EAGLE VALLEY
NEWS
School trustees to investigate K-12 option Page 3
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Wednesday, May 20, 2015 PM40008236
Vol. 60 No. 20 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (GST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Hopes rise for bridge replacement
Transportation: Bruhn among projects in province’s 2015 investment plan. By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
The Bruhn Bridge will be receiving some attention from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure that won’t involve patching or other repairs. At last week’s Sicamous municipal council meeting, Coun. Malcolm Makayev said Ministry staff will be collecting data to see what design options might be feasible for the replacement of the Bruhn Bridge. “So you might see geotechnical/environmental surveyors out there poking around in the channel,” said Makayev. “This, hopefully, is another sign of good things to come for our community.” The Bruhn Bridge and Old Spallumcheen Road are lumped together among projects the ministry has listed in its transportation and investment plan for 2015. A ministry document notes the province is currently in the procurement stage with this project. Mayor Terry Rysz says the bridge is a
Aging infrastructure: The approximately 57-year-old Bruhn Bridge shows its age, with patches of rebar exposed from repairs conducted in 2011, after a piece of the bridge broke off and landed in a boat travelling beneath. Photo by Lachlan Labere “not very healthy” condition, and the ministry realizes this. “I think they’re going to try and fasttrack that as much as possible,” said Rysz. “I think they understand the importance of it, because can you imagine if all of a sudden this bridge had to be locked down, and we had to send all the traffic along Mara Lake, especially in the summertime and all of that? It’s crucial that they get the thing fixed up.” Rysz suggested the ministry is in the early planning stages, adding they would have
to put together engineering plans, “and then they’ll probably come back to our community and we’ll see how it effects us.” The condition of the Bruhn Bridge has long been a local concern. The current state of the bridge’s pillars is a result of structural work done by the ministry in 2011, after a three-foot long by three-inch thick piece of concrete broke off the outside deck and fell into a boat travelling below. Responding to concerns raised about the bridge in 2013, a MOTI spokesperson said
the Bruhn Bridge was in good condition with many years of service life remaining. Replacement of the Bruhn Bridge was identified as a public priority in February 2013, when MOTI held open houses in the Shuswap to gather input for the province’s $650 million budget to four-lane sections of the Trans-Canada Highway from Kamloops to the Alberta border. While the Malakwa and North Fork bridges east of Sicamous were targeted in the ministry’s plans for replacement, the Bruhn was not.
Council turns down offer of structure for Beach Park pavilion By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
Sicamous council said thanks, but no thanks to the offer of a free home to use for a pavilion in Beach Park. Last Wednesday, council received a report from staff recommending it consider accepting the offer of a donated structure, an A-frame home located on a Silver Sands Road property. The district would arrange to move the structure to nearby Beach Park to be used as a “support service… to which a stage and po-
dium can be added to complete a pavilion facility for the community.” In addition, the recommendation asks council authorize staff to spend up to $20,000 for the building’s relocation. “For some time, the District has contemplated the development of a pavilion structure for the Beach Park as a music, entertainment and multi-functional venue… Part of such a venue would benefit from having a “back-stage” lounge, kitchen, storage, washrooms and dressing areas to which the performing podium/stage can be designed
and attached to,” comments district community planning officer Mike Marrs in his report. Mayor Terry Rysz called the offer an excellent opportunity to acquire a starting point for the Beach Park pavilion and was supportive of its acquisition. However, council had questions about the building’s condition – due in part to not all having had an opportunity to view it in person. “I don’t like to make a decision on a building I haven’t See Timing on page 2
Starting point: District staff suggested the pictured A-frame could be integrated into a pavilion at Beach Park. District of Sicamous photo