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VOL. 25, NO. 22
P: 250.585.1648 3392 Norwell Drive
City staff highlight risk from dam breach
I
SENIOR MANAGERS met with News Bulletin to answer questions. BY CHRIS HAMLYN THE NEWS BULLETIN
TOBY GORMAN/THE NEWS BULLETIN
A hazmat suit-clad ProPacific Restoration worker stretches to tear away 80-year-old shingles containing asbestos from the roof of St. Paul’s Anglican Church Wednesday morning. The work, contracted by Stint Construction, will cost an estimated $350,000 and is expected to be completed by the end of August.
Roof replacement begins church reno BY TOBY GORMAN THE NEWS BULLETIN
A
rchdeacon Brian Evans wasn’t fooled this week when he looked up and saw a number of figures dressed in white on the roof of St. Paul’s Anglican Church. They weren’t angels, they were ProPacific Restoration employees dressed in hazmat suits assessing the 80-yearold roof to prepare it for replacement. It is likely the inert asbestos firmly embedded within the shingles preserved the roof for this long, but with
the necessary roof replacement comes the challenge of disposing of the asbestos properly. The roof replacement is just one of several capital restoration projects the church has planned. In all, an estimated $3.3 million will be required to add seismic upgrades, install fire suppression sprinklers and completely renovate the entire hall and make it wheelchair accessible and, Evans said, to expand the ministry’s outreach ability. The new roof and disposal of asbestos is estimated to cost $350,000.
“Our parish performs significant outreach in the community, including providing a facility for many organizations like arts and culture groups,” said Evans. “We realize our space to do that is limited, and the accessibility is not ideal for all people.” A year-long information gathering project revealed that of the estimated 37,000 people who have been through the church over the last year, 48 per cent used it for church functions while 52 per cent used it for community functions. ◆ See ‘RENOVATION’ /4
With emotion butting heads with responsibility over Colliery Dam Park, city staff want to highlight the threat to public safety posed by the 100-year-old dams. Al Kenning, city manager, Tom Hickey, general manager community services, and Philip Cooper, communications manager, met with the News Bulletin’s editorial board Monday to answer questions on a number of issues buzzing around the community, including potential development in the park. The Dam Safety Section of the Water Management Branch of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations, informed the city the lower and middle dams are an extreme risk and in their current condition a public safety hazard. Told to correct the problem, council decided on draining the reservoirs and removing the dams in July when water levels are at their lowest. The project includes replacing the dams next year. Kenning said the city is not taking on this project simply because it wants to stir the pot. “Nobody wants to have to deal with these dams. We knew how people would react,” he said. “The studies say there are 130 people that are likely to die if those dams go. By our calculations, there is something like a
15-per cent chance in the next 50 years that it’s going to happen. “That is not a miniscule risk. That is a significant risk and it gets higher every year. It’s enough of a risk that people can’t just ignore it.” Cooper said some of those opposed to the project are not taking into consideration the public safety threat. “People are dismissing that because we don’t have a lot of public safety threat issues come up. When they do, it’s a different type of debate,” he said. “A lot of the conversations are about what people want as individuals, but we are talking about a collective responsibility. That’s what government has to operate under.” Other rumours surround plans to put a road through the park and develop a subdivision. “A lot of people are grabbing on to ideas that don’t have any foundation in our legal or legislative capabilities,” Cooper said. “To develop the park there is a public process to go through. We would need permission from the electorate. The city simply doesn’t have the ability to say ‘we’re going to develop that’. “There is an assumption out there that the city has more powers than it really does.” Kenning said people need to put themselves in the role of a council member. “They’ve been told by the Dam Safety Branch, their professional engineers they’ve hired and their staff that this is a public safety risk,” he said. “And then to not do anything about it and have something happen would not be a pretty story.” news@nanaimobulletin.com
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