February 28, 2007 The Valley Voice

Volume 16, Number 4 February 28, 2007 Delivered to every home between Edgewood, Kaslo & South Slocan. Published bi-weekly.“Your independently-owned regional community newspaper serving the Arrow Lakes, Slocan & North Kootenay Lake Valleys.”

COUNTRY FURNITURE & HOME DECORLooking for something out of the ordinary? Country Furniture & Home Decor, 115 Hall St. Nelson, Toll-Free 1-866-352-3665

by Jan McMurrayThe Regional District’s efforts to

secure the crown land in Sandon andcreate a regional park have been metwith optimism by the Province.

MLA Corky Evans, Area HDirector Don Munro and New DenverMayor/RDCK Chair Gary Wright metwith Minister of Agriculture and LandsPat Bell and his executive assistant onFebruary 20 in Victoria to discuss thepossibility of a free crown grant.

Munro reported that “the Ministerindicated he would give us 100%support.”

Although local politicians expectedto have to describe Sandon’s locationand its historical significance, Bell hadvisited the area four years ago andremembered Sandon very well.

“I felt that they were really wellprepared. They knew exactly why wewere there and what we were askingfor,” said Munro.

Bell and his assistant explained that

part of the application process for a freecrown grant is to find a governmentsponsor. The obvious choice in this casewould be the Minister of CommunityServices Ida Chong, who looks afterlocal governments. Although Chongwas not available to join the meeting,her executive assistant came and tookthe information back to her.

“No commitments were made, butit felt very positive,” said Munro.

Past efforts to secure the crown landin Sandon led the Regional District torequest a licence of occupancy from theProvince. Andrew Whale from theIntegrated Land Management Bureauhad recommended that the RDCK gothis route, as no sponsor is needed.However, the concessional value of theland is limited to $200,000 under alicence of occupancy, and Bell informedthe local politicians that the Ministry hadarrived at a value of more than $400,000for the crown land in Sandon. He saidthe RDCK’s request for a free crown

Another step towards creating a regional park in Sandongrant should be for about $500,000 inland and improvements.

There is a limit on the value of theprojects each ministry can sponsor.Chong’s assistant did not know whatwas left in the budget this year. This doesnot concern Munro much, as a newfiscal year is just a month away.

Munro says that as soon as he getsconfirmation of a licence of occupancyor a free crown grant, he will set up acommunity meeting in Sandon. He saysmost Sandon residents wonder what aregional park would mean to the valueof their property.

“I think all it can do is improve notonly the value of their land but in termsof developing the area, all of theresidents will be directly involvedthrough the regional park commission,”said Munro.

Concerns about infrastructure andnatural hazards are what promptedMunro to investigate the possibility ofa regional park in Sandon. “We’ve runinto a lot of problems in the past wherethe Province says it’s the RegionalDistrict’s responsibility and theRegional District says it’s the Province’sresponsibility,” said Munro, citing septic

issues as an example.Munro says it is the ideal time to

move on this, when local politicians areworking together and the Province ispushing tourism. He says Bell wasimpressed with the idea of regionalparks at Sandon and Rosebery,connected by the Galena Trail linearpark.

Munro says the regional park planwill fit into the OCP but figures that theactual planning for the park will be aseparate process. “I think the plan willbe developed by residents for a park thatwill be part of OCP in the end.”

submittedThe North Kootenay Falcons

Midget Rep team is heading to theprovincials after winning the decidinggame against Grand Forks on February25.

The team has had an excellentseason, earning the West Kootenaybanner at the conclusion of the leaguegames on February 4. Of the ten leaguegames they played, they won six, tiedtwo and lost two.

Nakusp and Grand Forks battled itout for the berth at the provincials, to beheld in Burns Lake in March, in fourgames over three weekends. The firstgame ended in a tie. Nakusp came outthe winner of the second game, 8-4.Grand Forks beat out Nakusp 3-2 in thethird game. So the fourth game playedthis past Sunday was a ‘do or die’ – andthey did it!

Coming back from a 2 - 0 deficitfrom the first period, Tyson Klein andBen de Wit assisted Joel James inscoring North Kootenay’s first goal at12:12 in the second period.

At 1:41, James, from Brad Dupuis,tied it up with a sweet short-handed goal.A productive power play saw LaineWeighill set up Klein for the go-aheadgoal at 19:40 in the third and the crowdwent wild!

Both teams had penalty trouble inthe third period, but persistentforechecking paid off for the Falconswhen James, assisted by de Wit, scoreda short-handed goal to get himself a hattrick, with 5:10 remaining. Fansscreamed, applauded, whistled, bugledand blasted air horns in response.

Grand Forks pulled their goalie inan attempt to regain some ground, butrookie goaltender Taylor Reitmeierstaved them off.

Klein made up for missing theempty net when Weighill set him up foran insurance goal with just under threeminutes remaining in the game. Thefinal score was 5-2.

Congratulations to the Falcons forwinning the West Kootenay banner andbest of luck in your pursuit of the bannerat the Single ‘A’ provincials. Remember

North Kootenay Falcons Midget Rep earn way to provincialsteam work, dedication anddetermination has gotten you this far.Hats off to all of the fans – you’re simplythe best!

The North Kootenay Falcon Midget Rep team are happy campers afterSunday’s game against Grand Forks gave them a ticket to the provincials, to

be held in Burns Lake in March.

by Jan McMurrayThe Rotary Club of Nakusp’s

annual dinner theatre and play wasanother smashing success.

