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) Director and Chair Bill Miller says they have put pressure behind TELUS to improve service as well. Miller says they met with Minister of
Citizens Services and Open Government Ben Stewart at the 2012 UBCM conference last September. They talked about how the regional district does not have full coverage and asked the government to put on pressure to improve internet and cell phone service, Miller said. RDBN Executive Assistant Wendy Wainwright says they told Minister Stewart that 52 homes and
18 businesses in the Houston area are without service, and coverage is needed along Highway 16 and in remote areas of the region. She says Minister Stewart told them that the province is committed to conductivity, but the regional district is vast and conductivity between Prince Rupert to Prince George is very expensive, over $50 million.
As part of the CBCA, TELUS promised to introduce 1,700 kilometres of cell phone coverage throughout B.C. and Wainwright says Regional Districts are approving development in areas where internet and cell coverage is not feasible. Miller says that TELUS records show that certain northwest regions have more service than they
actually do, so the regional district is collecting information to show the lack of cell phone coverage in areas such as Houston. Houston residents are asked to go to http://rdbn.bc.ca/148media-releases/251high-speed-internetand-cell-phone-access and provide RDBN with feedback about their internet and cell phone service, to help them as they lobby to get more service.