Clearwater Times, March 13, 2014

Page 1

LOCAL NEWS: FORMER COACH CHARGED ▼ A9

Times

Thursday, March 13, 2014 ▼ Volume 50 No. 11 ▼ www.clearwatertimes.com ▼ $1.35 Includes GST

THE

NORTH THOMPSON

LOVES SNOW:

A big dog will miss the cold weather. See page A10 inside.

Second Place Best All Round Newspaper Third Place Best Editorial Page All of Canada <1,250 circulation 2013 Second Place General Excellence B.C. and Yukon <2,000 circulation 2013

Bantams battle for District title Clearwater Bantam #11 Michael Loring takes the puck up the ice during a game against Ashcroft on Saturday. Behind him is fellow player Mason Wadlegger and goalie Tristan Blackmore. Clearwater won the game 7 – 3. They were taking part in the Bantam district championships at the Sportsplex last weekend. The teams that went to the finals were in a three-way tie that was decided by goals for and against. Clearwater Bantams missed out by a small number. Greater Vernon won the Districts, a team that Clearwater had beat the day before. Clearwater came third overall. “They had a terrific season and everyone that came to the Districts this weekend kept commenting on our great facilities,” said one parent. Clearwater Peewees hosted their district championships as well. The provincial Tier 4 Midget hockey championships will be held in the Sportsplex this coming weekend. For more hockey photos and news, see pages A12 inside. Photo by Keith McNeill

District looks at wood heat for former Dutch Lake School Keith McNeill District of Clearwater plans to convert the former Dutch Lake School into a multi-use community center this year. The center would include new municipal offices for the District, plus provide space for the ICBC sales office and Yellowhead Community Services functions. The project might include changing the building from propane heat to wood. The biomassbased heating system possibly could be expanded to include the nearby RCMP building and even houses in the neighbourhood. The project was discussed during the March 4 town council meeting. Payback time for the biomass heat project would be three to five years (with grants), said councillor Merlin Blackwell.

Enderby has a neighbourhood biomass heating system that services about a dozen buildings – essentially a city block – from one heating unit. Other buildings in Clearwater being looked at for biomass heating include the Sportsplex and Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital. Biomass could provide new business opportunities for local operators, councillor Barry Banford said. Chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx noted that propane for the Sportsplex was locked in at 65 cents per litre in November. However, it is predicted to increase to $1.35 or 1.40. Funding for the biomass project likely would come from the Southern Interior Beetle Action Committee, Groulx said. According to a business case

study prepared Wood Waste 2 Rural Heat Project for District of Clearwater, heating the former Dutch Lake School with propane would cost about $30,000 per year. Converting to biomass would require about two and a half “B” train chip trucks per year. This would provide about 90 per cent of the heat needed. The existing propane system would be used for backup. A chip heating system, including boiler, distribution and fuel storage, would cost about $200,000. A pellet system would cost about $160,000, but would not have the beneficial local economic impacts. Connecting the RCMP building would cost another $25,000. This would be offset by about $5,000 per year in the sale of heat. Continued on page A2

A round wooden bin supplies wood chips for a small-scale bio-energy plant that supplies hot water heat for a nearby hotel in Austria. Former Clearwater councillor Bert Walker went on a fact-finding trip to Europe in 2011 to look into biomass heating. Photo by Bert Walker

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