Mirror Theatre’s Peril on the HighSeas or Let’s Get Together and DoLaunch got lots of laughs from a veryappreciative audience.

Many dressed in their 1950s garband participated in the dance contestsduring the intermission. On Fridaynight, the best dressed prizes went toDenise Allaway from Vernon and EarlFrerichs of Nakusp. On Saturday night,prizes went to Kim Coates of Nakuspand Bill Hilton of Fauquier.

Local entertainment at its bestThe rock n roll dance contest was

won by Chris Neftin on Friday night.On Saturday night, two couples tied forthe title: Ken and Marilyn Marshall andBill Hilton and Carol Smart. Winnersreceived Rotary’s board game, BlindCrib.

During the intermission, the districtmusic teacher, Lisa Lise, performedwith members of the Nakusp highschool choir. The choir members werevolunteering their time to serve thescrumptious roast beef dinner. Theycollected over $600 towards the jazzband’s trip to Moscow, Idaho for a jazzcompetition.

Anji Jones and Colin Kowal in a scene from Peril on the High Seas.

People from the New Denver Nursery School and other childcare centres in ourarea were among the 300 or so people who joined the protest against cuts to

childcare funding, held in Nelson on February 13. With Campbell’s recent budgetsilent on the issue, we can expect to hear more from the childcare sector.

The Valley Voice February 28, 2007NEWS2

Stop the Violence

Outreach Worker

Arrow & Slocan Lakes Community Services is seeking an

outreach worker to provide support to victims of abuse

(emotional or physical) in the region. The position is 9.5 hours

a week until Mar 31st 2007 with possible extension. The ideal

applicant will be familiar with the Arrow & Slocan Lakes region,

comfortable with the public, well organized with demonstrated

experience working with women who have been exposed to

violent situations. The position is based in Nakusp and will

require some regional travel.

Preferred Qualifications: Experience working in women’s

programs, family support programs and with clients who have

experienced family abuse.

This position offers a competitive salary. A valid Driver’s

License and current First Aid certificate are required. The

successful candidate will be required to sign an Oath of

Confidentiality and complete a Criminal Record Check.

Closing date is 7th March 2007 @ 11:00 a.m.

Email resume and 3 references to Farhana Alam, Manager of

Operations, at falam@aslcs.com

by Jan McMurrayAn opportunity to hear more

about the Nakusp Music Fest’sproposal to create a community park,to see the model of the designconcept, and to offer your input ishappening on March 8 at 7 pm at thearena auditorium.

Willi Jahnke from the festivalattended Nakusp council’s February13 meeting to outline developmentssince his last presentation to councilthree months ago. One big change isthe name of the project – from‘Nakusp Music Fest expansionproject’ to ‘proposed communitypark.’

Jahnke’s written submission tocouncil explains that the festivalgroup realized the idea to expand wascompatible with the long standingdesire to create a Village square inNakusp. “We believe that this maybe the opportunity to combine twoideas and make it one successfulconcept which will ultimately resultin the creation of a true communitypark, a public meeting ground whichwill suit and satisfy the manypurposes and needs.”

Jahnke stressed that the proposedpark is for the community, with theMusic Fest using the space onlyduring the festival weekend in July.He also stressed that the estimated$600,000 project will be done at nocost to the Village and will be handed

over to Village upon completion.“Funding is available by doing itunder our non-profit society, so takeadvantage of us and enjoy thebenefit,” he told councillors. “I thinkwe can achieve something that is longlasting and of benefit to all.”

The proposed park area,commonly known as the Villageoverflow campground, would addabout 4.6 acres to the festival site. Thecurrent festival site on the ball fieldsis about 5 acres. Jahnke saidexpanding the size of the grounds didnot mean that the festival intended togrow by attendance. His writtensubmission says the point is “to avoidcongestion and to add new familyoriented show elements as well asmany exciting visual elements whichwe cannot achieve on the bare fieldsof the existing site.”

The plan at this point includes acampground on the northern half ofthe new site. With the help of anarchitect, the group has determinedthat about 41 campsites can becreated, and can easily beincorporated into the Village’sexisting campground with accessfrom 4th Street NW. All campsiteswould be serviced with water andpower. The written plan suggests theundeveloped trail system that existsin this area now could be the startingpoint for creating a road system. Italso suggests that a sani-dump should

be considered at a central location.Jahnke stated that the campgroundwill be treed and landscaped, keepingas much of the existing vegetation aspossible. He also said it had beenestimated that the new campgroundcould generate about $60,000 incomefor the Village each year, andmentioned that the existing Villagecampground brought in $57,000 in2006. For the Music Fest, this newcampground would house VendorVillage.

The southern half of the site hasbeen left largely up to the public toplan. The festival group has drawnin a permanent stage withamphitheatre style seating here, butJahnke said that the design of thestage and seating will be determinedafter the public meeting. For theMusic Fest, the stage is for children’sand family entertainment.

The project is planned over three

Nakusp Music Fest calls for input on community park proposalyears. In 2007, work would begin atthe new campground on thecampsites and road, and thewaterlines would be put in.

In 2008, the campsites would becompleted, the permanent stagewould be built, the power would beinstalled, fencing and gates would beinstalled, and landscaping would bedone in the southern community parkarea.

In 2009, the road in the newcampground would be paved,permanent washrooms and showerswould be constructed, andlandscaping and clean-up would becompleted. Two separate buildingsfor washrooms and showers are onthe concept drawings in thecampground area.

