TUESDAY OCTOBER 1, 2013
www.pqbnews.com
Official newspaper of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals
BCYCNA
Gold 2012 General Excellence
STARS SHINE IN NANOOSE
GENERALS PART WAYS WITH COACH
A15
A36
After one season plus nine games, Brent Demerais is out as bench boss and GM
Event Saturday billed as an oldfashioned, family hall party
PARKSVILLE MAYOR WANTS ANSWERS
Rail safety in question Chris Burger concerned about trains crossing Englishman River JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
Two or three times a month, freight trains roll across the bridge spanning the Englishman River. What’s in those box cars? What are the safety conditions of the track and the bridge? What kind of liability insurance, if any, is in play for the City of Parksville if an accident occurs and threatens the city’s water supply? Mayor Chris Burger says he is not getting answers to these questions from the Island Corridor Foundation. Burger says he’s not getting a whole lot of answers to any of his ICF-related questions and he wants that to change. “A number of us (municipal politicians) have lost confidence in the ICF,” Burger said Monday. “We want to become much more involved.” The city has a representative on the Regional District of Nanaimo board of directors, Coun. Marc Lefevbre. The RDN is one of the partners in the ICF project to re-start rail service on Vancouver Island, but Burger said neither he nor Lefevbre can get answers to the questions they pose to the ICF. “I don’t have a clear line of communication any longer with the ICF,” said Burger. “We’ve allowed this to operate too long at arms length and we need to bring it back in.” Parksville council passed a resolution last week that empowers Lefevbre to ask specific questions about liability and insurance coverage related to the portion of track that runs through the city. Council also wants the ICF to confirm in writing that the rails meet all applicable safety standards. Could the tracks be a disaster waiting to happen? Could chemicals or other materials end up in the city’s water supply after a rail accident? “There is a concern that might be the case but I’m not an engineer,” said Burger. “But I’ve walked the tracks.” The project manager for infrastructure improvement for Southern Rail told The NEWS on Monday the track in Parksville and the Englishman River bridge are inspected regularly and meet provincial and federal safety standards. See RESPONSE COMING, page A4
BRENDA GOUGH PHOTO
OFF WITH THE LOCKS: Not only did Oura Giakoumakis, owner of Thalassa Restaurant at the Qualicum Beach Memorial Golf Course, raise a huge amount of money ($19,250.50) for this year’s Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, she shaved her hair (with the help of Bayside Salon’s Jason Hall) in honour of her nephew, who is a cancer survivor. For more stories and photos from the Tour de Rock riders coming through Parksville Qualicum Beach last week and the successful fundraising efforts of many community members and groups, please see pages 3, 5 and 9 inside today’s edition of The NEWS. For even more photos, please visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PQBNews.
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