sign thief
another du toit wins
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City deer sign stolen
WednesDAY august 14, 2013
russell du toit is club champ
The Bulletin
Proudly serving kimberley and area since 1932 | Vol. 80, Issue 157 | www.dailybulletin.ca
Tuesday Night is
Social Night!
Come out for fun, casual golf with the chance of winning prizes! www.BootlegGapGolf.com
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$ 10 INCLUDES G.s.t.
Thin ice for arena Council divided on upgrades to Marysville Arena CAROLYN GRANT editor@dailybulletin.ca
Chris Newel photo
Emergency personnel, BC Ambulance and Kimberley RCMP responded to the scene of a motor vehicle accident on Hwy 93/95 south of the Hwy 95A junction Tuesday morning. At about 10 a.m., a northbound minivan struck a dump truck. Three people were sent to hospital, one woman seriously hurt. The woman, a passenger in the minivan, was airlifted to Calgary in serious but not life-threatening condition. The road was closed but reopened by 10:30 a.m. See more in Thursday’s Bulletin.
Urban deer
Council receives hazing report City to ask province to amend Wildlife Act CAROLYN GRANT editor@dailybulletin.ca
The Kimberley Urban Deer Committee has written a report on last May’s one-day hazing, or aversive conditioning, trial and submitted it to Council and provincial wildlife biologist Irene Teske, who will pass it on to her superiors. Council received the report at their regular meeting on Monday evening. The report concludes that aversive conditioning has worked with elk in Banff and Jasper and is in its second year of use on mule deer in Waterton
Lakes, and would be useful to modify mule deer behaviour in Kimberley, although it would not function as population control of the herd. “Basically the trial wasn’t to see how to move deer out but to demonstrate how the handler handles the dogs and the dogs interact with deer,” Oakley told Council. The report notes that the deer were “minimally stressed” by the dogs and that the dogs responded instantly when called back by handlers The report ends with a request from the City of Kimberley that the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations support the amendment of the BC Wildlife Act to provide a mechanism to issue a
permit for aversive conditioning as part of ongoing urban ungulate management efforts. “It is only one piece of a comprehensive plan,” Oakley said. “And it remains to be seen if it can be afforded by taxpayers. It could be used in parts of Kimberley along with other strategies.” “I like the act that the emphasis is on a comprehensive approach, instead of searching for a silver bullet” said Coun. Don McCormick. “The message from the deer committee has been consistent and I appreciate that.” Oakley said that aversive conditioning would not work everywhere in Kimberley as there must be Crown land adjoining where the deer can be
moved. Marysville is ideal, other places in Kimberley would not work. “It’s a constant process. The deer are pressured in the middle of town and they learn over time they are safer out of town. Whether it fits with our budget realities remains to be seen. Coun. Kent Goodwin said the next question was how the City could use the technique. “We have limited resources to deal with deer. If we put dollars into hazing, we have less for culling. Figuring out an overall strategy is important.” Goodwin also said that with predators being attracted by deer, moving them to the fringes of town where many people recreate doesn’t really deal with the predator problem.
Kimberley City Council had a long discussion over the fate of the Marysville Arena on Monday evening, ending with the decision (not unanimous) to go ahead with phase one of the ice plant upgrade. However, even the Councillors voting for proceeding indicated they did so reluctantly. The ice plant at the arena is out of date, and the building has been operating on a variance from the Boiler Inspector until grant money could be found to do the upgrade. However, the City was not successful in obtaining grant money this year and another variance was requested to allow the arena to operate this winter. Coun. Darryl Oakley said that the Inspector was not inclined to grant a variance again, and City staff negotiated a deal where the City would demonstrate their intention to complete the upgrade by constructing the building to house the ice plant this year, at a cost of $188,000, and then put in the new ice plant next year. The new ice plant must be situation in a separate building from the arena. It is that deal that had Council somewhat concerned. “It is a difficult situation the City is put in,” Oakley said. “I find it interesting the Boiler Inspector asks us to build an empty building or we don’t get a variance. We should have been given the variance and been allowed to continue to seek funding.” Mayor Ron McRae said the building was an indication that the City was going ahead.
See ARENA , Page 3