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WATERFRONT
Thursday Thursday, April 30, 30 2015 EDUCATION: RECONFIGURATION COSTS
Kiteboaders enjoy improved launch site Eighth Avenue Elementary is among the local facilities due for alterations this year. Instead of elementary classes the school will serve as an alternative education hub. [TIMES FILE PHOTO]
$1 million for school renos include $150K closure fix MARTIN WISSMATH ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Dale Moffat rides the waves of the Alberni Inlet on April 20 after a new kiteboarding launch was made available near the Maritime Discovery Centre Lighthouse. [R & B PHOTOS]
Contentious ban leads to ‘safer’ docks provided by port authority ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
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hat grabbed headlines last January as a controversial decision to ban kiteboarding from Centennial Pier has resulted in an improved launch site for the water sport, says some the activity’s most vocal advocates. A new launch by the Maritime Discovery Centre Lighthouse is now complete and regularly being used by kiteboarders – a few hundred metres south of the former site where the Port Alberni Port Authority prohibited the activity earlier this year. Although the decision was made due to safety hazards of launching from Centennial Pier, the ban opened up a stream of letters to local newspapers and the City of Port Alberni in opposition to the decision. Since posting prohibitive signs along Centennial Pier the port authority has worked with kiteboarders to develop a launch platform south of the breakwater extension. The new site offers an improved and safer location, said Port Alberni kiteboarder Dale Moffat. “It’s safer for the public, when they launched on the Centennial Pier people would pass by us,” he said, adding that a messed up launch could result in entanglement with the breakwater’s light posts and other fixtures. “There [was] very little room for error.” With thousands of dollars in costs covered by the port authority, the new launch site entails two
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lower docks that have been repositioned into the Alberni Inlet for optimal use of incoming winds. A ramp that was taken out of service last year has been repaired and re-installed to allow access to the docks. Felt donated by Catalyst Paper has been wrapped around the docks to protect kiteboarders’ feet and equipment, and signs directing people to the launch are set to be installed by late May. It’s yet to be determined how a change room can be set up near the new launch, said Moffat. “We’re exploring whether we can get that through donation or through fundraising,” he said. Kiteboarders are using the new site to promote Port Alberni as a premier destination for the activity. A two-day exhibition is planned for May 23-24 to lure kiteboarders from across western Canada to try out the Inlet’s thermal winds. While Port Alberni’s site is suitable for intermediate and advanced kiteboarders, Nitinat Lake is suitable for beginners, so instruction is also planned at the remote lake during the May weekend. Nitinat Lake, which is located near Vancouver Island’s west coast, is considered by many kiteboarders to be among the best locations in the world for the sport. But with the improved launch site Port Alberni’s conditions come close to the remote lake, said Moffat. “If you go to Nitinat you’re talking no Internet, roughing for however long,” added local kiteboarder Alicia La Rue. “Not every family wants to do that.”
Alberni school district trustees approved nearly $1 million in grant funding from the province for building projects and maintenance, with more than half allocated to the West Coast. About $150,000 of spending is planned for reconfiguring five Alberni Valley schools, including the district’s two middle schools, which will be realigned for kindergarten to Grade 7 classes in September. Ucluelet Secondary will receive over $400,000 for projects there; $300,000 is earmarked to replace the school’s failing boiler plant and required renovations. School District 70 secretary-treasurer Lindsay Cheetham read out the annual facilities grant expenditure plan to board trustees at their meeting on Tuesday evening. A total provincial grant of $977,899 will be spent, with about $860,000 on capital spending and the rest for operational costs. Trustees voted unanimously to pass the bylaw through three readings. The $150,000 reconfiguration spending is to refit the Alberni school buildings for different classrooms with associated labour costs, said Supt. Greg Smyth. “If we need to build some cabinets, do some millwork, shelves, coat hooks, those sorts of things,” Smyth said. “In turning a middle school into an elementary [school] there is going to be some work associated with that.” The district has set aside $50,000 each for both A.W. Neill and E.J. Dunn’s reconfiguration plans. Eighth Avenue Elementary will be closed and transitioned into a hub in September for alternative education, including the Choices Distributed Learning and the
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“In turning a middle school into an elementary [school], there is going to be some work associated with that.” Greg Smyth, district superintendent
adult education program, Smyth said. Choices will be moved from Wood Elementary, and the adult education program will move from its current location in the former Mount Klitsa Junior Secondary School. Of the AFG spending, $25,000 is allocated for the Eighth Avenue facility. Over the course of next year the district aims to move other alternative education programs out of the Vast site on Redford Street, Smyth said. The district leases the building there for about $85,000 a year. “It’s an issue of bringing all our alternate programs together. They’re somewhat fragmented across the community,” Smyth said. The Eighth Avenue school is also suitable as a central location in Port Alberni for transportation. Alberni District Secondary School will expand to include Grade 8 students in September, and another $25,000 of the AFG money has been set aside for the reconfiguration. District director of operations Greg Roe said the 20-year-old boilers at Ucluelet Secondary have been failing and replacing them is urgent in order to heat the building next winter. The two boilers use furnace oil and will be replaced with three propane boilers, which are more efficient, Roe said. A custodial room will be added.
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