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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016
Life in the slow lane
Rachel Bennett, of JSK Traffic Services, left, and Matt Rosenthal, surveyor with Herold Engineering, direct traffic and conduct survey work along Terminal Avenue Tuesday. Surveying, being conducted to plan utility and road upgrades on Terminal Avenue, will cause temporary single-lane closures on the street between Stewart Avenue and St. George Street until Friday (Feb. 26). For more, please see page 3. CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
Help needed for refugee resettlement
I
MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY expects 10 families.
BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
Nanaimo officials are calling for affordable rental housing and volunteers with just days to go before 10 Syrian refugee families arrive in the city. Ten government-sponsored refugee families will arrive in the Harbour City Monday (Feb. 29). The community has agreed to take ‘overflow’
from Vancouver, with the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. over capacity, according to Hilde Schlosar, executive director of the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society, whose agency has been co-ordinating a local response to the arrival of refugee families with the school district, health authority and City of Nanaimo. She signed a contract to provide service to refugees just this week. It’s not known how many children are in each family, but they are expected to need support, such as volunteers to
“
We have so much here.
help break social isolation and permanent, affordable housing. Unlike privately sponsored refugees, there’s no community network in place and the multicultural society is responsible for their settlement. They will be put in local
250.390.1871
VOL. 27, NO. 83
hotels temporarily. Officials say they haven’t seen large numbers of refugees come to Nanaimo since the Vietnamese refugee crisis, but Schlosar said Nanaimo is well placed to help. “It’s a ver y positive thing for this community to show our compassion and support for people in need,” she said. “We have so much here.” She expects there will be a total of 18 refugee families in the area. Some are already in the community. It’s important they are supported, she said. See ‘ASSESSMENT’ /5
Regional district approves bridge for Morden Colliery BY KARL YU THE NEWS BULLETIN
The Regional District of Nanaimo board voted in favour of a horse-friendly option for a multi-use bridge over the Nanaimo River along the Morden Colliery Regional Trail. Regional district board directors gave approval at their regular meeting Tuesday night for the bridge estimated to cost $1.6 million. A feasibility study for the bridge was approved in October 2014, with accessibility for equestrian users also examined with residents and horse-riding groups. Based on consultation, which took place between December and February, 67 per cent of respondents favoured an equestrian option. The steel truss bridge will be accessible to pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users and horses, but it is more expensive, with an estimated price tag of $1.6 million, as opposed to $1.4 million for an option that isn’t friendly to horse riders. The bridge will require a wood deck and additional maintenance, as the deck will need to be replaced every 10 years, according to a regional district staff report. The report said the project will be paid for through regional parks reserve money. With the board approval, Wendy Marshall, regional district manager of parks services, said more work needs to be done before construction starts. It’s too early to estimate when construction would begin, she said. “Once we have approval to get the equestrian bridge, then we’d have to go back and get the detailed designs done and we’d have to get the approvals in place from Ministry of Environment. There’s also agricultural land, so we need approvals from the [Agricultural Land Commission], so all those things have to happen,” said Marshall. The regional district manages the Morden Colliery Regional Trail through a licence of occupation from the province. With the bridge, there would be a continuous four-kilometre-long active transportation link between Cedar and South Wellington, according to the regional district report. reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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