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Vol. 63, Issue 108
Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1951
www.dailytownsman.com
City tackles Joseph Creek erosion issues BARRY COULTER
Even a stream as benign as Joseph Creek can display the considerable power of water on surrounding features. The City of Cranbrook has been working to fix an erosion problem at the corner of 15th Avenue South and 4th Street South, where a change in the creek’s current as it passes under 4th Street has compromised the section of retaining wall alongside Rotary Way. Les Hunter, Public Works Supervisor with the City of Cranbrook, said a willow tree trunk that was coming across the creek began directing the flow of water at the retaining wall. “The wall has been in place for about six years,” Hunter said. “And the tree must have moved, or shifted, and the creek current got underneath the blocks.” He said the current had dug a hole about four feet deep this year. The City removed
BARRY COULTER PHOTO
The City of Cranbrook has removed a tree from Joseph Creek that was redirecting the current and causing damage to the retiaing wall. The next step is to fix the wall, which will happen in August in accordance with Ministry of Environment regulations. the tree in question, but a section of the retaining wall is still out of place. The City had to go through the Water Stewardship Branch of the Ministry of Environment to get a permit to do the work. And the next step is to fix the wall, but that work must wait until August. In a fish-bearing creek, Min-
istry regulations only allow for a certain time window, generally a couple of weeks in August, for such work to be done. According to Ministry regulations, to do work in a body of water such as Joseph Creek, one must have a plan drawn up by an environmental engineer. “We’ll be working
with the engineers we have on contract — Urban Systems — to get the permit that’s required, and rebuild the wall,” Hunter said. There is some similar erosion issues with Joseph Creek in behind Save-On Foods. Hunter said similar work will be taking place to fix the situation there.
Solidarity on the lines as teachers prepare for full-scale strike vote SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
ARNE PETRYSHEN PHOTO
Bhaktimarga Swami, also known as the walking monk, walked through Cranbrook on Wednesday, June 4, and talked about his journey and philosophy. This is his fourth trip by foot across Canada. See full story, Page 5
Teachers took to the picket lines in Cranbrook on Thursday, June 5, in the second one-day strike in School District 5. Rotating one-day strikes by B.C. Teachers Federation members are in their second week as negotiations between teachers and the provincial government fail to produce an agreement. “We’d all rather be at work,” said Shelley Balfour, president of the Cranbrook and Fernie Teach-
ers Association, from the picket line outside the school board office in Cranbrook’s industrial area. “We absolutely want to be back in the schools doing what we do best, which is working with kids.” Balfour said teachers have seen much support from the community in the past few weeks, with visits from fellow unionized postal workers and firemen, and students’ families who drop off snacks and have even brought a barbecue to the picket line.
“It’s been really good. It’s good for morale,” said Balfour. “But all we need is the positive honks because that means that somebody’s paying attention.” The strike day comes the morning after a Labour Relations Board (LRB) decision, finding that the B.C. government acted legally when it cut teachers’ pay by 10 per cent and ordered a partial lockout in the wake of the rotating strikes.
See TEACHERS, Page 4