THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015
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Lorene Keitch/ Observer
Residents along Kilby Road are concerned about the changes underway in their neighbourhood, including Clare Chalupa (left), Oona Whelan and Robert Meilinger, seen standing on the beach Wednesday, April 22 as District crews work behind them clearing trees
Changes at Kilby raise ire of residents
DAIRY
As trees come down, residents are asking, what’s next?
Local farmers learn how
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Lorene Keitch THE OBSERVER
It started with a thud. Harrison Mills resident Oona Whelan was in her log home, nestled snug between the dike and the lone road that leads to the Kilby boat launch and campground along the shores of the Harrison River. The thud shook her house and she knew something was amiss. After all, it tends to be a quiet little corner of the valley on a typical spring morning like Tuesday, April 21. Whelan went upstairs to look out her balcony, expecting to see perhaps a
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to oat a cow.
stunned bird crashed into her window. Instead, she gazed across her neatly-manicured yard, past the dike directly into the boat launch / day use parking area on the Harrison River. That’s when she saw the trees coming down. Whelan was shocked, since there had been no notice or information posted about the removal of the tall cottonwood trees. That one event led to a flurry of questions and correspondence between neighbours, various government representatives as well as District of Kent Council and staff about what
is changing at Kilby. According to district staff, the cottonwood trees were removed because they are a safety concern to the dike. “Trees are not good for dikes in terms of protection,” explains Wallace Mah, District CAO. But their removal also makes room for some changes to the structure of the day use area, allowing for boat and trailer parking as well as several new campsites directly in front of the beach, next to the boat launch. There is also discussion about opening up overflow tent camping
on the edge of the 17-acre piece of land belonging to Kilby Historic Site across the dike. Kilby Historic Site is the remainder of what was once the community of Harrison Mills. The site includes a farm and general store museum dating back to 1906. The District of Kent has the contract for Kilby, which includes management of Kilby historic site, the existing campground as well as picnic area and boat launch. The district contracts the job of running Kilby out to a nonprofit society, the Fraser Heritage Society. The area at the end of
Kilby Road is undergoing a transformation in an attempt to make the Kilby Historic site self-sustaining. "The province is no longer wanting to fund that heritage site," explains Mah. The district was left in the lurch when the province downloaded responsibility for the historic site. Mayor John Van Laerhoven (still away from council duties due to an motorcycle incident March 13) wrote a letter in December, 2014 to Steve Thomson, the minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations citing Continued on 2
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