Up front: Ottawa closes Cowichan man’s scientific legacy On stage: This Audrey has been chewing on Cowichan for years
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Friday, January 10, 2014
Another police station option?
Highway patrol says help needed to curb dangers
Report reaction: More highway cops, cameras, fencing could curb Cowichan’s highcrash rates
Leaving the marsh behind? North Cowichan signs potential deal to buy property near the Cowichan Commons Peter W. Rusland
Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
News Leader Pictorial
M
ayor Jon Lefebure won’t say which of two candidate sites he wants for North Cowichan’s new police station. But Lefebure is glad council is hedging its bets with a second possible property on Ford Road, to go along with its current Beverly Street option. Debate is set for Jan. 15 when Lefebure aims to be open-minded. “I have to respect what my fellow councillors have to say, and be clear about what I think; I am very relieved to have another option.” Council has taken heat from locals opposed to pulling the publicly owned 1.78-hectare site on Beverly from B.C.’s agricultural land reserve, then building the cop shop beside eco-sensitive Somenos Marsh. A week after Victoria approved removal of that Beverly parcel from farmland status, councillors announced a conditional offer to buy about three acres of a five-acre property at Ford and Drinkwater roads, across from Cowichan Commons. Assessed value of that whole parcel is $177,400, staff said. The Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society urged council to pick the Ford parcel, not Beverly land beside the wetland. “As the SMWS have stated many times,” president Paul Fletcher’s Friday release says, “we are not against development but we are against development in ecologically sensitive areas such as the marsh margins. “The SMWS applauds the decision to potentially move the RCMP detachment to a more logical site by the Commons, and would hope the change in venue — should it occur — will not open the (Beverly) land to commercialization, high-density housing, or industrial uses as has been suggested in some North Cowichan planning documents.” RCMP brass also gave a preliminary thumbs up to Ford Road, Lefebure noted. “And I’m unaware of any flooding concerns up there. “The key thing is it’s zoned A2, and not in the agricultural land reserve,” Lefebure said of the Ford site he called “a pasture with some cows in it.” “We bought it conditionally, on there being rezoning to allow public use. more on page 7
M
Andrew Leong
Josh Van Wieren of the Duncan Public Works department removes Christmas decorations from the wall of the Pots & Paraphernalia building on Canada Avenue Monday as the trappings of the holiday season were removed from downtown Duncan for another year.
ore cops, highway cameras, animal fencing, and citizens reporting lawbreakers could help soften stats showing Cowichan’s highways are among B.C.’s least safe, our top highway patrol officer says. RCMP Sgt. Andrew Dentoom admitted he hadn’t seen the recent transport ministry-ICBC study listing crash figures about the risky Victoria to Nanaimo, and Duncan-Lake Cowichan stretches. They’re just two island turnpikes he and his eight busy officers do their best to patrol. But Dentoom sure was familiar with local hotspots cited in the sweeping report. “Historically, Lake Cowichan highway has one of the biggest factors in collisions with animals.” He lamented his lack of officers to more effectively slow motorists, and prevent deaths. “Basically, we don’t have the resources we had many years ago. We go to enforcement; it’s strategic — we look for high-crash areas and do enforcement on causal factors. The big thing is harm reduction.” Boosting roadside check stops in suspected drunk-driving zones is another weapon. “We try and do road checks, or we’ll address speed there.” Dentoom damned distracted drivers too — welcoming folks calling 911 with licence plates of drivers using handheld devices. “In downtown Duncan, it’s cellphones, so we do enforcement. With some things, there’s not a lot we can do, like when deer or elk start crossing the highway.” more on page 7
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