EAGLE VALLEY
NEWS
Local man killed in head-on collision Page 2
New Brunswick native curling the nation Page 7
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 PM40008236
Vol. 62 No. 7 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (GST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Board looks at move to K-12 school
Amalgamation: ERS site would become the only school in Sicamous. By Tracy Hughes
Eagle Valley News
The acceptance of a report examining the conversion of Eagle River Secondary School into a kindergarten to Grade 12 school is setting the stage for changes to education in Sicamous and the potential closure of Parkview Elementary. The report, which recommends the conversion take place in September 2017, was produced for the school district by a committee made up of principals, teachers, administrators and parents. The document looked at three elements – whether K-12 was a sound educational option, what would need to be done to the school to adapt it for younger students, including a Strong Start program for preschoolers, and what the potential cost savings By the end of would be. the process, we Val Edgell, principal at almost started ERS, told the board many to wonder why on the committee were every school in skeptical of the educational the province is value to a K-12 school, but not K-12. ended up discovering that Shawn Bird K-12 models were very successful. The committee visited schools in Ashcroft, Clinton, New Denver and Kaslo, as well as one in Manitoba, where Edgell was visiting. “What we ended up finding was extremely positive,” Edgell told the school board at a meeting Tuesday. “Let’s be blunt, we weren’t exactly expecting to hear such positive things, but even when we asked students what were the negatives, they didn’t feel ripped off. The only thing they could say was that they had to watch their language around the little ones – and is that really a bad thing?” The committee research showed K-12 students had fewer discipline issues, a positive impact on academic performance at all levels, a positive effect on attitude and behaviour and a positive effect See Look at on page 2
Iconic eyes: Amber Morris, left, receives some advice from Lesley Hoffart on her painting of photographer Steve McCurry’s iconic “Afghan Girl” during an Eagle Valley Brush and Palette Club meeting at the Red Barn on Friday, Feb. 12. Photo by Evan Buhler
District to own Old Town boat launch Second hearing: Council amends agreement for marina proposal. By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
Sicamous will be gaining a public boat launch in Old Town Bay at a cost of $280,000. A second public hearing was held last week, Feb. 10 for an amended phased development agreement (PDA) between numbered company 443602 BC Ltd. and the District of Sicamous. Final approval of the related bylaw paves the way
for the district to enter a PDA with 443602 BC Ltd. for development of Twin Anchors’ 276-slip marina and boat launch facility in Old Town Bay. Most of the details in the amended agreement are the same as what was before the public prior to the Jan. 13 public hearing. The key difference, explained town manager Evan Parliament, was in sections of the agreement having to do with the planned public boat launch.
During the recent public hearing, community planner Mike Marrs explained council had tabled the bylaw after the last hearing, with the desire to see some changes made. He noted the previously presented PDA showed the public boat launch “would be open to the public by way of operations through the marina itself.” “Council has desired that this boat launch be maintained as a public facility and operated as a public facility, and that is the case at this hearing and
will be the case as outlined in the PDA amendment,” said Marrs. Specifically, the former PDA had the district paying $80,000 to the developer to increase the size and capacity of their proposed boat launch to accommodate a public launch facility. The developer was to assume all operational, maintenance and replacement costs of the public portion. With the amended PDA, See Council pursues on page 2