TUESDAY, March 25, 2014 • 3
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NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
Little critters find outlet in Merritt By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
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Sue Anderson has always loved animals. About a year ago, the born-and-raised Merrittonian found a way to parlay that love for critters into a living: by opening Blooming Pets in downtown Merritt. While Anderson has what she describes as “the usual” for pets — dogs, cats and fish — she has turned her store into a haven for little critters, and some of them are somewhat unusual. Among them, axolotls — freshwater amphibians native to Mexico that live underwater but have lizardlike feet. Almost an entire wall is dedicated to fish. The salt water tank Blooming Pets owner Sue Anderson holds Miley, a Newbark puppy who’s up for adoption, in front of her store’s salt water fish tank. houses some more recEmily Wessel/Herald ognizable fish, including to five years — a much the furry critters, hamcrawling out of the clownfish and royal blue include soft corals, tiny smaller commitment sters are a big draw, she sand,” she said, and starfish, snails and a tang — species made than the 15 of a rabbit said. formidable-looking spiky sure enough, tiny crabs famous by Nemo and or 25 for a turtle. She said hamsters emerge for food. black sea urchin. Dory from the 2003 As well as offering tend to make good pets Anderson said fish “When I feed, the Disney-Pixar blockbuster a smattering of little for children because are among her more whole thing comes to Finding Nemo. critters for people in they typically live four popular offerings. Of life. Stuff just starts Their tank-mates
Merritt, Anderson also works with a local cat and kitten rescue and Newbark Canine Rescue and Rehoming Society, a local small dog rescue. She supports them when she can and fosters dogs for Newbark, which get plenty of exposure at the store. Anderson also has the help of four volunteers, who are all girls in their mid-teens. “They’re a huge help to me. All kinds of stuff, from cleaning the betta bowls, one will do the turtle tank, I give them different tasks and different times,” she said, adding she also parlays her love of animals into lessons for her volunteers. “That’s one thing my volunteers like too, I kind of quiz them a little bit. I teach them things. I don’t want them to just hang around and do nothing.” Anderson will be offering cake to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her store on March 29 during regular store hours.
Fire hall opens doors ahead of major renos By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
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The Merritt Fire Rescue Department (MFRD) held an open house on Thursday to educate the public on how $1 million from the City of Merritt will be spent. At the last council meeting on March 11, city council approved borrowing $1 million to fund the building of a new truck bay and acquisition of a new pumper truck for MFRD. About 25 people walked through the fire hall on Thursday as fire prevention officer Sky McKeown, training office Carl Johnston and chief Dave Tomkinson met with visitors in the truck bay. Tomkinson told the Herald that this year, fire engine two is being degraded by 10 per cent, which will put MFRD under its required pumping capacity. In order to maintain its rating with Fire Underwriters, Merritt’s fire trucks are required to have a collective pumping capacity of 3,300
imperial gallons per minute. “For the next five years, it’ll decrease 10 per cent per year until in the fifth year, Fire Underwriters won’t give the pump a rating at all,” Tomkinson said. “And it’s so that municipalities or cities don’t have antiquated equipment.” Reduced gradings could result in higher insurance premiums for residential and commercial buildings, Tomkinson said. In 2012, residential dwellings in Merritt went from a grade of 3A to a grade of two in fire protection, which is the highest level of grading the city can have without career firefighters. Commercial buildings that year went from a grade of six to five, meaning those buildings are considered semi-protected. Merritt’s fire grading for both residential and commercial buildings improved between 2008 and 2012 thanks in part to improvements, such as acquiring
its ladder truck, building a reservoir, improving fire hydrants and the creation of its work experience program. “I think we’re about as good as we can be at this present time until there’s more development and then we kind of have to roll with the punches,” Tomkinson said. Tomkinson said they hope the new truck bay and pumper truck buys them another 10 to 20 years of stability before having to make any other changes. However, if there is an influx of development and demand on fire services, more upgrades could be needed sooner in Merritt. Merritt’s next Fire Underwriters survey will be in 2017. The replacement for fire engine two is expected to cost about $600,000 and have a 20-year lifespan. The current engine two will be moved into reserve. Fire engine one isn’t expected to be replaced until
2025 and the ladder truck will not need to be until 2028. The new addition to the truck bay will be a 2,000square-foot, single apparatus, double-depth truck bay with a sanitary air room, storage room, mezzanine storage and work bench area. The new bay will be 100 feet long and 20 feet wide, Tomkinson said, and it will be built on the west side of the fire hall. The new bay will add much-needed space to the hall. “These aren’t wants, these are things that we’re told by Fire Underwriters. It’s part of having a healthy community and having a fire service that meets a standard,” Tomkinson said. The firetrucks are currently parked within inches of the doors. Tomkinson said many of the people they met with noticed how cramped the current truck bay is, and he said storage is an issue. The new bay will have
a wood frame with exterior metal cladding and will not be designed to leadership in energy and environmental design standards. The sanitary air room, where firefighters will fill their breathing apparatuses, will be separated from the hall, which is contrary to their current setup, he said. “The fire station’s 42 years old and has never had a major renovation, so this will be the first time,” Tomkinson said. The new pumper truck won’t be servicing the Merritt area until about 2015 as it takes a year to build. A second phase to make changes to the administrative side of the building is in the works, but is still a few years off, Tomkinson said. The borrowing bylaw must now go through the alternative approval process, which means if fewer than 550 residents sign a petition against borrowing that money for the fire department projects, it will have public assent.
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REMEMBER WHEN? From the Herald archives: March 1978 French language questionnaire upsets some local parents A survey to determine the parent interest in a French language education program for schools in B.C. at the elementary level has not been well received by Merritt residents, according to school board chairman Eleanor Norgaard, commenting during last Thursday’s meeting. “Most of the calls I have received on the survey are from parents who are unhappy because the questionnaire didn’t ask whether they want the French language program to begin with,” explained Mrs. Norgaard. “It simply asks a number of questions to determine how much in favour parents are of a partial or total French program. The general feeling was that the survey was useless since it didn’t ask the most important question.” The provincial government recently commissioned Canadian Facts Co. Ltd. to conduct a provincewide survey to determine the interest in and need for a French language elementary program.