Jahnke mentioned that thetimeline was dependent on financing,and added that there are usuallydelays.

The group has applied for a JobCreation Partnership grant from ServiceCanada. Jahnke said it was very likelythis will go ahead, based onconversations he has had with theiroffice staff. The grant pays wages, andis worth $70,000. Jahnke said it may bepossible to access this grant in each ofthe three years of the project.

The written plan proposes that twoteams be formed to organize the project.The design team will come up with afinal site plan, and the managementteam will ensure that plan is realized.The design team will be made up ofrepresentatives from the Village, themusic festival, Nakusp and AreaDevelopment Board or the Chamber,and Jahnke’s company, Octopus Music,as project manager. The managementteam will be made up of the projectsupervisor, Village staff and otherprofessionals and contractors. They willreport back to design team.

submittedFamous Canadian musician

Lowry Olafson came to LucerneSchool on February 22 to work with17 grades 4 - 6 students who choseto learn about songwriting.

Lowry had the kids brainstormideas for songs, then titles for songs.As a group, they eliminated ideasuntil they were all prepared to workon one topic. They began with thechorus and then created the song. Thegroup started with Shoes, but as theyworked together the song becametitled Don’t Give Up. It was about ayoung girl who wants to be a writer,she doesn’t win a contest. It is herbig brother who comforts her andencourages her not to give up.

The kids worked on writing thesong in the morning and performed

Lucerne students work with famous Canadian songwriterit for the whole school after lunch.The Lucerne guitar players now havea goal to learn how to play Don’t Give

Up. Before he left, Lowry entertainedthe elementary students with a varietyof his own music.

In his last review, Food EditorAndrew Rhodes incorrectly referredto the owner of the Outer CloveRestaurant as Katrie Skogstar. It isof course Katri Skogster.

Correction

by Jan McMurrayTom Lancaster from

SmartGrowth BC, a non-profit out ofVancouver working towards creating‘more livable communities,’ ledinformation sessions on the officialcommunity planning process inKaslo, Meadow Creek and Argentathis past weekend for Area Dresidents. He made it clear that he washere to provide information so thatpeople could make an informeddecision on whether to plan or not toplan.

Area D Director Andy Shadrackreported that although there was adifferent flavour at each of the threemeetings, he felt that “a commonthread” was emerging. “People haveseen the real estate prices go up andpeople from outside moving in. It’sclear to me that some people came tolive in Area D to remove themselvesfrom restrictions they didn’t want intheir lives and now the world iscoming back to them. So there mightbe some people who want to controlthe way the world comes back tothem.”

At the Kaslo session, peoplewanted to know if the secondhomeowner issue could be dealt within an OCP process. An area residentspoke about the “dark windowsyndrome” caused by the spike invacation home sales in the area,saying, “This dilutes the communityand drives up housing prices so thatpeople who want to live here andwork here can’t afford to.” Lancasteracknowledged that this was acommon concern, and said that a tool

that he knows of to address this is‘minimum occupancy guidelines,’which set a minimum amount of timethat a house must be occupied in ayear. This results in more rentalhousing, he said.

Some at the Kaslo sessionquestioned if the people of Area Deven wanted to go through theplanning process. Area D DirectorAndy Shadrack addressed this. “Ihave made a pledge that nocommunity in Area D will be forcedto go into planning without some kindof mechanism, like a referendum, butI think development has come andeither you have a say or change willcome. Do you want to have aprocess? This presentation shouldhelp you make that decision.”

Shadrack informed the meetinggoers that regardless of whether ornot there is an OCP in place, land usedecisions are being made regularly.“As your director, I have no tools.People call me all the time sayingthey don’t want this going in here,but there is no zoning. You may thinkyou live in a residential zone, but youdon’t.”

Lancaster added, “It’s aboutmanaging change or letting changemanage you.”

When asked about how people atthe Meadow Creek and Argentameetings felt about the planningprocess, Shadrack reported that“people in Meadow Creek arewanting to make sure they can controlthe process because they are stillweighing whether or not they wantplanning” while “some people inArgenta are wondering whether thetools that planning provides will givethem the level of control that theywant over development in theircommunity.”

Another big concern was that

Area D is made up of 16 distinctcommunities. Dave Wahn from theRDCK planning department was inattendance in Kaslo and offered someuseful information. He assuredpeople that portions of Area D couldhave planning while others did nothave planning. He also said, “Let’screate an OCP that identifies the 16communities and makes regulationsto address the differences.” Anotheritem of interest he shared was that nozoning was possible in an OCP.

He said that the rise in packagedtreatment plants going in had recentlycaught his attention. “These are reallywell designed systems, and theeffluent is being put into the lake.With money, you can developanything anywhere. Money is talkingin our regional district right now.”Wahn said that something could bedone about effluent going into thelake in an OCP.

At the Kaslo session, Lancasterdefined ‘planning’ in several waysthroughout his presentation – “planningis planning to manage change”;“planning is not reactive”; “planning isnot planning for development”;“planning is the community comingtogether and saying these are ourpriorities.”

Lancaster said the OfficialCommunity Plan (OCP) process wouldinvolve first developing a set of guidingprinciples. Then, the public consultationwould begin, with open houses andcommunity visioning exercises. He saidan advisory committee would be struckto give advice to the person writing theOCP – and it was made known that AreaD already has an advisory committee.The process also involves reviewingcurrent bylaws so that potential newplanning tools can be identified. Thenthe plan is drafted and goes through theprocess of becoming a bylaw.

