Rural communities out of luck on cell service

Bert Braybrook (standing) of Telus speaks to Community to Community forum.

CLEARWATER — The expansion of cellphone service hoped for by so many rural communities isn’t going to happen any time soon, says a Telus spokesman.

Bert Braybrook, general manager for Telus in the Kamloops-Cariboo region, told a group of North Thompson community leaders this week that his company is focusing on enhancing existing cell corridors and has no plans to expand off the beaten path to rural communities.

I represented Electoral Area P at a Community to Community forum in the Dutch Lake Community Centre in Clearwater on Friday (Jan. 29, 2016), at which Braybrook spoke. Neither Pinantan nor Heffley Lake in Area P have cell service and residents there have been asking for it for several years.

It was clear at the meeting that other regional directors and municipal councillors are unhappy about the lack of cell service in their areas as well.

N. Thompson geopark could stretch south

Helmcken Falls in Wells Gray Park. (Parks B.C. photo)

CLEARWATER — When is a park not a park?

When it’s a geopark.

A group of local government and First Nations politicians and staff were told Friday (Jan. 29, 2016) that a plan to establish a global geopark centered on Wells Gray Provincial Park — “the jewel in the crown —needs community champions to take it to the next level.

North Thompson TNRD directors and council members and Simpcw First Nation councillors were meeting in the Dutch Lake Community Centre for their annual Community to Community consultation.

Jennifer Houiellebecq of Tourism Planning Group Inc. told the gathering the geopark proposal has been envisioned as taking in the region between McBride and Barriere, but broached the idea of asking Kamloops to be a part.

‘We can work through’ pipeline objections

Trans Mountain pipeline will be twinned if National Energy Board approves plan.

CLEARWATER — The B.C. government’s objections to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion can be overcome, a spokesman for Kinder Morgan told a group of community politicians today (Friday, Jan. 29, 2016).

In response to questions at a Community to Community meeting of municipal, Thompson Nicola Regional District and First Nations reps, Fowles said the company is convinced Premier Christy Clark’s declaration opposing the expansion won’t stop it from going ahead.

“”We’re very confident we can work through the concerns of the provincial government,” Fowles told about 30 representatives from Lower North Thompson area communities.

Clark announced three weeks ago B.C. can’t support the $5.4-$6.8 billion pipeline expansion because Kinder Morgan hasn’t satisfied some of B.C.’s five conditions, including a world-class spill prevention program.

McLure ferry back in action after refit

Friday morning crossing on the McLure Ferry.

McLURE – The McLure ferry is back in operation after a refit and the benefit of an early ice melt on the North Thompson River.

The ferry started running again on Thursday (Jan. 28, 2016) and is doing a steady business. Residents who rely on the ferry have been forced to take the long way around, crossing either at Barriere or Kamloops during the winter months.

The ferry will keep running as long as the ice doesn’t reform on the river.

Transport Canada took the popular ferry off the river and out of service last September for repairs and maintenance on its deck and pontoons. The work is required on a scheduled basis.

It provides a crossing point for anyone travelling between McLure or the Yellowhead Highway and the Westsyde Road link between Kamloops and Barriere.

Fire brigade launches crowdfunding campaign

Pinantan fire volunteers practising hard.

PINANTAN — When in need, crowd fund.

That’s what a lot of entrepreneurs and organizations do these days but it’s probably a bit unusual for a fire department. Yet that’s exactly what the Pinantan Lake Fire Association is doing.

After residents turned down construction of a fire hall last year, a new group of volunteers stepped forward to pick up the issue and have been busy for the past several months getting a brigade going on a shoe string budget.

The truck that was going to be housed in a new fire hall has been mothballed and is up for sale, and a new group of residents has been assembling alternative equipment and holding regular practices.

Rural residents big supporters of WCT

One of WCT’s popular productions last year was Mary Poppins.

Western Canada Theatre isn’t just for Kamloops.

Daryl Cloran, WCT’s artistic director, says a significant number of people who attend WCT productions are from rural areas in the TNRD.

Cloran made a presentation to the board of directors about the successful 2015-16 season, which featured a production of Mary Poppins.

Electoral Area Directors approved a request to each contribute $320 of their discretionary funds, for a total of $3,200, towards the 2016-17 WCT season. That season will include a major musical production that Cloran said WCT is keeping for a surprise.

Here are some additional highlights from the Jan. 21, 2016 meeting, as reported in the TNRD’s public newsletter, The Current:

Possibilities at Pritchard beach

Pritchard beach and bridge in winter.

