WEDNESDAY
S I N C E
MAY 8, 2013
1 8 9 5
Vol. 118, Issue 72
105
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Candidates answer voters’ questions at Trail forum Page 3
INCLUDING G.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
School district passes budget
WARFIELD POOL GETS FACELIFT
Temporary contract teachers and custodial positions hit with cuts BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
After months of heated debate, the annual budget bylaw for School District 20 (SD20) for the fiscal year 2013/14 was quietly passed Friday. The trustees met in quorum at the Trail Middle School in an open meeting and had one member of the public in attendance. “The budget bylaw was read for $41.8 million, with an operating budget of $35.6 compared to the $36.6 million we had last year,” explained Natalie Verigin, secretary treasurer. “Although the decisions made have been difficult, it is a relief it is over because now we can focus on implementation.” Darrel Ganzert, SD20 board chair, said that the impact to the workers of the district was less this year than in past budgets. “The biggest impact of course, was in the facility changes,” he said. “That was difficult to get through. “However, the impact to the workers is much less than it could have been.” The closure of MacLean Elementary to reconfigure Rossland Secondary School to K-9, cut $265,000 from the budget; and combining two Castlegar primary schools cut $38,400 this year, and another $35,000 in 2014. The money saved in these cuts is cumulative, said Verigin. “The bottom line is that we are going to get less money next year. We need those savings from the school closure because we are not going to be getting any influx of new dollars going forward.” Ganzert explained that once the facility changes were dealt with, the See CUSTODIAL, Page 3
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
This week, the Village of Warfield public works department continued to prepare the Warfield pool for a new cement-based liner. The project will cost the village a cool $50,000 and will be complete by the end of the month. On Thursday, Mike Barta removed the familiar blue tiles, a feature of the pool since 1967.
MONTROSE
Water supply improvements almost complete BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
Soon to be on tap, a cleaner and more reliable source of drinking water for the residents of Montrose. “The Village of Montrose water supply improvements project is nearing completion,” said Kevin Chartres, chief administrative officer for the village. All four pumps, which include two new and two refurbished, were up and running last night (Monday), he said. “The project will be substantially complete when the chlorination goes on-line later this week.” However, the boil water advisory will not be lifted for another month.
“Even though the pumps are working and the chlorination begins this week, a series of tests have to be passed to lift the boil water advisory and that could be a month down the road.” KEVIN CHARTRES
“The chlorine has to run and samples have to be collected for a period of weeks,” explained Chartres. Once the samples are back, and determined to be clear, the results will then submitted to a drinking water official from the
Interior Health Authority (IHA). Chartres said that it is the responsibility of IHA to lift the advisory, but first, clean samples, collected over a period of time, have to be provided. “Even though the pumps are working and the chlorination begins this week, a series of tests have to be passed to lift the boil water advisory and that could be a month down the road.” Once the chlorination process begins, residents may notice a strong odour in the tap water. Chartres said it will take some time to obtain a consistent level of chlorine in the system, and levels could fluctuate from See INITIAL, Page 5
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