CASTLEGAR NEWS Thursday, May 21, 2015
Breaking news at castlegarnews.com
Vol.12 • Issue 21
Barry Brown
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365-9363
Rauni Naud
Advisor, Member of the Million Dollar Round Table Mutual funds offered by Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc.
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1451 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, BC
250.365.0484 rauni.naud@sunlife.com
Looking out for neighbours Deer Park isn’t a city, town, or village, but it is a community in the truest sense. See pages 2 and 3.
New church ready to open
Turning Pointe’s great year
St. Rita’s Catholic Church is the final leg of its long journey from ashes to rebirth. See page 4.
Local dance troupe celebrates another outstanding season. See page 15.
Youth Shine Miss Castlegar contestants step up to the mic
Jo-Ann Bursey Mountainview Realty Ltd.
250.304.8681 jo-ann@century21castlegar.com
Nancy Trotman Mortgage Broker
250-365-9513 888-998-9513
Castlegar’s youth shone at Tuesday’s city council meeting. A delegation of this year’s Miss Castlegar contestants introduced themselves, eloquently expressing their interests, goals and reasons for joining the program. Due to the fact that there are 15 contestants, the pageant will be held in two phases. The speech portion will be held May 28, but the winner will remain secret until pageant night June 5. Mayor Lawrence Chernoff acknowledged the excellent job the contestants are doing and added: “I really want to thank you for your participation in this program. I just want to wish you all the very best.” Photo by Betsy Kline
Society seeks land for group home BETSY KLINE Castlegar News
PJ Poznekoff
Phil@castlegarrealty.ca
365-4679
Kootenay Society for Community Living is asking the city to donate lots to build a multi-unit 5,800 square foot residential group home in Castlegar. The society appeared before city council Tuesday to provide an update on the project. The property in question is already owned by the city and consists of 861, 867 and 873 8th Ave. The project budget is currently set at $1.57 million. If approved, most of the funding would come from BC
Housing, which is currently reviewing the application. The society is seeking additional funding from the Columbia Basin Trust’s community initiatives and affected area programs, RDCK Areas I and J and would mortgage the remaining balance. The home will be a two story community care facility that will support 24/7 residential care on the top floor and affordable housing on the bottom floor. The new home will house a total of ten residents. The building plan is based on a similar project in Fort St. John that has already proven
to work well. Kootenay Society for Community Living executive director Kathleen Elias explained: “We support individuals with developmental disabilities as well as other individuals that just require affordable housing. So we thought, let’s combine it.” According to Elias and a 2013 needs and demands study, there is a great need for this type of housing in Castlegar. Elias reported all of their nine current homes are filled to capacity and that they have had to rent an additional home. The spaces in the
new units would be filled immediately upon completion. The society would like to begin building this summer. The society currently assists 110 adults and 20 children. They maintain homes in Castlegar, Trail, Grand Forks, Creston and Nelson. Elias concluded: “We are really hoping the city supports us, they have supported us in the past. We have a residential senior home that they did work with us on. We have a good working relationship with the City of Castlegar and I am hoping that we can do it again.”
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