COMMUNITY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 2015 | ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES |
3
HEALTH
Walk With Your Doc invites community participation KRISTI DOBSON ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
D
octors, patients, caregivers and families will all join Thursday to promote the benefits of daily exercise. The annual Walk With Your Doc will showcase people of all ages walking laps around Bob Dailey Stadium track. Many local health care providers are on board. Dr. Daryl Lund will be there and said the message is an important one. “We tell patients to get exercise regularly and eat right but practicing what we preach is important,” Lund said. He wants to ensure his patients can see their improvements. “The current recommendation from the Canadian Medical Association is 30 minutes of exercise five days a week,” Lund said. “I
try to get my patients to do this, and it seems easy, but it poses problems.” Lund’s advice is to make it a habit. “Make it a part of your daily life,” he said. “It is like an investment. Pay yourself first before you call it a day.” Lund also said it helps to do something you enjoy so you stick with it. Last year more than 20 doctors attended despite the thunder showers so Lund is optimistic for a record turn out this year. The walk was established six years ago in British Columbia and Port Alberni has taken part for the past five. Organizers are hoping to see a continual growth of participation. It all starts at 5 p.m. with registration and includes live music and health and fitness displays.
ART
Last year people not only walked, but spun wheels on stationary bikes, during the city’s participation in the annual Walk With Your Doc event. [ERIC PLUMMER, TIMES]
NAVY
Trident Fury hit local Inlet for training KRISTI DOBSON ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Yolande Fourner was hard at work on her pottery wheel doing demonstrations for Days with the Arts at Rollin Art Centre in April. [KRISTI DOBSON, TIMES]
Anyone walking along Harbour Road on Friday afternoon might have caught a glimpse of a Canadian warship docked on the Inlet. Of the naval vessels, one of seven Canadian and American ships, was in town for the day to conduct military training. The crew on board arrived from CFB Esquimalt to take part in Exercise Trident Fury in various Vancouver Island locations until May 15. According to Lieut. Paul Pendergast of the Maritime Forces Pacific in Esquimalt, Trident Fury aims to prepare the members for combat through
various scenarios. When they arrived, air and surface operations took place in front of the Port Alberni Port Authority and neighbours may have heard the sounds of firing. “They are taking part in Exercise Trident Fury and conditioning work-ups which verify the ship’s operational capabilities,” Pendergast said. “The ship and crew will go through a series of exercises of increased difficulty and complexity.” They undertook damage control exercises, including fire and flood scenarios, as well as various warfare-type situations. Pendergast said the Canad-
ian fleet operates all over the West Coast and Port Alberni was chosen for this particular training exercise. Public relations manager of PAPA, David McCormick, said it was a chance to draw some attention to the waterfront. “In broad terms, it is a positive that the Maritime Forces recognize Port Alberni and the Alberni Inlet as a location that is favourable to some of their activities,” McCormick said. “It is another opportunity to have exposure on of the west coast.” About 250 crew and sea training staff were on board and departed at the end of the day Friday.
Later liquor service looks unlikely for Jamie’s in Tofino ANDREW BAILEY WESTERLY NEWS
Tofino’s municipal council will not support an application that would allow Jamie’s Rainforest Inn to push its liquor service from midnight to 1 a.m. The Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB) will make the final decision but council’s 4-3 vote to recommend that the application be denied is a heavy blow. Mayor Josie Osborne and councillors Greg Blanchette and Al Anderson supported the Inn’s application but were outnumbered by opposition from councillors Cathy Thicke, Duncan McMaster, Dorothy Baert, and Ray Thorogood. Prior to their vote, the Inn’s general manager Ryan Orr explained to council why the application to push service back an hour had been made. “This is not something that we intend to do 7 days a week 365 days a year. This would be for special events and this would also just allow us some flexibility during the summer,” he said. “We will continue to remain focused on food...we’re certainly not looking to create another bar in town.”
