I N S I D E : Canadian Northern’s Last Spike. Page 7
Journal ASHCROFT t CACHE CREEK
The
Volume 120 No 5 PM # 400121123
Thursday, January 29, 2015
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Constantia hopes to start phase 2
Courting success Ashcroft’s Jr. Girls Anni Tyler-Briggs (8), Rylea Pigeon (7 - with the ball), Ashley Collins (21), Mackenzie Woodburn (5) and Codey Dunbar (15) take on Merritt during last weekend’s high school basketball tournament in Ashcroft. See p. 5 for more details.
Former councillor passes away Former Cache Creek Councillor Darrell Rawcliffe passed away on Saturday, Jan. 24. Rawcliffe was elected to Council in 2008 and 2011, but resigned in April 2014 because of declining health. He passed away in the palliative care unit of the Ashcroft Hospital. Rawcliffe devoted much of his time to his community, as president of the Ashcroft & District Lions Club and president of the Semlin Valley Golf Course among other things, and was a big supporter of Cache Creek’s Seniors Fit program.
Darrell Rawcliffe
Many people will remember his and Alice’s stunning display of Christmas lights every year at their home on Woodburn Drive.
Constantia has purchased more property for its Maggie Mine Project near 16 Mile, and plan to continue with Phase 2, but first they have to raise the capital to proceed. “If we can, we’d like to start up in April or May,” Jason Quigley, Executive Vice President for Constantia HDI told Cache Creek Council at their Jan. 26 meeting. If that doesn’t happen, it might be Fall. “Based on the first phase, which confirmed the historic results, we’d like to continue on,” he said. He said once they know when phase 2 will begin, they hope to hold a contractor open house to find out what is available. Most of their materials and half of their labourers are sourced locally, he said, but they are having difficulty finding some items. Last Fall, said Quigley, they were able to partner with the Northwest Community College School of Exploration & Mining to offer a twoweek course in Drill Core Technician Training out of their Cache Creek Office. Quigley said they had an overwhelming number of applicants and as a result, 10 local residents “learned new skills that made them employable to us and to others.” During phase 1, the company hired more than 19 local residents, many of them from the Bonaparte Band. They have signed for agreements with First Nations, including a land use agreement with the Bonaparte.
All of Old Cariboo could be paved Cache Creek is now hoping to resurface Old Cariboo Road between the Starhouse Restaurant all the way to the Cache Creek Veterinary Clinic with the help of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The Ministry will be undertaking a large project this Fall in the area, paving Evans Rd. in Ashcroft and Hwy 1 through Cache Creek. While the machinery and labour is available, the Village wants to have the road past the Post Office resurfaced.
The Village will be responsible for all costs associated with the project, which is expected to be just under $100,000. Council agreed to the contribution agreement provided by the Ministry, subject to the final costs being submitted and coming within the budget at its Jan. 26 meeting. However, as all of the Ministry’s projects in the area were listed in the same document, Council asked staff to double check to make sure they weren’t responsible for paying for all of it.
Administrator Dan Plamondon told Council that the initial estimate for the resurfacing was $115,000, but now they’re thinking that they can do it for less than $100,000. Last Fall the Ministry promised to pave 28 km of local roads. Besides Evans Rd. to the Ashcroft Terminal, paving is also planned for the bridge to the brake check on Hwy 97C. In Cache Creek, Hwy 1 to the Bonaparte Bridge is planned, Hwy 1 east from Quartz Rd. to the end of the four lane, and 4.3 km of Loon Lake Road.
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