Agriculture: Farmers don’t want salmon in Katzie Slough. 3
Arts: Odd Couple bring differences to ACT. 12
Sports: Flames drop sixth straight. 15 4 6 66 6 39 397 We d n es d ay, Ja n u a r y 7, 2015 · mapleridgenews.com · est. 1978 · (office) 604-467-1122 · (deli ve r y) 6 04 - 46
Albion flats land swap falls through SmartCentres couldn’t make deal with city work By Phil M elnyc h u k pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
The possible land swap between mall developer SmartCentres and the City of Maple Ridge is dead. After reaching a draft deal in September, the developer decided Dec. 22 it didn’t like the numbers. The “financials simply did not work for SmartCentres as certain components were more costly than originally estimated,” vice-president Sandra Kaiser said in a release Tuesday. “It doesn’t mean we’re going away.” The company will look at other options for the land on the east side of 105th Avenue and Lougheed Highway, south of Planet Ice, which has tacit approval for removal from the Agricultural Land Reserve. See Albion, 11
Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS
Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read, at the Albion fairgrounds, would still like to see commercial development in the area.
Green waste ban gradual New Metro regulations started on Jan. 1 B y P h i l M e l nychuk pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS
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Bins have been set up at the transfer station for food waste. TRY OUR
CLASSIC BREAKFAST
COMBO
As of Jan. 1, kitchen waste such as potato peels, egg shells and turkey carcasses can no longer go in the garbage. Instead, they have to be dumped in with the other green waste, such as leaves and lawn clippings, and picked up sepa-
$5 Price plus tax.
$
5
rately and composted. Although the new regulations began Jan. 1, Metro Vancouver won’t enforce them for a while. Residents won’t be fined and there won’t be any inspectors prying through garbage bags. “The sky’s not falling, that’s hopeful,” Coun. Craig Speirs said at Maple Ridge’s Monday council meeting. “It’s a soft opening for this.” Council heard that Metro Vancouver is taking a gradual approach to the latest change in
Two eggs, three strips of bacon, two pieces of toast, hash browns and coffee
Price plus tax.
One less reason to sleep in.
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garbage management, in which organic materials like kitchen scraps and yard trimmings have been banned from regular garbage. For the first six months, until July 1, the emphasis will be on education. Any loads taken to transfer stations that contain more than a quarter of organics, such as yard or kitchen waste, will be identified and the garbage hauler will be told of the transgression. But after July 1, haulers who bring in garbage loads with more
than 25 per cent organics will face a 50-per-cent surcharge. Usually, such loads come from restaurants and grocery stores, while residential garbage has a lower percentage of green waste. Starting next January, the allowable limit of organics in garbage loads is lowered to 10 per cent, then five per cent. “Obviously, the residential component will have pretty close to a year to be put in place,” Speirs added. See Waste, 4
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