Top graduates look back on high school years
DAVE KOSZEGI
Community, Page 6
PERSONAL REAL E
STATE
CORPORATION
Port Alberni’s Real Estate Expert
250.723.SO
32C 15C
LD
Sunnny, fog in morning
(7653)
Serving the Alberni Valley
www.avtimes.net
Friday Friday, June 26, 26 2015
COMMUNITY
500 limit on Five Acre Shaker Beaver Creek party approved, limited to half the number of attendees organizers planned for this year KRISTI DOBSON ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Although the decision was not exactly what organizers hoped for, Lance Goddard and Jess Towers are happy that they can get on with plans for the Five Acre Shaker music festival this summer. On Wednesday, the regional district voted in favour of providing a temporary use permit for the two to host a large music festival on Beaver Creek Road. Originally hoping for an attendance limit of 1,000 people, the directors agreed upon 500. After four electoral district directors showed support and one against the issue, the floor was open to the public, with one person in support and one against. Vice-Chair John McNabb felt 1,000 people would be too many on the property and put the idea on the table to cut the number in half. “We expected a negotiation and came prepared with numbers,” Towers said. “We were hoping we could meet in the middle at 750 but ultimately Lance and I are happy to see it move forward, especially seeing the community input and so many people behind us.” Even though the two expect to sell out the event, they foresee the lower numbers generating less profit for their chosen charity, the Zattzoo Project, in mem-
Jess Towers and Lance Goddard are getting all the safety precautions taken care of on the five acre property and are hopeful to sell out to 500 attendees this August. [KRISTI DOBSON, TIMES]
ory of Zakk Coss. “The biggest problem with cutting the numbers is that it cuts back on our donation,” Goddard said. “The funds come from liquor sales so it is hard to gauge
now for 500 people. We don’t know how many will be on site the whole time.” Even though Goddard did not know Coss personally, they had many mutual friends and
Goddard felt compelled to do something on his behalf. With the large property, an interest in promoting music and many like-minded friends, he put his energy to use last year.
“When I walked the property when I was purchasing it, I had a vision for a music festival,” Goddard said. “It was my dream to put on an event like this.” Receiving more public support than not, the two are ensuring the public that all safety measures will be put into place. In an email to the ACRD, area residents Janice and Glen Simister stated their concern about the risk of fire. “Our major concern is with the tinder dry conditions and still almost two months to go until the event. With the summer weather as it is, that is opening up a whole other issue for fire protection,” the email read. “Their concerns are the same as ours and we have plans in place to mitigate any risks,” Goddard said. “We have gone above and beyond,” Towers said. “We don’t want a fire or anything to happen as much as anyone else.” Towers said they have consulted all regulatory bodies, emergency personal and security. In case of emergency, the property has an additional exit at the back to Mercy Road. Dustin Dame attended last year’s festival as a vendor and was impressed with the professionalism of the organizers. See PARTY, Page 3
WEATHER
Campfire ban imposed ahead of heat wave ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
Things are expected to heat up in Port Alberni and throughout southern B.C. this weekend with a heat wave of daily highs well above 30 Celsius. Environment Canada predicts the mercury will rise to 32 C this afternoon, followed by highs of 36 Saturday and 35 on Sunday. On Thursday the national weather agency issued an alert for Port Alberni and other southern B.C. communities. “An exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure will build over Western Canada this Friday and Saturday allowing hot air to invade Southern B.C.,” stated the alert. “High temperatures will increase
» Use your smartphone to jump to our Facebook page for updates on these stories or the latest breaking news.
“[High] presure will build over Western Canada this Friday and Saturday allowing hot air to invade Southern B.C.” Environment Canada
the risk of heat-related illnesses.” The heat wave comes after a particularly dry spring for the Alberni Valley; the 1.4 millimetres of rainfall in May was the lowest since records began in 1917, followed by less that 20 millimetres so far in June. The average amount of precipita-
tion for June is 70.3 millimetres. The mountains surrounding the Alberni Valley collected almost no snowpack over the winter, cutting off the area’s streams from a valuable runoff source over the summer months. On Monday the province’s River Forecast Centre issued a low streamflow advisory for Vancouver Island, noting that the Valley’s Sproat River is currently running at 10 per cent of its median level of water flow. “The combination of extreme-low snow packs, below normal precipitation and warmer than average temperatures has led to seasonally low to extreme-low conditions,” stated the provincial agency. With these conditions forests
have become unusually dry for this time of the year, prompting the B.C. Wildfire Management Branch to issue a campfire ban for southern and mid Vancouver Island on Thursday. So far 85 forest fires have been detected on Vancouver Island and B.C’s southern coast. More could be sparked by lightning after the weekend’s heat wave subsides, said Environment Canada meteorologist Matt MacDonald,. “Typically what happens at the end of a heatwave is the ridge of high pressure breaks down and the breakdown of the ridge is followed by lightening – typically dry lightning,” he said. Weather has been consistently warmer than normal in the Valley
Cell tower approved for Sproat Lake
Upgrades to improve races for spectators
Coverage around the lake is about to improve with the building of a 90-metre Rogers structure to improve cellular service . » Alberni Region, 3
Thunder in the Valley organizers are installing new reader boards and a timing system, allowing fans to see results instantly. » Sports, 7
over the last year, conditions that many meteorologists believe could be partly caused by a large mass of water off the west coast of Vancouver Island known as “the blob.” Measuring approximately 1,000 k ilometers in diametre and 100 metres deep, this section of the ocean contains water 3 to 4 C above normal temperatures, affecting weather patterns along the west coast of B.C. and Washington State. “The mixing of all that water hasn’t been as prominent,” MacDonald explained. “So it’s allowed that pool of warm water to kind of just sit stagnant there and increase in heat.” Eric.Plummer@avtimes.net
Inside today Alberni Region 3 Opinion 4
Arts & Entertainment 5 Best & Brightest 6
Sports 7 Scoreboard 8
Comics 9 Classifieds 10
Weather 11
$1.25 newsstand (tax incl.)
ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES VOLUME 64, NUMBER 102
The world’s first hearing aid. …so how’s that working for you? PORT ALBERNI 778.421.0277 3831 - 9th Ave.
UCLUELET 778.421.0277
(by appointment only)
nexgenhearing.com
MONTHLY
DRAW!
Premium Hearing Aids
$5000 value Contest rules on website