PRITCHARD — There could be some changes for the better at the Pritchard Bridge beach this coming fall.

Last September, Pritchard village resident Ivan Findrik gave me a call and asked me to come and take a look at the beach on the north side of the bridge. I’d been there several times before and it’s always impressed me as one of the prettiest spots in our area.

I’d heard from residents previously, concerned about cleanup and sanitation, but Ivan got me focused on the fall fishing season.

What Ivan wanted me to see was how many campers, trailers and boats were at the beach. As he pointed out, there are no toilet facilities or garbage cans there, and the entry area was rutted and pot-holed. There’s no dock or boat launch.

Aside from all the boats and campers, people were enjoying a stroll up the beach with their dogs, a nice mix of visitors and Pritchard residents.

It’s not officially a park, and no one has taken responsibility for managing it like one, but I said I’d see what I could do.

Those whistle blowin’ blues

CN trains cross Ferry Road at Mclure.

When I hear that whistle blowin’ I hang my head and cry.

— Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues

Some people enjoy the plaintive lament of a train whistle as a big engine goes by.

Others, not so much.

CN is a busy line that rumbles through McLure several times a day, and getting busier. The grade crossing at Ferry Road is equipped with flashing lights and boom gates, but the trains still blow their whistles.

In 2006, residents submitted a petition to Grant Fraser, who was the director for Electoral Area P at the time, asking support for the removal of the whistles. Fraser took it to the TNRD board, which agreed.

A covering letter from the residents pointed out that sight lines at the crossing are clear in all directions.

“Since the railway traffic has increased dramatically, the residents of McLure find that the train whistling has become unbearable and very disturbing,” the letter said.

Fixing what’s broken at Upper Clearwater hall

Upper Clearwater hall. (ucfi.ca photo)

The TNRD board of directors was put in the position this week of trying to help a community heal a rift. Two delegations spoke to the board on Thursday (Jan. 21, 2016) with differing opinions about financial support from the regional district for the Upper Clearwater community hall.

After listening to the delegations, the board approved a survey of residents to find out if they want to hold a second petition process to overturn the original petition that established a grant-in-aid for the hall.

Here’s a news story on it by Mike Youds published in NewsKamloops:

Upper Clearwater Farmer’s Institute hall is a 1937 log building, restored and upgraded, a pastoral scene from Wells Gray Road on the way into the provincial park.

Tourists often stop there and sometimes camp as though it were a public facility, which is why a wagon-wheel style sign now stands out front, hinting, “UCFI Hall and Grounds.” Since its earliest days, the hall has been a community gathering place.

The bucolic setting reveals nothing of a feud within the surrounding community about the hall, a dispute that arose from circumstances apparently well-intended a dozen years ago, yet which now divides the small community.

“In 2004, a rift formed in our community,” Shane McGrath told TNRD board Thursday. “It’s become increasingly acrimonious and bitter.”

In a discussion that dragged on for more than two hours, McGrath asked the TNRD to survey the 58 upper valley residents to determine support for holding a new vote on a residential grant-in-aid property levy that supports the hall. Nick Frost, who manages the hall for the UCFI, followed, seeking a letter of support, a vote of confidence for the institute and its management of the hall.

Dangerous dog area expanded

The TNRD’s dangerous dog service has been expanded to included Electoral Areas J (Copper Desert Country) and O (Lower North Thompson).

Directors Ronaye Elliott and Bill Kershaw had earlier applied to have their areas included in the service and the expansion was formally approved Thursday (Jan. 21, 2016).

TNRD offices are in Civic Building on Victoria Street.

According to the 2011 census, there are about 1,560 residents in Area J and 1,335 in Area O. Area P (Rivers and the Peaks) is already part of the service, as are Area I (Blue Sky Country), M (Beautiful Nicola Valley North), and N (Beautiful Nicola Valley South).

The bylaw provides for seizure and impoundment of dangerous dogs that have “(a) killed or seriously injured a person (b) killed or seriously injured a domestic animal in a public place or while on private property (other than property owned or occupied by the person responsible for the dog) or (c) an Animal Control Officer has reasonable grounds to believe is likely to kill or seriously injure a person.”

Victim in McLure crash identified

McLure resident Dan Spark took this photo after the crash.

McLURE — The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of a man who died in a motor vehicle incident in McLure on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016.

He was Antonino George (Tony) Cuthbert, aged 48, of Clearwater.

