SOOKE
PARK FULL OF ART
Ed Macgregor Park will be alive with art and artisans. Page 21
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C O M M U N I T Y
N E W S
Agreement #40110541
NEW LOCATION! 2x1mtg ctr Coching Mortgage Corp. 103 - 6739 West Coast Rd. Sooke
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Black Press
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
NEWS MIRROR Across the street from the Post Office
Derek Parkinson 250-642-0405
M E D I A
Council authorizes spending for land Pirjo Raits
Sooke News Mirror
Britt Santowski photo
It’s about the journey
Tired paddlers Chief Gordon Planes, and Andrew, Justin and Joey Kasika-Planes return from their annual tribal journey. This year’s annual Tribal Journey took place at the Quinault Indian Nation, located by Taholah on the southwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Chief Planes said that 25 members of the T’sou-ke Nation attended. “It was a good journey, a drug and alcohol free event, “ said Chief Planes upon touching ground again in Sooke. The Tribal Journey is an annual event featuring ocean-going canoes, celebrated by coastal nations from Alaska, British Columbia and Washington. This year’s theme was Honouring Our Warriors, and it lasted six days, 24-hours-a-day, from August 1 to 6.
Sooke News Mirror office relocated Pirjo Raits
Sooke News Mirror
The Sooke News Mirror has been relocated to Seaview Business Centre after fire destroyed their premises on July 31. The early morning blaze was a difficult fire to control as the flames travelled through the
JUST SOLD 26-2190 DRENNAN ST 2371 DEMAMIEL DR. 2343 MOUNTAIN HTS.
building below the roof. Thousands of gallons of water was used to squelch the fire and in the process the archives and a lot of paper was destroyed in the Sooke News Mirror office. By pulling together as a team, the staff at the Mirror were able to recover a few items
and, most importantly, the data in the computers. Sooke firefighters aided in the recovery. They managed to put out the next edition on time. The temporary office is at 1A, 6631 Sooke Road, directly across from Home Hardware. “We managed to relocate to Seaview
Business Centre and although a little smaller we’re going to make it work,” said publisher Rod Sluggett. The phone number (250-642-5752) and email addresses remain the same. Copies of the paper can be picked up at that location.
It appears that a document signed in the 1920s has resurfaced and a portion of a gazetted road will be given back to the owners of property along West Coast Road. At the District of Sooke regular council meeting on August 12, local resident Terrance Martin questioned council as to the need to compensate the developer for a provincial highway dedication. He also questioned why the district is “giving” the owner a piece of waterfront property. “The developer should be buying it from the district,” said Martin. “It’s a gorgeous beach down there.” A portion of the property at 7707 West Coast Road was taken as road dedication back in 1922 but it was never used for the road. Council is proposing to close and remove the highway dedication and dispose portions of unused gazetted road. The Land Use Committee recommended a direct exchange of the proposed gazetted road. The owner requested a direct exchange with no financial payment to
the district. “The property was expropriated for a road which was never put in,” said Mayor Wendal Milne. Martin stated that the province should be compensating the property owner, not the district. Council gave third reading to Bylaw 574,, West Coast Road Closure and Disposal Bylaw, 2013. Other items on the council agenda included a delegation from the Sooke Animal Food and Rescue Society requesting council help them acquire a piece of property on which to build a cat shelter. They also requested funding for a generator and/or funds for a shed. Margarita Dominquez, speaking for the society, said they are dealing with an overwhelming feline population in the region. A matter of referrals came before council in regard to a rezoning application and the unnecessary number of referrals sought in such applications. Cutting the number of required referrals would help streamline the process. Councillor Rick Kasper said, “referrals
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7283 BETHANY PLACE WHIFFIN SPIT $369,900
107-2057 KALTASIN RD. BILLINGS SPIT $249,900
53 SEAGIRT ROAD EAST SOOKE $609,900
DRAMATIC WEST COAST 4445 SQ FT OF COMFORT & STYLE PRIV. LANDSCAPED 2. 5 AC WITH IDYLLIC PEBBLE BEACH
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are a waste of time.” Mayor Milne sent this issue back to the Land Use Committee to investigate. The district is amid the process of acquiring land for both the connector road from Church Road to Otter Point Road as well as land for the town centre road network and the roundabout. Property will be purchased from the Wadams family for an 11metre strip along the frontage of the property at 2182 Church Road and a 25-metre strip along the south boundary. McElhanney Consulting Ltd. is the project manager for the design and construction. This portion will be constructed before the Phillips-Charters section. This project is expected to cost in the realm of $1.9-million. The district is also purchasing strips of land on Sooke Road and Goodmere Road for the future “Waterview” Road. The new road will lead to the waterfront. The roundabout and property purchase for it will cost the district around $850,000 with funds coming from the Gas Tax Revenue and road Development Cost Charges.
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