City plans for $50K Victoria Quay Park Alberni Region, Page 3
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Wednesday, July 15, 2015
WATERFRONT
Plywood site tabled for now PA city officials hope a deal can still be reached
» Alberni region
ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
search and rescue,” McKay said. “But it was sad to watch it all happen,” Hill added. Janice Hill, environmental services coordinator for the regional district, supervises the marine patrol students each year and understands the importance of their role on the water. “They know that they are not in an enforcement role, they are there to help, but as soon as they were asked by authorities, they stepped up to the plate,” Hill said. “They were a big help because there was so much boat traffic with people coming to look and others panicking to get off the lake.” Now, although contained, the fire could still emit some smoke and the students are continuing to help with cleanup by marking debris in the water. The two agree this is the best summer job, especially with their background as lake residents. “I wouldn’t be back again this year if I didn’t love it,” McKay said. They also said this will be one summer job they will not forget. “I hope it makes everyone aware of what they are doing in the wilderness,” McKay said.
Despite terms not being met in a land deal between the city and the port authority, council has opted to give a waterfront lease more time with hopes that a job-creating development will materialize this summer. At a public meeting on Monday council voted to delay a vote on cancelling a large waterfront lease next to Canal Beach. For the last year the city has leased the property to the Port Alberni Port Authority for $1,200 a month with hopes that a new development would crop up on the site, but besides the existing log sorting operation nothing has progressed to boost the waterfront’s industry. Mayor Mike Ruttan said that the current arrangement with the port authority still could become a valuable economic opportunity. “The city had that property and didn’t work with the port authority for 25 years and did nothing with it,” he said. “Our industrial land is valuable, and many cities don’t keep their industrial land. Ours is on the water, and we believe that as a city council it’s important to keep sending that message that we value that land.” Canadian Alberni Engineering was expected to bring a future to the waterfront lot through the expansion of its shipyards onto the long-underused site. CAE announced that a large facility to directly take in ships from the Alberni Inlet would be built on the land – expanded operations that would create almost 100 additional jobs. But after a year the ship building company has made no agreement with the port authority to sublease the public land. Coun. Jack McLeman blames the stalled negotiations on the federal government, as Alberni Engineering’s plans changed when it lost a bid to refit a Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft. “I don’t know that there isn’t something there that could be done by one of the corporations in town,” he said. “There may be someone interested, and if they are, let’s not cut them off too quick.” Stipulations of the lease have not been met since it began on July 1, 2014, including the requirements of new industrial activity on the site and at least $500,000 worth of improvements within the first year of the land agreement. It is for these reasons that Coun. Chris Alemany pushed to cancel the lease, a motion that will not return to council for a vote until September.
Kristi.Dobson@avtimes.net
See PLYWOOD, Page 3
Student workers with the Sproat Lake Marine Patrol, Courtney McKay, left, and Elisabeth Hill, are back on regular duty after keeping watch on Dog Mountain last week. [KRISTI DOBSON, TIMES]
Sproat Lake Marine Patrol students help fire department contain Dog Mountain “We just saw a little bit of smoke from the top of Dog Mountain and we knew it wasn’t a campfire.”
KRISTI DOBSON ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
When the Sproat Lake Marine Patrol summer students were hired, they did not expect to be assisting with Port Alberni’s first forest fire of the year. The four students spent four days near the front lines during the emergency, and were forced to put their regular duties aside. When Courtney McKay, on her second year with the SLMP, and Elisabeth Hill were working on Saturday, July 4, they were one of the first to call in the fire at approximately 12:30 p.m. “We just saw a little bit of smoke from the top of Dog Mountain and knew it wasn’t a campfire,” McKay said. After the fire spread during the afternoon and the helicopters arrived to dump buckets of water, the students were called to help. The Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department required all the students to assist with preventing the growing number of boats from getting too close. Normally only two students at a time are on shift during the week, but all four, including Sarah Grey and Madison Redman, worked late to help patrol that first Saturday. “There were a lot of boats and we had to keep them away because the helicopter
Courtney McKay, Sproat Lake Marine Patrol
was coming close with its bucket,” McKay said. “Most people were good but a few didn’t want to leave.” The next day, the students were called back by the ACRD’s CAO, Russell Dyson, who was in charge of coordinating emergency operations. “We did the same thing and there were less people,” McKay said. “But it was really smoky and the visibility on the lake was so bad you couldn’t see fifty feet in front of you.” They closed the boat launch for one night and by Monday were back patrolling the area. McKay lives on Lakeshore Road and Hill’s family owns a summer cabin at Sproat Lake, so it felt like destruction in their own backyards. On the water they saw debris falling and at home, Hill’s family had ash covering the deck. It was also something many summer students do not get to experience. “It was cool to work with the RCMP and
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