Mr. Cuthbert was the driver and sole occupant of a Chevrolet sedan that was involved in a collision with a semi-trailer in the 800-block of the Yellowhead Highway South (Highway 5) in McLure at about 1 p.m. on Jan. 17. He was deceased at the scene.

The accident stopped traffic on the highway for several hours.

The B.C. Coroners Service and RCMP Traffic Services continue to investigate.

 

Winery expansion plan goes to ALC for review

(Montecreekwinery.com photo)

MONTE CREEK — A plan to add entertainment and events facilities to the Monte Creek Ranch Winery will go to the Agricultural Land Commission for a decision on the first step of the process.

The TNRD board voted Thursday to forward the application to the ALC for a decision on allowing non-farm uses on agricultural land. If the ALC approves of the plan to build an amphitheatre, restaurant and outdoor wedding area, it will come back to the board for a site-specific rezoning.

A staff report to the board said the Planning Services department would recommend the rezoning if the ALC gives its stamp of approval for the addition of non-farm uses.

“On the other hand, ALC refusal would result in the file being closed and partial application fee refund,” the report said.

I received an emailed letter Wednesday from a spokesperson for family members living on River Vista Road (which is Electoral Area P) across the South Thompson River from Monte Creek opposing the project.

The letter, which I forwarded to the Board for consideration Thursday, expresses concerns about noise from the proposed 500-seat amphitheatre and outdoor events. Jonathan Fershau also wrote that he is opposed to non-farm use on the property.

Planning services director Regina Sadilkova said details of the plan, including noise issues, will be addressed through a study if it gets the green light from the ALC, and that residents will have an opportunity to speak to it at a public hearing for the zoning bylaw amendment.

Pinantan to get new mailboxes

The new design for community mailboxes not only look better, they’re harder to break into.

PINANTAN — There’s some good news coming for Pinantan on the community mailbox issue.

Many rural communities have suffered from theft of mail from community mailboxes but Pinantan in particular has had a number of them, and I’ve been talking to Canada Post about it over the past year.

Canada Post now tells me that the group boxes at the Pinantan store and down the street on Harper Ranch-Pinantan Road will be replaced with the newer, stronger, more theft-proof models.

Mike Taks of Canada Post says he has put in an order for the news boxes, though it’s not known exactly when they’ll be swapped with the old ones. He works out of the Kelowna office and covers the Okanagan-Mainline area that takes in our area as well as communities like Clearwater, Merritt and Revelstoke, and there’s a lot of demand for the new boxes.

The post office is moving as fast as it can to replace the old ones with the new ones, giving priority to locations that have experienced high theft rates.

Though no mailbox is immune to theft — there have been cases in which thieves have hauled away the entire group of boxes — the new ones are definitely harder to break into, he said.

The latest design is third generation, with improvements being made as more experience is gained with them. The new boxes have been showing up in several spots around the area. I got a “tour” of the stronger boxes when I was at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Edmonton in June and Taks said the design has been made better even since then.

A look at news reports shows that mailbox theft — especially from the older versions — continues at a high rate across the country and especially in B.C.

Taks stressed the need for people to collect their mail promptly in order to minimize the risk of having it stolen from the boxes in a break-in.

I had also made inquiries about the community mailboxes at the entrance to Gottfriedson Estates, which have also been prone to break-ins, and Taks said he will investigate that location to see what can be done.

Whitecroft zoning ready for next step

Whitecroft village. (TNRD photo)

WHITECROFT — The rezoning of Whitecroft will take the next step Thursday (Jan. 21, 2016) when TNRD staff presents a report to the regional board recommending a bylaw be put together by spring making it so.

The report explains that changes to the Local Government Act terminate all Land Use Contracts in the province, and asks approval to start termination of the LUC under which Whitecroft was developed in 1972.

LUCs were a short-term development tool that lasted only from 1972 to 1978 and were often stricter than zoning, creating tailor-made regulations for specific lands.

“The critical difference between zoning and LUCs is that one is a regulation, the other a form of contract,” the report states. “A contract typically requires agreement of both parties to effect and revise.”

The province has decreed that all LUCs must be terminated by June 30, 2024. The Whitecroft LUC will be replaced with zoning — the first LUC development to be dealt with in the TNRD, which has 46 of them affecting 454 properties. There are 185 residential parcels in Whitecroft.

If the board agrees to move forward, further consultation will be held with residents following up on a public meeting held in November. Surveys and mailouts would be done, and the matter has to come back for a public hearing before the change is adopted by the board.