THURSDAYJANUARY 9, 2014
Official newspaper of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals
www.pqbnews.com
LOCAL OLYMPIAN
REMEMBERING ASHLEY
William Dutton will represent Canada in speed skating
Service for six-year-old who died Christmas Day held Wednesday
A32
A5
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Parksville 250.927.1271
PROPOSED COAL MINE
Raven to re-submit Company says app
• AFDFuels.ca
will be back in March; opponents skeptical JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
The president of Compliance Energy says the company will re-submit its application for the Raven coal mine project by the end of March. In May of 2013, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) rejected the application for the proposed mine near Buckley Bay, less than 50 kilomteres from downtown Qualicum Beach, saying “the application does not contain the required information and (the EAO) has decided not to accept the application for detailed review.” After that rejection, Compliance officials said they planned to re-submit the application within a couple of months. On Tuesday, Compliance CEO Stephen Ellis said that submission will be made by “the end of the first quarter” of 2104. “It (getting the application re-submitted) is slower than I would have anticipated,” Ellis told The NEWS. “But getting all the information required by the government has taken some time.” A large part of that process has been consultation with First Nations. Ellis said the company has now consulted 18 of the 20 groups the EAO required. “There’s no real end to that consultation,” said Ellis. “You carry on with that.” On its website (www.theravenproject.ca), the company says it expects to hire up to 200 workers during construction and create up to 350 full-time jobs. The underground operation would be centred about five kilometres west of the Buckley Bay ferry terminal and the coal would be stored and shipped out of Port Alberni. See OPPONENT, page A7
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY ARROWSMITH SEARCH AND RESCUE
SEEKING NEW RECRUITS: Arrowsmith Search and Rescue is looking for a few good men and women. Above, Lonny Barr practises on a high line above Kennedy River last summer during training . See story page A7.
DISTRICT 69 SCHOOLS
Crunch time for possible closures LISSA ALEXANDER
reporter@pqbnews.com
The conversations surrounding the possible closure, amalgamation or reconfiguration of local schools is coming to a head. There are two more public facility review meetings within the next couple of weeks where information will be gathered to contribute to a draft report to be presented to the school board on Thursday, Jan. 23 by acting superintendent Rollie Koop. Public meetings regarding district facilities have been going on for the past few months.
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The final facility review report will be presented to the board on Jan. 28, at which time trustees will vote on a motion to act on the recommendations. The review is being done to assist the local school board in dealing with a $3.4 million budget deficit over the next five years, a substantial underutilization of district schools, and a declining enrolment that isn’t expected to reverse for at least 10 years. If the school board votes to accept recommendations, a 90-day public consultation period will begin. The next public meeting regard-
ing facilities will be tonight, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. at Oceanside Middle School. This is part of the Toward a Future for Schools Conversation series. The next one will be a public meeting at Springwood Middle School on Wednesday. Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. The Jan. 23 presentation of the draft report will take place at the Parksville Civic and Technology Centre in The Forum at 7 p.m. and the Jan. 28 final report will be presented at the same place during a regular school board meeting. For more information visit: www.sd69.bc.ca.
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