OCP information meetings held in Area D – North Kootenay LakeCanadian musician Lowry Olafson led a songwriting workshop at Lucerne School on February 22.

February 28, 2007 The Valley Voice NEWS 3

Antique and Collectible

AuctionLots of Lots of Lust-after-able Stuff!

Sunday, March 11, 11:00 am

RUSSELL AUCTION

2067 Highway 3A, Thrums

Phone: 399-4793

by Art JoyceSilverton’s Memorial Hall Friday

evening, February 23, was crowdedwith citizens eager to participate in thevisioning of their community’s future.They were there to hear Tom Lancasterof SmartGrowth BC explain how theprocess of revising the Village’s OfficialCommunity Plan (OCP) works.

Mayor Everett explained that thisfirst meeting was an information sessiondesigned to acquaint residents with theprocess. The OCP revision will likelytake a year to fully complete. Silverton’slast review of its OCP was in 1996.Residents will be provided with variousmeans of offering input, from theVillage website, to forms available atthe Village office, and three more public

Silverton initiates OCP review with information meetingmeetings.

“The most important thing to keepin mind is that this is your village – youget to decide what you want, so youneed to take an active part,” Everett said.

Lancaster explained that the OCPis a legal document based on the LocalGovernment Act, defensible up to theSupreme Court. The OCP provides aset of ‘guiding principles’ that create thecommunity ‘vision’ from which zoningbylaws are drawn up – a separateprocess. Lancaster will spend the nextfew weeks analyzing the current OCPand launching the website. An advisoryplanning committee will be struck togather and process public input over thenext 2-3 months. The committee willbe legally bound to be open and

transparent.“I’m not here to tell you how you

should change or even if you shouldchange,” said Lancaster. “My job is toask the right questions and see that whatyou want is written into your OCP.”

The Village website will askspecific questions that will also changeas more input is received. Based oncomments received, Lancaster willdraw up a list of 30-35 guidingprinciples, to be narrowed down to aset of 8-10 core community values. Adraft OCP will then be written forpresentation to the community. Citizenswill have the opportunity to commenton the draft and help fine tune thedocument. Lancaster’s final role will beto draw up an implementation plan in

consultation with SmartGrowth’s legalteam, which outlines how currentzoning bylaws must be adjusted to makethe new OCP workable.

Clear definitions are critical to aneffective OCP. For example, one town’sidea of having a ‘livable community’might mean being able to driveeverywhere, while another’s might beto be able to walk to all amenities.Where conflicting values arise, acommunity must make a collectivedecision as to which trade-offs it canlive with.

A Red Mountain resident expressedconcerns that those living outside

Village boundaries might not have a say.Lancaster said that too is up torespondents to decide as part of itsguiding principles: how much or howlittle non-residents’ concerns factor in.

A visitor from Wisconsin who livesin a similar ‘gateway community’ to anational park warned that having avisionary OCP is no guarantee thedocument will be adhered to. Lancasteragreed, stating that “a plan is only asstrong as the political will implementingit.” Mayor Everett urged villagers to“hold future councils’ feet to the fire,”and promised full compliance by thecurrent council.

by Jan McMurrayThe water rates for all RDCK

owned water systems are going upsignificantly this year.

However, users of the two RDCKowned water systems in our area –South Slocan and Denver Siding –will not feel the full effects just yet.

The Denver Siding system has alarge surplus that will cover theincrease. For South Slocan waterusers, Area H Director Don Munrohas committed $5,000 of his BCHydro grant-in-lieu funding to cover2/3 of the increase this year. Nextyear, he will cover 1/3 of the increase.In 2009, the water users will be ontheir own.

The increase in rates follows on theheels of new provincial waterregulations, which set quite stringentstandards that will require systemupgrades, infrastructure improvements,certified operators and improvedmonitoring and sampling. All thispushes up the costs of managing the

water systems.In December, when the RDCK

board voted to achieve 100% costrecovery for its water systems in 2007,Munro lobbied for phasing in theincreases over three years. “We’redoubling their fees, but the residentswon’t see any action at the site rightaway,” he said.

For South Slocan, cost recoverytranslates to $238 annually for a singlefamily residence. In 2006, the fee for asingle family residence was $132. WithMunro’s grant, the fee for a single familyresidence in 2007 will be $155.

Both South Slocan and DenverSiding are among the five RDCKsystems on boil water notice. TheRDCK’s goal is to get them off boilnotice in two years. There is quite a bitof work to be done on both systems toachieve this.

The South Slocan group hasreceived a grant of $361,000 forimprovements to the water system, butno work has begun because the group

Water rates soar for RDCK-owned systemsis unclear on acceptable options forwater treatment. In 2007, the group hasdecided to get work underway onprotecting the water source whiletreatment options are being sorted out.

The RDCK has recently formulatedits policy regarding treatment, based onthe new provincial water regulations.The policy states that systems with lessthan 500 users per day can be treated atthe tap with, for example, an ultravioletsystem, and systems with over 500 usersper day will be treated by disinfectingthe water at the source. However, localhealth officers ultimately approve thewater systems, and it is unclear whetheror not treatment at the tap will beacceptable to them. This is what has putthe South Slocan project on hold.