He said the Inn sees heavy demand from locals late at night, especially those employed at neighbouring resorts. “Their staff all rush to us at ten (minutes) to 12 a.m. when they get off work because they need somewhere to eat,” he said. He added the Inn would continue to focus on being an Inn. “I would like to just remind everyone that we do run a hotel... The hotel is our primary source of business and primary source of revenue,” he said. “Believe me, I am more concerned about noise than anybody else is.” He noted the Inn has received no noise complaints and is located on a relatively isolated property in a forested area. District staff collected feedback from nearby residents as well as the RCMP and received six letters supporting the application and four opposed to it—most citing noise concerns and the potential for late-night rowdiness. A fifth letter of non-support was read aloud during the meeting. Sgt. Blaine Mumford told the Westerly after the meeting that the RCMP neither supported nor opposed the application but suggested the change from midnight
to 1 a.m. would impact policing. “Any time you extend the service hours, you extend the hours that the police have to deal with those issues; it’s just a fact,” he said. “Sometimes it’s driving issues, sometimes it’s just noise issues and sometimes it’s people who’ve maybe had a little too much and are causing a disturbance out in public.” During the meeting, Coun. Thorogood said a 1 a.m. last-call would have patrons spilling onto the street around 1:30-2 a.m. “I think it’s a well-run establishment, but I just don’t agree with pushing the hours back further than what they are,” he said. Coun. Thicke said she could not support the application because of the letters received from residents. “We have a total of six who don’t support and, for me, that’s five more than I need,” she said. Coun. Blanchette supported the application noting the Inn’s solid track record. “What tips it for me is that there have been no noise complaints and there is a very strong impetus for the proponent to control their own noise because of the accommodation provider
there,” he said. He agreed with Orr that Tofino’s late-night workers should be catered to. “There’s a segment of our population, because of our tourism industry, that kind of lives semi-diurnally—lives in a later time frame than many of us— (and) I like the idea of having an alternative to Jack’s Pub for the late night crowd,” Blanchette said. Coun. Baert agreed that late night venues are needed, and said such venues could help deter late-night beach traffic, but she opposed Jamie’s application. “My natural inclination would be to say’ no’ because I’ve felt the impacts of late night drinking establishments and it’s not necessarily on the premises but it spills out,” she said. “It’s a dilemma, always, about managing this kind of need for entertainment and socializing to people who work late at night, in our tourism industry, and balancing that off against the potential impacts.” She said Jamie’s food service could continue past midnight so the late-night demand for food could be served regardless of the
liquor license. Coun. McMaster opposed the application because of the letters of non-support from residents. “I’m always concerned with what the neighbourhood thinks and to get one complaint is enough for me,” he said. Council’s no-vote was already locked in by the time it was Mayor Osborne’s turn but she expressed support for Jamie’s and said the Inn’s guests would keep noise to a minimum. “I know that the hotel is not the most expensive in Tofino and, therefore, is quite attractive to families and that the people staying in the hotel would be likely the first to complain,” she said. “I also agree that it provides an alternative from going to the beaches and I think that there are enough younger people living in our community that do require that alternative.” Thicke noted council’s task was to consider the views of nearby residents. “We are confusing, I think, the views, or the wishes, of patrons with those of the residents,” she said. Osborne noted the district also received letters of support from nearby residents.
‘This truck saves taxpayers’ money,’ says city employees and union CITY, from Page 1 “This truck saves taxpayers money and gives a good union job in this town,” he said, adding that leaving the pickup to private haulers brings up complications with the collective agreement affecting city workers. “If you contract it out, in our contract we have a fair wage clause. That contractor has to make what you pay us.” Instead of continuing with the dumpster pickup service, Cicon has proposed that the majority of municipal buildings convert to smaller bins that can be picked up by the city’s residential garbage truck. The Echo Centre and Alberni Valley Multiplex, which are the city’s two largest buildings, could use hydraulic self-tipping dumpsters than can be picked up by municipal vehicles. Cicon believes these changes are necessary to encourage the municipality to produce less waste. “When you take the bin away, you force recycling and then you’re going to have less garbage,” he said. “As we’ve done at the city hall and the fire hall, we would take those dumpster bins away and we’ll manage with carts. This really has forced a change in our habits.” Povey isn’t convinced converting to smaller bins or hydraulic dumpsters will work.
“You’re not saving any money on manpower,” he said. “Then you’re probably going to have to end having an extra person down at parks too because of these cumbersome bins and extra pick up.” Changes to how businesses and institutions dispose of its garbage are inevitable if the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District proceeds this summer with a plan to ban the disposal of cardboard. This would require that cardboard be recycled, separately picked up from other waste. Povey believes the cardboard pick up can be provided by the city if a new commercial dumpster truck is purchased. The weekly waste and cardboard collection from businesses could be done by city crews in four days, said Povey. “I think it’s a little bit more difficult than Brian points out,” Cicon countered. “It looks to me like we need six days. Three days for the garbage and three days for the cardboard.” After over an hour of discussion council opted to delay making a decision on the commercial garbage pick up service, requesting more information on the logistics of cardboard collection and how the hauling has been handled by other municipalities. Eric.Plummer@avtimes.net
The AV Times is encouraging positive change with our new promotion Pay it Forward. Let us know who made your day and they will be entered to win a great prize from one of several local businesses. Check out Monday’s AV Times for the list of good deeds and random acts of kindness and start your week on a positive note. Email your good deeds to ads@avtimes.net, drop off at the AV Times office, 4918 Napier St. or call 250-723-8171