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Friday, June 19, 2015 WATERFRONT
Missing hiker spends night on Mount Adder Port Alberni resident Malcolm Menninga posts a petition to open up more of the waterfront land next to Canal Beach to public use on Thursday. Despite a longterm lease with the Port Alberni Port Authority to develop the land, ambitious plans for the site have yet to materialize. [ERIC PLUMMER, TIMES]
Development stalled on former plywood site ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Mt. Adder offers spectacular scenery of the west coast but emergency personnel advise hikers to take all necessary precautions before heading out to prevent getting lost or injured. [PHOTO SUBMITTED]
Woman loses way after splitting from group, SAR called for help KRISTI DOBSON ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
A missing hiker was found safe after spending Wednesday night on Mount Adder. Search and rescue were called for aid when one women from a small party of hikers from Port Alberni went missing. The hikers started ascending the mountain, located near Summit Pass, during the day, and the 65-year old woman split from the group to hike the summit on her own. Assumed lost, the rest of the group called the Alberni Valley Search and Rescue for help. “Initially we thought someone was injured,” said Dave Poulsen, AVSAR president. “It turned out it was a lost hiker, so we responded and started hiking up. We called in a team from Tofino. They were going to drop on top of the mountain with a helicopter but because of the darkness,
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“We called in a team from Tofino. They were going to drop on top of the mountain with a helicopter but because of the darkness, they were unable to.”
side of the mountain, ending up at the Nahmint Valley area and spending the night on a logging road. She was found by a logging truck driver, who returned her to Port Alberni. “We met her at the 7-Eleven on Johnston Road and Gertrude Street,” Poulsen said. “She was in good spirits considering she spent the night on a gravel road.” One member of the hiking group had a Spot GPS tracking device, which assisted the searchers. The individual who was lost left hers at home. During this peak season for outdoor adventuring, Poulsen recommends going prepared for the worst. “Only hike as fast as the slowest person,” he said. “It’s a really bad idea to get split up or go off by yourself.”
Dave Poulsen, Alberni Valley Search and Rescue president
they were unable to.” A team from Alberni hiked through the night and were unable to locate the missing hiker. One group of SAR volunteers camped on top of Mount Adder and in the morning initiated team support from Comox, Tofino and Parksville–Qualicum. The woman was located before 6:00 a.m. after hiking to the back
Kristi.Dobson@avtimes.net
A deal that was expected to boost the community’s economy through the use of waterfront land has yielded no signs of new development since the lease was signed by the city and the Port Alberni Port Authority a year ago. After being used for little more than sorting logs over the previous 23 years, the city began a 25-year lease for the publicly owned land next to Canal Beach on July 1, 2014. The agreement came with lofty plans to expand Canadian Alberni Engineering’s shipyards onto the shoreline lots through a sublease with the port authority, who have access to the former Alberni Plywood site at a rate of $1,200 a month. Before the deal was signed Alberni Engineering spoke publicly of the growing demand for its ship building expertise, and the need to have more space to take on larger contracts. Plans included building a 12,000-squarefoot structure to directly take in vessels from the Alberni Inlet, and potential contracts that included refitting a hovercraft for the Canadian Coast Guard. Over five years Alberni Engineering’s workforce was expected to grow from 34 to 120 employees, but one year into the lease of the old plywood site an arrangement has yet to be made between the port authority and the local shipbuilding company. “The sublease with CAE has yet to be concluded,” said Dave McCormick, the port authority’s director of public relations and business development, who added that the lease rate has been paid to the city over the last year. “The port authority had entered
Canadian Mosaic tour stops in Port Alberni
Competition high for student summer jobs
Luigi the Lovebird made his inaugural appearance in Nanaimo earlier this week as the official “spokesbird” for Island Document Storage and Shredding. » Alberni Region, 3
Unemployment rates are up across Canada for students, but the Alberni Valley Employment Centre is reporting a high number of job postings. » Alberni Region, 3
the lease with the city in good faith and continues to work in good faith under the terms of that lease to fulfill all of our obligations.” According to the land deal, time is running out for lease obligations to be fulfilled. The arrangement can be terminated if at least $500,000 of on-site improvements have not been made to the land over the first two years of the agreement. A cancellation is also warranted if no industrial activity has occurred within the first year of the lease, but this might have already been fulfilled by the ongoing log salvage activities of Tony Winters, a tenant who has operated on the land since before the lease was drafted. The land deal was made amid heavy public opposition, as a petition collected over 300 names in favour of using the lots to expand Canal Beach. Now another petition is growing, asking council to cancel the lease of the former plywood land due to unsatisfied conditions. Over the last two days at least 170 names have been collected. Port Alberni resident Malcom Menninga believes the land deal came from misguided perceptions of the community’s future. “Every community that has focused on appealing waterfront access has prospered,” he said. “[In] Port Alberni we neglect that and it goes hand in hand with our lack of growth.” Eric.Plummer@avtimes.net » We want to hear from you. Send comments on this story to news@avtimes.net. Letters must include daytime phone number and hometown.
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