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AUGUST 14, 2013
Accident near Wasa briefly closes road | Page 3
McGill and coaches look for consistency | Page 7
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Vol. 61, Issue 157
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ARNE PETRYSHEN PHOTO
Mount Baker Secondary School students Landon Harvey, Derek Johnson and Edmond Yoo (at centre, left to right) demonstrated their national bronze-medal-winning robot at the regular council meeting on Monday, Aug. 12. In June, the Mount Baker Robotics Club represented B.C. in the national skills competition in Vancouver and took third place. Cranbrook’s mayor and councillors presented the trio with gift bags from the city.
Brick building gets last-minute reprieve Cranbrook City Council gives conservation group one year to save the historic storage shed ARNE PETRYSHEN Townsman Staff
The old brick building behind city hall will stand for another year, as council delayed its destruction to give time to a group intent on saving it Monday. The vote was a close 4-3, with some of council still wanting to see the building taken down as planned a number of months ago. Others, though, hinted that maybe this issue had begun to take on a deeper meaning on interactions between the municipal governments and residents.
“I’ve come to respect how we do business as a council and the way we do that is by consulting with people who are knowledgeable in the area that we’re dealing with,” Mayor Wayne Stetski said, citing the sign and building bylaws as some of the recent cases where council engaged the knowledge of those in the community. “One of the things that I’ve learned over the past few months is that the people that know something about history in Cranbrook... are telling us that this has historical impor-
tance to the city,” he said. “There’s been true community passion directed towards this particular issue and directed towards council, including petitions, lots of phone calls, emails. I haven’t received one letter from any citizen saying, ‘Get rid of the building.’” He said there is some concern that if council allows the structure to remain, sometime in the future they may want the area for something else. He noted that in Vancouver, developers are rewarded for including historical buildings in de-
velopments. “For instance, if you save a historical structure, the developer will be able to increase the density of their units because they respected heritage,” he said. “I also thought about St. Eugene, where they turned a very unfortunate part of their history into a very positive thing and incorporated a whole school into a new resort.” The mayor said he believes leadership is all about listening, learning and adjusting your opinion.
See DEMOLITION, Page 3
New four-way stop coming downtown ARNE PETRYSHEN Townsman Staff
The Cranbrook in Motion Committee put forward four traffic-related recommendations for council’s review on Monday, Aug. 12. The committee recommended that public works install a four-way stop at the 1st Street and 9th Avenue South intersection, as well as check the timing of the pedestrian crossing signal at the intersection of Victoria Avenue and 2nd Street North to ensure there is enough time for pedestrians to cross the street. City staff had reviewed the intersection at 1st Street and 9th Avenue and confirmed there are sightline issues and it is deemed a high-collision area.
See TRAFFIC, Page 3