Thieves forget to take the loot page 3
SPOTL SPOT SPOTLIGHT LIGHT $1.10 Includes TAX
The Similkameen
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Volume 65 Issue 01
Proudly serving the community since 1948 • www.similkameenspotlight.com
Life and death efforts
Princeton gets huge tax windfall Spotlight Staff
The Hayes Creek Fire Rescue Department used the unique rescue-boggan to transport an injured snowmobiler, suffering from trauma, shock and hypothermia, 12 kilometers through the bush to a passable road where it could meet an ambulance. The lifesaving piece of equipment was purchased for $2,500 more than 10 years ago and modified by the local department for optimal efficiency. It was pressed into service for the first time just after Christmas and performed admirably. Andrea DeMeer Spotlight Staff
A local team of first responders that receives only about 25 calls a year was faced with life-and-death crises three times in one week over the holidays. “Yeah, it’s been kind of busy,” said Rob Miller, chief of Hayes Creek Fire Rescue. Miller said his team saved lives and “went above and beyond the call of duty” in responding to two snowmobile accidents and one serious medical call. The most critical of the incidents occurred on New Year’s Eve day, at about 2:15 p.m., when two women on a snowmobile deep in the bush hit a tree. “They hit a tree in the middle of nowhere, they were inexperienced and they both were not wearing helmets. They really shouldn’t have been there,” said Miller. The rescue squad had to piece together the sequence of events that followed the accident, long after they received the initial call about an injured
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snowmobiler. Miller said one of the women was knocked unconscious by the impact, and lay bleeding in the snow with a head trauma. The second rider was stunned by the accident, and after arranging her friend’s body in a prone position, she wandered in the woods for about two hours looking for help. A third-party call to the fire department had the crew assembled with equipment ready to launch a rescue “when a pick up truck came speeding down the highway with a woman slumped over in the front.” Rescue workers flagged down the truck. Miller said the unconscious woman had somehow been located and brought out of the bush. She had severe facial injuries, no vision and broken bones. “We were worried about brain injuries.” While the driver was headed for Princeton General Hospital the first responders, – which continued page 12
Happy New Year Princeton – you are $337,706.80 richer than you were in 2015. And you’re going to keep being richer, year after year. A long-anticipated satellite boundary extension to bring Copper Mountain Mine into the welcoming arms of the Town of Princeton was passed into law January 1, by order of BC’s Lieutenant Governor in Council. The move almost doubles the town’s industrial tax base and the application’s driving proponent, Mayor Frank Armitage, is not shy about his plans for at least some of those new dollars. “I’ve said it before. I am in favor of aquatics, health and wellness,” he said in an interview with The Spotlight. While a press release announcing the geographic windfall says the tax infusion will “assist us in improving Princeton’s local infrastructure and community pursuits,” the mayor acknowledge that council’s plans for an indoor pool are at the top of the list. “It won’t get the job done, but it will get us in the discussion,” he said. “This will bring us to the table.” An aquatic and wellness center has been identified by council as a project to mark Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. It’s taken two and a half years to
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finalize the boundary extension. “We wish to thank Mr. Jim O’Rourke, President and CEO of Copper Mountain Mine for his support and assistance…in making Copper Mountain Mine part of the town,” stated the release. O’Rourke was quoted as saying “Copper Mountain is pleased to have worked with the BC government and the Town of Princeton to have the mine included in the Princeton municipal boundary. This co-operative move allows the mine’s property taxes to flow directly to the Town of Princeton which will provide extra funding for projects for Princeton and area residents. “I congratulate Mayor Frank Armitage for his patience and persistence in navigating this achievement forward through the government approvals.” Armitage admitted that while government workers were helpful in moving the application towards a successful conclusion “it took a lot longer than I thought…I drove the staff nuts in Victoria.” He said the plan had the personal approval of Premier Christy Clark and was also aided by sport and cultural minister Peter Fassbender and MLA Jackie Tegart.
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