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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 , 2015
$1.10 (includes tax)
VOL 118 NO. 13
Habitat pulls out of MAAP
Paw power Ursula Glas (left) and Molly Lindsay with the help of Tank the dog were out selling daffodils to raise money and awareness for the Canadian Cancer Society. April is Daffodil Month—read about it on page A19.
CRAIG LINDSAY
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Grand Forks Gazette
Habitat for Humanity Southeast BC has announced that they have pulled out of the Multi-Agency Accommodation Project (MAAP) after learning of council’s decision to further delay the five-year lease extension. Council’s delay in offering the extension meant that Habitat lost out on funding from BC Housing, which was for transitional housing units which were to be built on top of the ReStore. Habitat will not build a ReStore on the Riverside property without a lease extension, said Chris Moslin, board chair for Habitat. Habitat made the announcement in a press release sent out on Thursday (March 26). The move means that the organization will no longer be involved in a partnership with MAAP partners Whispers of Hope and BETHS (Boundary Emergency and Transition Housing Society) and no longer plans to build a ReStore building on the Riverside MAAP location. The building would have included transitional housing units and office space on the second floor. At an earlier council meeting (March 4), council agreed to the extension from five years to 10 years, contingent on funding and the issue going to public notice. However, at the March 23 meeting council heard from CAO Doug Allin who told council they had the option to step back and take a look at the project and to do their due diligence. “It’s a long-term decision,” said Allin at council. “You don’t want to be perceived as putting a Band-Aid on something…we should be considering the long-term planning.” Council voted 5-1 on March 23 to direct staff to seek funding for further study on transitional housing. Coun. Julia Butler was the lone no vote. Michael Wirischagin was absent. The motion from March 4 approving the lease extension, contingent on funding and public notice, became essentially put on hold as a result of council delaying the extension on March 25. The delay caused Habitat to miss the deadline on the funding from BC Housing. Allin told the Gazette that the motion (from March 4) remains in its minutes but that council has passed a motion (on March 25) to undertake a study to provide more information on their decision. “Once council has heard the report and completed the process they will consider the motion of accepting the lease extension,” he said. Chris Moslin, interim board chair for Habitat for Humanity Southeast BC, said that the decision to pull out of MAAP was not taken lightly. “It’s the intention of the society to carefully and with consideration withdraw from our part of the lease,” said Moslin. “We’re going to try to get as good a deal as we can for BETHS and Whispers.” Moslin said the decision by council to delay the ap• See HABITAT page A11
Skaters wrap it up Page A18
Craig Lindsay photo
Women dies tragically after tree falls on vehicle CRAIG LINDSAY
Grand Forks Gazette
A young female from Christina Lake was killed instantly when a tree fell on her car while she was driving on Highway 3 just south of the East Lake Drive turn-off. Ken Gresley-Jones, fire chief with Christina Lake Fire Rescue, said they were called to the scene at 2 p.m. on Thursday (March 26). “There was a car that was up against the rocks with one occupant trapped inside,” he said. “Initially it was witnessed that it appeared that a tree had fallen down from up above and it landed directly on the driver’s side of the car and it caused the car to hit the rocks. The driver was killed instantly.” Deceased is Amanda Louise Koppin, aged 33, of Christina Lake. Ms. Koppin was the driver and sole occupant of an SUV that was travelling westbound on Highway 3 at Christina Lake. Barb McLintock of the BC Coroners Service, which is investigating the death
along with West Kootenay Traffic Services, said the vehicle was struck on the roof by a large, dead tree which had fallen from the cliff on the eastern side of the highway. Gresley-Jones said that traffic on Highway 3 was blocked for several hours while the police and the coroner conducted their investigation. No logging or tree-clearing operations were taking place in the area from which the tree fell. The coroners service and the West Kootenay Traffic Services are still investigating. Friends and relatives of the Koppin family have set up a Facebook page (Koppin family fund) and a donation account at the Grand Forks Credit Union for anyone wishing to help her husband and young child. Anyone wishing to donate should ask for account ‘plan24donationaccountAmandaKoppin.’ Donations can also be sent in by mail (447 Market Avenue, PO Box 2500, Grand Forks, B.C. V0H 1H0), in person, or by email transfer to Ben at koppinfamilyfund@gmail.com.
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