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Vol. 120, Issue 24
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Trail council weighs in on growing season
FAST FIX
BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
GUY BERTRAND PHOTO
Kelvin Bezaire (left) and Trevor Rogers of Power Tech Electric do some quick repairs to the facade of the A&W restaurant along Victoria Street in Trail on Wednesday.
Bridge lighting project comes up with fundraising idea BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
If you haven't had a light bulb moment in awhile, an upcoming Trail bridge project can offer you one – literally. As the Downtown Opportunities and Action Committee (DOAC) nears a goal of raising $190,000, or half of the money needed to light up the Victoria Street Bridge, the group has come up with a unique and public way to complete the campaign. For a $200 donation, anyone wishing to “Buy a Bulb” can do so beginning March 1. With another $50,000 to go before reaching its portion of the $380,000 project, the initiative offers people the
chance to purchase one programmable, coloured LED bulb that will one day be part of a series of lights identifying the Victoria Street Bridge as a landmark feature in downtown Trail. Contributions to the DOAC project can be made at city hall, and are tax deductible. The Ministry of Transport is supportive of the initiative, noted Coun. Lisa Pasin during the Monday night meeting. “They did put forward some suggestions to changes of design which could end up as a cost reducing position for the project.” Trail council was first approached by the downtown organization one year ago with the novel idea for themed bridge lighting to add visual impact to
the downtown. “Hopefully through the sale of lights at $200 each, we will be able to finalize the DOAC's portion of the project and make the Victoria Street lighting a reality,” Pasin added. The project will come up as part of the city’s 2015 capital budget deliberations, confirmed David Perehudoff, Trail's chief administrative officer. “With the DOAC money in hand, council will need to determine how they want to proceed and if they will fund the city’s share,” he explained. “I would suggest that the donors would not be prepared to wait indefinitely and would want to see the project completed in the next year or two.”
The incrEDIBLE trail's plan to grow a garden-for-all hit a roadblock on Monday. Trail council turned down the group's request to develop a community garden on a chunk of city-owned land on Rossland Ave. Citing the cost to develop the site, which is across from the Colombo Lodge, Trail council supported the initiative in principle during the governance meeting, but asked the edible landscape committee to come up with a different locale. According to the city's engineering department, installing water, grading the gravel surface and supplying 300 feet of fencing would exceed $15,000 – a number Trail council deemed too high. But Gina Ironmonger from the incrEDIBLE trail says she's not giving up on growing food in a garden that would be all inclusive and open for learning and teaching. While the committee continues to look at other land options, action for a second year of edible landscapes throughout the Trail community is already underway, beginning with the city's first “Seedy Saturday,” slated for March 14 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at St. Andrew's Anglican Church. The event features a free seed exchange, a childrens' planting workshop, educational booths and seed vendors. Council's decision to nix the $15,000 community garden proposal came on the heels of another commitment, which was to greenlight Trail Community in Bloom (CiB) a $110,000 budget this year. This includes $50,000 for plants, shrubs, pots and baskets; $19,500 for the watering contract; $15,000 in city wages for services such as transporting planters, and repairs to sprinklers; plus another $10,000 for contract help to assist with hauling soil and various rock work. Dan Rodlie, CiB's chair, spoke before Trail council during the morning meeting, highlighting the group's strategy to keep the Silver City shining this season. While he asked for $10,000 more than what was granted, Trail council did agree for the city to be part of the CiB international competition. That aspect to the program eats up considerable funds especially in labour costs. Earlier this year, council considered dropping support (about $6500) for a visit by international CiB judges and other related incidentals like attending the national conference. See FOCUS, Page 3
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