COMMUNITY PROFILE: Mission projects PAGE 7 Publications Mail Registration #0040028607
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015
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Canfor studies inventory By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
SPRING Flowers
Jackie Lieuwen/Houston Today
Riverside Gardens owner Theresa (middle) and employees Shirley and Judy show off some of the flowers growing in the greenhouse hanging baskets. Employees have been planting at the greenhouse since the beginning of March, and are preparing to open May 7 or 8.
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Canfor is completing a shadow analysis to protect their timber rights and verify forest inventory. On March 16, the Ministry of Forests announced a 26 percent timber harvest cutback over the next ten years. The harvest was cut 12 percent for the next five years and another 16 percent in 2020. At a Public Advisory Group (PAG) meeting April 2, Canfor planning coordinator Greg Yeomans said the Annual Allowable Cut was good news overall. “It was not the magnitudes that we were originally expecting,” he said. In early-2014, Canfor hired Ecora Engineering and Resource Group as a consultant to create a
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Canfor consultant questions government inventory
shadow analysis, or a model that captures a sample of the forest and mimics the Ministry inventory. Yeomans says they did that in order to “analyze the data and constraints to see what the cut would be and to hold the government accountable in that regard.” Canfor Silviculture Manager Carl vanderMark agreed. “What we are doing is trying to protect our interests in the timber harvesting land base,” he said. See TIMBER on Page 3
District of Houston refining community vision By Jackie Lieuwen Houston Today
The District of Houston is having special meetings to ensure understanding of the proposed changes to the Official Community Plan. The Official Community Plan (OCP) is a vision
that defines what the community wants to become. It guides decisions in land use planning, infrastructure investments and social, economic and environmental policies. The OCP incorporates the transportation
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“There are about 32 pages of proposed changes,” - District CAO Michael Glavin
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and Community Energy Plan. The District has been developing and
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updating all of those plans since March 2014. The transportation, age friendly and land use plans are still in draft form and need final adoption. After the plans are finalized, council will consider and adopt bylaws to enforce the plan.
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Houston Chief Administrative Officer Michael Glavin said mayor and council should take a step back to make sure they understand the proposed OCP changes and implications. “There are about 32 pages of proposed changes. I want to
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go through each one thoroughly and make sure that everybody understands it,” Glavin said. He says some of the proposed changes could inhibit rebuilding if a building is burned or damaged in an area that is rezoned. See OCP on Page 2
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