Some work will also be done atDenver Siding this year. Goals for thisyear include a monitoring program forsource quality and capacity, an operationand maintenance program, anemergency response plan and upgradesto the infiltration gallery.

submittedA memorandum of understanding

was signed on February 16 by 16federal, provincial, regional and FirstNations agencies to collaborate on watermanagement issues in the CanadianColumbia River Basin. This initiativeis known as the Canadian ColumbiaRiver Forum (CCRF).

The CCRF brings together thenecessary governments and decision-

Agencies agree to collaborate on water issues in Columbia Basinmaking agencies to collaborate onwater management issues. Some ofthese issues need collective attentionnow, and there is also a growing listof new and emerging issues.

Some of the issues the CCRF willwork on include climate changeimpacts on the region, transboundarywater management agreements,current and future transboundarywater issues, increasing dialogue and

information sharing with USagencies, and creating mechanismsfor open and equitable access toinformation on the Columbia RiverBasin for agencies and citizens.

The CCRF has made educationand public participation in watermanagement issues a priority. Theforum will hold an educationalworkshop on May 30 in Cranbrook.Keep posted for details.

by Jan McMurrayWith second home ownership as a

huge issue in our area these days, Mayorof Kaslo Jim Holland has come up withan idea to do something about it.

His idea is to establish localgovernment homeowner grants, muchthe same as the Province’s homeownergrant. “The Province’s grant recognizesthat residents should have a favourabletax positon over non-residents andencourages people to live in theprovince. My idea is to take this onestep further and allow localgovernments to do the same,” heexplained.

Holland, as Kaslo’s director on theRDCK board, took his idea to that table.At the February board meeting, RDCKstaff was directed to work with Hollandto prepare a proposal for localgovernment homeowner grants to beforwarded to the Association ofKootenay/Boundary LocalGovernments (AKBLG) forconsideration.

Holland is pleased to get the ideaout there and “to get bigger and betterbrains behind it.” He says if there areno “show stoppers” at AKBLG, the ideawill move on to the Union of BCMunicipalities.

Holland believes that developmentin recent years is different from whatwe have seen in the past, when thingsalways stabilized to a reasonable level.

“In the last two or three years, we havedevelopment pressures and a real estatemarket that is so far above what issustainable that I think we have aproblem,” he said.

Holland says he fears we are goingdown the same road that Invermere andother East Kootenay communities have,where there ends up being noaccommodation for people in serviceindustry jobs. He says the average houseprice in Invermere is $350,000, whichis unaffordable for the people who choseto live there for the lifestyle.

“Lifestyle is what we’ve got goingfor us in this area,” he said. “Many ofus passed up opportunities to make goodmoney in larger centres and chose tolive here under economic hardshipsbecause of the lifestyle. When youjuxtapose that onto people who wantthe same lifestyle but who have money,you’ve got a problem.”

Holland says that even though thehousing prices make the economicpicture look quite strong, “what you’reexperiencing underneath is long-termresidents are getting squeezed out forthe very lifestyle reasons they are there.The people who have accumulatedwealth are displacing the people whomade the area attractive to them. Thenew people often want the same levelof services they had in the place theycame from, but there is nowhere for thepeople in the service industry to live.”

In Kaslo, Holland says council isdealing with huge developments suchas condominiums and subdivisions, andthis takes staff time that the Villagesimply does not have. “We have tocontract the work out, so residentssubsidize this growth. Some people saywe need to get our Development CostCharges in order, but it takes staff timeto even do that, so no matter which wayyou shake it down, locals aresubsidizing outside growth and it is notfair.”

Holland points out that the secondhomeowners are not here to buy fromthe local stores or to volunteer in thecommunity, so it is still a good deal forthem if they pay a little more tax tosupport the people who are here yearround and who attracted them here inthe first place. “I think we should makethem pay the full cost plus a little bitmore to cover the impact they have onthe local area because if they don’t, theyare going to lose it.”

Holland made it clear that he wasnot against development. “This is in noway meant to create a penalty fordevelopment – we need that.”

Holland recognizes that the timingis right for this issue, with quite a bit ofpolitical impetus behind it. The recentprovincial budget contained a lot abouthousing issues, and local OCP processeshave put the spotlight on second homeownership in our area.

Local government homeowner grants idea advanced

The Valley Voice February 28, 20074 OPINION

The Valley Voice Box 70, New Denver, BC V0G 1S0

Phone: 358-7218 Fax: 358-7793 E-Mail:valleyvoice@netidea.com Website: www.valleyvoice.ca

Publisher - DAN NICHOLSON • Editor - JAN MCMURRAY • Food Editor - ANDREW RHODES

Contributing Writers - ART JOYCE, DON CURRIE, JILL BRALEY

Published and printed in British Columbia, Canada

The Valley Voice is distributed throughout the Slocan and Arrow Lake Valleys from South Slocan/Playmor Junction to Edgewood and Kaslo on Kootenay Lake.Circulation is 7,200 papers, providing the most complete news and advertising coverage of any single newspaper serving this area.

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Chrysler pullsout of Canada

Chrysler pulls out of Canada.11,000 jobs lost .If our government wasanything other than IMF apologist/eunuchs, here’s what would happen :

1) We would slap a 400% tarriff ontheir Sino-spewmobiles (that’s what theChinese do to us)

2) We could revoke their CEO’scitizenship.

What are the chances? What kindof noise does a sheep make? Why is itthat business tells government how tooperate on our own turf? Shouldn’t itbe the other way around?

