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July 18-26 2015 A14&15 COMMUNITY CELEBRATES
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July 30, 2015
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Money secured for water treatment plant
Two Sections, 36 pages
100milefreepress.net
JUMPING FOR JOY
Gaven Crites Free Press
DOORS OPENED AT FRIENDSHIP CENTRE A3
FABULOUS FAMILY FUN AT LONE BUTTE ROCKS B1
INSIDE
opinion A8 letters A9 entertainment A18 sports A19 community B1 classifieds B3
The voice of the South Cariboo since 1960 How to reach us: Ph: 250-395-2219 Fax: 250-395-3939 www.100milefreepress.net mail@100milefreepress.net
108 Mile Ranch residents will see an increase of close to $15 per month on their water bills should two new water infrastructure projects get the go-ahead, following an important joint funding announcement by regional, provincial and federal government representatives on July 25. A handful of residents met with local politicians for the announcement at the Kyllo reservoir, where a proposed water treatment plant will be built, depending on the result of a referendum in the fall, at a cost of close to $2.5 million. The government of Canada and the province of British Columbia will provide up to $981,118 each, while the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) is responsible for all remaining costs of the project. The CRD is also looking at developing another water well in 108 Mile Ranch. It is in the process of designing a referendum question about borrowing the money to develop the combined projects, at a cost of approximately $5 million in total, explains CRD chair Al Richmond. With the recent funding guarantee for the water treatment plant, residents connected to the water system will pay a total $15.42 per month. Continued on A6
Gaven Crites photo
Nevaeh Frowd, front, happily led Uncle Chris the Clown and a few dozen children walking in a “Kid's Parade” down Birch Avenue and down into Centennial Park as part of the 50th Anniversary celebrations organized by the Cariboo-Chilcotin Partners for Literacy Society, with the support of the District of 100 Mile House 50th Anniversary Committee, on July 23. For more photos from the week long 50th Anniversary celebrations, turn to pages A14-15.
Tourism peaks in 100 Mile House Visitor centre stats show ‘huge’ increase in tourists
Carole Rooney Free Press
The local economy is getting a substantial boost from tourism so far this year, with a significant jump seen in the number visitors staying over or stopping to shop in the community. South Cariboo Visitor Centre (SCVC) manager Julie
Gilmore keeps close tabs on the numbers, and the plans of everyone who stops in. She says the quarterly figures show remarkable increases – with some more than double those seen in the same period in 2014. The first quarter records logged 5,016 total visitors – about a 235 per cent jump over last year’s 2,134.
The second quarter also showed very strong results, at 10,860 visitor stops compared to 6,885 in 2014, almost a 158 per cent increase. This is “absolutely” related to the strength of the U.S. dollar, with U.S. visitors holidaying where their cash is going further in 2015. “Highway 97 is the corridor
for the Alaska Highway run; but in past years when their dollar has been a lot lower, they were just passing through. But what we are seeing to date is that they are out and about – we have our U.S. tourists stopping and staying in different areas and spending.” Continued on A3