New west facility Nets big fiNe
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time to re-opeN riverview
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godzilla briNgs big bucks to towN
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wedNesday
September 11 2013 www.burnabynewsleader.com
legendary bluesman Jim byrnes is coming to town for a little Business and the Blues. See page a11
Pattullo poll shows clear divisions Depends on what side of the river you live on Grant Granger
ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com
pHOtO CONtrIbUteD
An employee of Prime Auto Sales tries to clear a storm drain as flood waters swamp its lot and 12th Street during a downpour last Thursday.
Flooding hits lower 12th businesses Chris bryan and mario bartel newsroom@newwestnewsleader.com
Dave Unkovic is thinking of adding a weather man to his staff at the used car dealership he owns at the foot of 12th Street. At least then he could have fair warning of approaching rain storms that have flooded his business and others in the area, including the Petro-Canada gas station and The Terminal Pub. A thunderstorm late Thursday afternoon was the second time in
two weeks the staff at Prime Auto to the weather,” said Unkovic, who’s Sales scrambled to move about 20 been selling cars from that location cars from the lower lot that fronts for five years, but only started along 12th to prevent having flooding water from getting issues since the inside and damaging spring. Dave Coles, sensitive electronics. City of New Westminster He estimates The previous It’s like a river flowing down his lot has been storm occurred flooded “four or 12th Street. at midnight and five times,” costing Unkovic and some of his staff had him inconvenience and money as to travel in from Vancouver and the cars all have to be cleaned after Burnaby to save their inventory. they’re moved from the muddy lake. “We have to pay close attention Next door at The Terminal,
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general manager Alessandro Frau spent two days pressure washing the parking lot of dirt and mud after the late night storm two weeks ago, and only attentive employees working to clear debris from nearby storm drains prevented water from lapping inside the pub. “The first time this happened this summer it came just inches away from our door,” said Frau, who counts three floods since the spring. see ‘It WaS pretty INCreDIble’, a4
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Your view of how to deal with the Pattullo Bridge seems dependent on what side of the river you live on. Earlier this year, TransLink, which is responsible for the aging structure, and the cities of New Westminster and Surrey got together to form a joint review team after an initial feedback foray by TransLink in 2012 failed to produce a favoured alternative. The team came up with 25 suggestions to fix or replace the deteriorating 76-yearold bridge. However, they recommended only six be investigated further. In June, they took all the alternatives to the public with workshops, open houses, and online and hard-copy polls that resulted in 4,000 responses. A new four-lane bridge connecting Surrey to Coquitlam with a rehabilitated two- or three-lane Pattullo Bridge got thumbs-up from New Westminster poll participants, with 59 per cent supporting considering the idea further. please see FeW, a3