Humbug!g. turner

Edgewood

Public safetycampaign?

After reading the RCMP reportabout the traffic enforcement campaigntargeting Nakusp and area, I waspuzzled why there was no mention ofthe Integtrated Road Safety unitstargeting highway plow trucks, villagesnow removal equipment, or any othervehicle removing snow on the days ofJanuary 22 and 23, which where theheaviest snowfall days of the year.

These invasive tactics, a form ofentrapment, target mostly honestworking people and owners of vehicles,resulting in tickets and excessive fines.Supposedly dedicated to public safetyon our highways, West KootenayTraffic Services need to review theirpolicies and techniques and change theirpriorities to educate the public on roadsafety, relating to a more friendly, cost-effective informative public relationscampaign.

So I say to the public, beware ofwho you believe is keeping ourroadways safe, becuase you may verywell become a victim of the next ‘publicsafety campaign’ along our highways.

Mike SimpsonNew Denver

Hydro shouldpay taxes, notgive grants

It’s a bit humorous to see the newRDCK board lining up at the BC Hydrogrant-in-lieu-of-taxes trough.

Just for the record, the Socreds,NDP, and the Liberal governments allpromised to change the system and taxBC Hydro facilities like other industries.The proper method of taxation wouldsee the money go to the areas impactedby the storage dams and generationplants.

The present grants-in-lieu are littlemore than a slush fund for the localpoliticians to fight over. As usual, thelarger population centres have the skilland strength to garner the majority ofthe money at the expense of theimpacted areas.

In reality, if BC Hydro paid fairtaxation, Howser and Meadow Creek

at Duncan Dam would be one of therichest rural municipalities in theprovince. We could afford a firedepartment, ice rink, swimming pool,etc.

I do not blame the directors fortrying to justify getting all they can forthe areas they represent. After all, thisis what is expected from the people thatvote for them. It would be nice to hear athank-you to the impacted areassupplying the funds, or better still, letthem rightfully be returned to us.

Larry GreenlawMeadow Creek

Forming asupport group

This letter is an open invitation toany folks who would be interested inmeeting informally to talk aboutexperiences of living well withchallenges both inside and outside thecurrent mental health system. My nameis Bryhre Cormack, and I’ve lived herefor three years.

I’m a small town girl from the otherend of Highway 6 (Lumby) who hasspent time living on the coast and amreally happy to be back on a dirt roadwith a garden to dig in. I’m lookingforward to meeting folks who live well,or want to live well, and would come toa meeting to toss around ideas abouthow a support network might work inthe valley. My initial thoughts are of aloose network that meets once or twicea month to share experiences,challenges, and ways of building a goodlife in community, as well as just to hangout, drink tea or coffee, and have a biteto eat.

WE Graham school has kindlyoffered a space for us to meet at WEGraham Community Services in SlocanCity. I hope that as many people as wantto can come, since it makes sense to setup two, and possibly more, meetingson different days. I’m setting those daysup for Monday, March 5 from 10 am to1 pm, and Tuesday, March 13 from 6:30pm to 8 pm. Come by for a coffee orcup of tea and let us know what livingwell means to you! Anyone who wouldlike to come but cannot get there isinvited to call 355-2484 and leave amessage with your name and number.Maybe we can help with car-pooling.

Bryhre CormackWinlaw

Mountain CaribouRecovery Planinadequate

BC government’s recovery planfrom fall 2006 is not focused primarilyon habitat protection but recommendskilling of predators like wolves, cougarsand bears as well as their prey themoose, elk and deer population in favorof the mountain caribou.

Kill off one endangered species (thegrizzly in this case) in an attempt topreserve another? Is this for real? Wepoint fingers at third world countries forallowing the slaughter of their forests

with the resulting loss of endemicspecies. Are we willing to give ourgovernment the permission to do justthe same in our backyard?

Only habitat protection fromhuman impact – here mainly loggingand backcountry activities – leads to anaturally balanced food chain withhealthy populations of predator and preyspecies and is the only chance for theendangered mountain caribou torecover. BC’s government plan will losehabitat, predators and mountain caribou.

Kids for Caribou, a local initiativeto help protect the Inland TemperateRainforest and its unique eco system,has launched the Adopt a Tree –Campaign. By becoming an adopter-it’s a symbolic act at no cost – you showthat you want to preserve BC’s inlandold-growth forests from being logged.So far, we have 141 adopters from afew months of age to people in theireighties in Canada and Europe. Tobecome an adopter visitwww.kidsforcaribou.org.

Elisabeth von AhSlocan

Conservative green- like a US dollar

Conservative nominationcontestant Rob Zandee’s letter slams theLiberal party, apparently forgetting, asBritish politician George Gallowayrecently pointed out, that theConservative and Liberal parties inCanada are like two cheeks of the samebackside.

The US is currently showing usexactly what is so very wrong withdeveloping military might and abusingit to bully the world, so no thanks arerequired to our Conservativegovernment for emulating the Bushregime’s conscience-freepsychopathology.

All the facts and figures quoted byMr. Zandee concerning Conservativeenvironmental action are as yet only inkon paper. As David Suzuki remarked,the devil is in the details. Will the plansactually be financed and enforced,without evasions, extensions andexceptions? Will they come close tomeeting the challenge of climatechange? I don’t think so - becauseleopards really don’t change their spots.Political leopards pretend to, they wouldeven have us believe that they haveturned green, but pretence is all it is.

