THURSDAY
S I N C E
APRIL 4, 2013
Legion states
Vol. 118, Issue 53
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Trail switches
1 8 9 5 American Page 9
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INCLUDING G.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
MONTROSE
Water concerns come early in season for village BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
The Village of Montrose is down to one temporary water pump, so residents really need to be water- wise, said acting Mayor Don Berriault at Montrose council Tuesday night. His comment followed the first, second and third reading of bylaw 702, titled the “2013 Water Conservation and Staging Restrictions Regulations Bylaw.” Council carried a motion at the request of Kevin Chartres, chief administrative officer, to enable staff with the authority to enact various stages of water restrictions at their discretion. “We want to think proactively,” explained Coun. Cook. “If we are using a lot of water, restrictions may need to be enacted well before our next meeting, which is weeks away.” Chartres explained that the warm and dry weather last weekend, did result in an increase in water usage. “All it takes is a few nice days, with residents out washing cars and hosing driveways,” said Chartres. “The village is allowed to use seven million imperial gallons of water a month, and in one day alone, 113,000 gallons were used.” Chartres further explained that with both village pumps in Vancouver, and the water capacity of only one well; stage one restrictions will need to be imposed. Even though Montrose is on year-round (conservative) water restrictions, a progression to Stage 1, will mean reduced underground sprinkling time from four hours to two hours per night; and lawn and garden sprinkling time from two hours twice a day, to one hour in the morning and one hour at night. “The thing is, there is no reason to water grass in April, so I think we could ban lawn watering entirely until May,” added Chartres. After the meeting, Coun. Berriault talked about the history of water restrictions in Montrose. He was on council in the late 1980’s when, former Coun. Mario Mackeri began what was then called, “Energy Conservation and Education.” “Before that time, we allowed watering everyday,” he explained. “Basically it was a free-for-all, because water was considered a renewable resource. “However, sometimes the pump was running up to 18 hours a day, and the cost was very high,” said Berriault. He said that back then, the village was looking for ways to save costs, when, forward-thinking Mackeri came up with the initiative. “Back then, we didn’t call it “restrictions” because that had a negative connotation,” said Berriault. “I am not sure it was appreciated any better, so now we call it what it is,” he laughed.
Fire cuts services to industrial park BY ART HARRISON Times Staff
A mysterious electrical fire on Crown Road in Waneta shut down phone and electrical service to much of the Waneta industrial area south of Trail Wednesday as regional fire staff, Fortis BC line crews, and Telus representatives struggled to determine the cause. Firefighters from Trail and Montrose responded to the call on the rural road between KC Recycling and Waneta Auto Recyclers at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Kootenay Boundary regional fire Chief Terry Martin said that a power line had apparently been burning since Tuesday evening but that the fire services hadn’t been called until the next morning. “At this point we’re not sure if it’s a Telus line or a Fortis line,” said Martin at the scene of the fire. “All we can do is stand by and make sure nothing else catches fire.” The owner of Waneta Auto Recyclers, Terry Forsythe, made the initial call to Fortis when he first noticed sparks coming from a junction box on the line Tuesday evening. “I called it in Tuesday night before the phone went down,” said Forsythe. “The Fortis guy checked it out and said it was a Telus line and put tape around the pole. Wednesday I went out there and the box was burning and I tried to use a fire extinguisher but that just made it worse.” Telus Media Relations representative Shawn Hall said crews were waiting to assess the cause. “Sometime last night there was a power ground short and Fortis is currently working on the electrical fault. The Telus crew is waiting for Fortis to repair the fault before we can go in and repair the cable and equipment. “As soon as it is safe and the electrical hazard has been dealt with we can make our repairs. We anticipate it could be six or seven hours to make the repairs. We have a handful of customers in the industrial park without service until then.” Power was restored to the majority of businesses in the Waneta industrial area by 1 p.m. Wednesday but KC recycling was still without power. “FortisBC experienced an outage affecting the Waneta
ART HARRISON PHOTOS
An electrical fire in the Waneta industrial park cut off phone and electrical services to the businesses in the area on Wednesday. Fire chief Terry Martin (right) and crews from Trail and Montrose responded. The cause is still being determined. Industrial Park which affected a number of commercial customers in the area. Exact cause is still unknown. FortisBC crews were sent to the site and began work to restore powe,” FortisBC Corporate Communications advisor, Tracy Tang, said in an email response. Fire crews were kept busy later in the day also being called out to deal with a small grass fire at 1948 Old Salmo Road in Fruitvale.
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may 15, 2013
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