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THURSDAY MAR 19, 2015
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AT $49,900 , LOTS STARTING ROUND LIVING Westwood Lake AFFORDABLE YEAR woods, on exquisite sale, nestled in the Beautiful lots for . luxuries of a first in the city of Nanaimo living with all the combines relaxed house, sun deck, hot Resort on the Lake Come and enjoy our lakeside club the lake. Fish for class holiday resort. Walk or jog the 3.5 mile trail around practice golf on tub and heated pool. or from kayaks. You can play tennis, - or just enjoy the trout from the shoreenjoy a game of bocci or horseshoes our putting green, , n for excellent shopping sunshine and relax! only 10 min from downtow Located on a bus routeocean-front amenities. restaurants and many Executives at
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Nanaimo 5 Locations in
6852 Mart Rd. LANTZVILLE
www.nanaimobulletin.com
THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015
VOL. 26, NO. 90
250.390.1871
Price caps limit fare increases I TODD STONE discusses plan at chamber meeting. BY GREG SAKAKI THE NEWS BULLETIN
Keeping ferry fares under control is one of the facets of the provincial government’s new 10-year transportation plan. B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone was in Nanaimo on Wednesday to discuss the document at a Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce breakfast at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre. The plan touches on all modes of transportation in B.C., and ferries are a focus, Stone said, suggesting the government wants to ensure the service is affordable and sustainable into the future. He said he was “optimistic” about B.C. Ferries commissioner Gord Macatee’s preliminary decision later that day on ferry fare price caps, which were subsequently announced as 1.9 per cent per year from 2016-20. In comparison, fare increases were capped at 4.1 to 3.9 per cent between 2013-15. “Fares cannot continue to increase as they have. We’re not just approaching a tipping point, we’re at the tipping point…”
the minister said. “There is a correlation between fares and passenger levels. We’re acknowledging that.” The ferry commissioner’s report finds that B.C. Ferries is positioned to exceed an internal-efficiencies target of $54 million, partly due to lowered administrative costs and reductions in executive compensation. “B.C. Ferries has cut costs, exceeded its efficiencies targets and moved forward with key innovations, while ferry users accepted service level adjustments…” said Macatee in a press release. “Collectively, these measures took pressure off fares.” But a modest fare increase shouldn’t be something to celebrate, said Claire Trevena, North Island MLA and the NDP’s transportation critic. “Fares are still going up. In two weeks’ time we’ve got a four-per cent increase,” she said. “This is on top of what have already been extraordinary hikes in ferry fares.” She said the 1.9 per cent is an average and could vary by route, and noted that the figure is also predicated on increased ferry traffic at a time when ridership levels are at historic lows. sports@nanaimobulletin.com
Quality & Service at Budget Prices Quote Of The Week
Sometimes wine makes me mistake words for thoughts.
TAMARA CUNNINGHAM/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Cool carver
Nanaimo ice sculptor Aaron Grant carves one of six swans commissioned by the makers of a family comedy. The show, under the working title Monkey Up, is being shot in Victoria. For more on the project, please see page 7.
Council goes with emergency strategy for dams BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
Nanaimo city council will deliver a revised emergency plan for the Colliery dams to the province this month, despite warnings by city bureaucrats the decision misses the mark. Council nixed remediation options in favour of a revised emergency preparedness strategy for the dams during an open meeting Monday. In a 5-3 vote, it also opted for a water surveillance plan and an action plan to route flood waters with a stockpile of materials like sandbags.
City manager Ted Swabey told councillors he doesn’t believe they will get a favourable response from dam safety regulators, who sent a letter in late February that ‘already identified’ the motion would be unacceptable, and Toby Seward, acting general manager of social and protective services, pointed out the city has already revised its emergency action plan. The Dam Safety Section has also asked for a remediation plan consistent with a commitment council made two years ago. “This is a plan for monitoring safety and what have you,” Seward said. “What I’m hearing is
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lock blocks and sandbags would be brought in and stockpiled in case there’s an event come up and as we experienced in mid-December, when that event comes up it’s very bad conditions, it’s very difficult to mobilize and get things in place as the water capacity comes in very quickly. “There’d clearly have to be a design for that, that could withstand water flows and things like lock blocks and sandbags ... are used certainly along river banks to prevent overflowing but they are not used in a dam situation to my knowledge.” See ‘MOTION’ /3
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