No, Mr. Zandee, I don’t want amajority Conservative governmentintent on merging us with a US that iscloser to fascism than democracy thesedays. I don’t want billions spent on abig army to kill for oil and Bush in theMiddle East while social programs areslashed in Canada. I don’t want agovernment of the poor by the rich forthe rich. The sooner Canada’s “newgovernment” (all its followers havebeen ordered to call it that) is Canada’sprevious government, the happier I’llbe.

Keith NewberrySlocan

MountainCaribou, to beor not?

British Columbians have for themost part ignored the realities ofextincting Mtn. Caribou.

No municipal government ofsouth central BC has mademeaningful attempt to oppose orcontradict the provincial/federalgovernment concerted effort todisappear this animal.

The recently released provincialrecovery plan is immoral. This planamounts to bounty hunting ofendangered predator species, such asGrizzly and Wolverines. Thereappears to be no depth of quasi-science, that money can buy. Noelected actor challenges a recoveryplan that is obviously calculated todestory this beast.

The recovery plan will notmitigate any industrial clear-cutlogging or industrial heli-skiing in thehealthy ancient inland rainforests,such as the Westfall River, north ofKaslo in the West Kootenay: key

Mtn. Caribou recovery habitat, veryimportant Grizzly denning andessential east/west corridor for allwide ranging species south of thetrans-canada highway.

This remote, mostly intacthealthy eco-system is a small butimportant part of the 15 millionhecters of inland rainforest. Only 8%remains,unmolested.

Recent studies from similartemperate forest in South Chinasuggest that BC inland forests andsoils could be sequestering 10% ofthe planets carbon dioxide. (ScienceMagazine Dec. 2006).

Compensating loggingcompanies,contractors and industrialski operators is a small price to payfor eco-systems that may slow downour climate crisis.

This summer concerned citizenswill hold research workshops in theWestfall River in hopes of convincingthe BC government to defer slatedlogging plans. To liquidate this andother similar eco-systems is a crimeagainst humanity.

Tom Prior,Nelson

I think that its great that the RDCK is getting involved in creating a regionalpark in Sandon. The district went through a lengthy planning process in the early1990s, which came up with a draft OCP that never received third reading. Therewere many problems with that draft OCP. In many ways it restricted developmentunnecessarily. In other areas it was totally silent. It was a thick and weighty document,and represented a lot of work by a large number of earnest people. It was a boldvision that sees recreating the old townsite as a working heritage village, withreplica buildings housing a diversified range of businesses. At one point in mytenure on the board of the Sandon Historical Society I had the opportunity to serveon a committee to examine the draft OCP and make recommendations for changes.Mostly, we agreed with the vision part. The devil, as always, was in the details. Webickered back and forth over whether some development clauses were too restrictiveand recommended quite a few changes, including getting rid of the undergroundparking lots and leaving the creek where it is.

Development in Sandon is a sensitive topic, but I think that all the stakeholderswould agree that more interpretation in the form of signage on the site itself wouldencourage visitors to spend more time there.

I would love to see a walking trail that takes the visitor around to the sites of avariety of famous Sandon photographs. The visitor could stand where thephotographer stood 100 years before. There would be a lovely reproduction of aTrueman shot of Rec Avenue in its heyday and several paragraphs describing thepeople and the buildings in the photograph. Maybe a line or two about thephotographer as well. Ideally you could walk to all the locations over the course ofan afternoon.

It’s not my idea. I got it from Ken Butler, and he says that he got it from SteveKlapecki. Whoever came up with it, it’s a cool idea and someone should make ithappen. It would be nice to see the replica Burns Building and Atherton Blockfinished, as well. I’d like to see the buses moved to a more appropriate location. I’dlove to have the Tin Cup Cafe open for pie and coffee. I hope that the regionaldistrict can make all of this come to pass. That would be enough.

Dan Nicholson, publisher

In support of a regional park in Sandon

February 28, 2007 The Valley Voice 5LETTERS

Mayor doesn’tsupport skatepark

His worship, our mayor JimHolland, is once again undermining theskateboard park in his latest suggestionof where the Kaslo trail should be re-routed so it does not go around the skatepark on the lakeside, but to connect withthe Vimy Park road in front of the park.He suggests that it would save moneyby short-cutting the path to the street. Ifthat is the rationale we should eliminatethe whole trail idea and save all themoney. People can simply walk thestreets!

This trail would allow many peopleand tourists to travel along the beachon a firm, wide, wheelchair access pathto view the splendor of the mountainsand lake.

This original proposed trail wouldhave also acted as berm/rip-rap toprotect the skate park against waveaction if we were to have another floodyear even worse than last summer. DoesJim Holland’s active oppsition to thepark have anything to do with his urgingto council to re-route the path to excludethe park? Maybe nature would take theskate park away for him?!

The KDCFS board awarded$10,000 to Village for this project a yearand a half ago to promote the big looptrail concept that incorparatesTrailBlazer’s Kaslo River trail andsuspension bridge project so the wholecommunity and its visitors would havea enjoyable pathway with minimaltraffic exposure.

Is the only vision for Kaslo held bythe Mayor? I have heard himmisrepresent the facts and makeerroneous statements in regards to theskate park plans before and duringconstruction. Then when there was aphoto-op with Corky Evans, AndyShadrack and Alex Atamenenkostanding on the skate park grounds,guess who had to have his mug in thepicture as if he had anything at all to dowith supporting this facility for kids!YEP!! You guessed it.

Randy SimpsonKaslo

Privacy concernsfor gun owners

The Ottawa Citizen has used twofederal laws – the Access toInformation Act and the Firearms Act– to target millions gun owners acrossthe country. The Citizen created anonline search engine to allow anyoneto see the records of more than sevenmillion firearms registered in Canada.The reaction, naturally, has been oneof outrage.

This is not only a clear a breachof privacy but, more importantly, itmakes gun owners appear asextremists, instead of gun criminalswho, oddly enough, don’t take thetime to register their weapons.

Though the data released doesnot include names or addresses, itdoes include the first 2 letters of thepostal code. The Ottawa Citizen, in amost irresponsible act, has justprovided a shopping list to criminals.

Robert Zandee,Conservative Nominee

Community ScamMany of us who have lived here in

the valley a long time are not pleasedwith city people moving here andbringing their city values. The reasonyou left the city was to experiencecountry values. You now want to poisonthe country with the values thatpoisoned your city.

The Slocan Valley until recentlywas an unorganized rural area and weliked it that way. Then along came theprovincial government with theRegional District system.

Here in the Slocan Valley many ofus don’t want Big Government and thequasi-democratic Regional Districts thatVictoria keeps tethered and muzzledlike a master’s baying hounds. There isno local democracy because it isgoverned by provincial politics. All thatArea H of our regional governmentgave us was a stepping stone for a blow-hard politician looking for a leg-up intoprovincial politics.

What we need here in the SlocanValley is to get a sense of our ownidentity and realize that we don’t haveto follow the prescribed formulas thatmake every community in this countrylook like every other community. Havewe no imagination? Have we nocommon sense?

We now have fire halls and firetrucks and ambulances. What good arethey? Most dwellings will burn down

before the fire truck gets there. Thiswinter on our road the fire truck wouldnot have been able to climb the hill 50%of the time because of inadequate roadmaintenance. My neighbor died of aheart attack because the ambulancedidn’t get there for over an hour. Whatgood is an ambulance service? Theseservices are not worth the taxes requiredto implement and maintain them.

We don’t need a community planand we don’t need by-laws. Garbagecollection is the only useful service thatthe Regional District provides. I invitethe newcomers to convert. Neighboursneed to learn to get along withneighbours without expensivebureaucracy administering their self-serving rules and regulations.

Ed NixonWinlaw

Reconciliationbegins at home

On February 20, I attended thespecial meeting of council in whichvarious matters were discussed. Oneitem being: CAO request for assistancein reconciliation of bank accounts,where she states, “Village staffabsolutely has no time to devote to thisproject, with keeping on top of councilmeetings with this present council.”

I see that this matter has beendiscussed before. Requests made for thecurrent statements have been made tono avail. Why haven’t these recordsbeen available? Yes, a new accountingsystem has been installed at the VillageHall. If staff does not fully understandit, how hard is it to pick up a phone andask for assistance? This responsiblitiylies with the CAO.

Now council is trying to establishthe budget for the year. How can counciltake care of that when the Villagefinancial statements have not beendone? Also stated at the February 20meeting was that council set a ceilingfigure of $2250 – approximately 30hours for Mr. AM Naqvi, the Villageaccountants office, to reconcile theVillage financial statements. When werethe last financial statements reconciled?A month ago, three months ago, or is itsix months to a year or more ago?

Here the Village taxpayers are againasked to swallow another bill becausethe Village staff can’t or refuses to dothe job. For some reason it has becomevery apparent that every year more andmore of these projects are being farmedout to other rate-charging firms toaccomplish when in all due diligencethey should be done right here in-house.

It sounds to me that there is a seriousmatter brewing within the walls of theVillage Hall that needs to be dealt with.Perhaps employee evaluations arenecessary to see who is actually capableof doing the job. In the meantime, thetaxpayers of the Village are made toswallow the increased costs.

Helen WoolgarKaslo

Still hoping fora better world

As 2006 ended I thought maybe,after our born-again Presidents Bushand Harper’s blatant lies aboutAfghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East,Kyoto, childcare, national security,torture, national healthcare ... just maybe2007 would be our Renaissance ofethical human behaviour, compassion-ate diplomacy and peace instead ofmeaningless numerical analyses, finan-cial chicanery and war without end.

Truth is difficult to come by whenlies are the order of the day. We’reoverwhelmed by unscrupulously

persuasive manipulation, publicrelations ordered by powerful uber-richmultinationals to cover their nefariousmachinations and degradation of Earthto possible extinction. What has beenset in motion may not be reversible.

Ultraconservative GeneralissimoHarper is the newest collaborator,scurrying to please his Americanpuppet-masters using a formula too oldto be new again: bait and switch. Toensure their success the bunglingneoconservatives enlist mercenaries likelittle Gordon Campbell and hisProvincial cabal of avaricious money-grubbers to do the dirty work, keepingthe masses distracted with prescriptiondrugs and Olympic circuses andpromises of better days ahead, whilethey lie about their real agenda and stealour grandchildren’s futures.

Neoconservatives only embraceprograms that enhance their power andwealth. They have no intention ofreaching their stated altruistic goals forglobal warming or improving ourfamilies’ care or ending the wars. Thestatus quo is just too profitable for them:record profits, unprecedented control ofgovernment, a complicit media andexorbitant payoffs to ham-fistedcorporate hacks who tow the line.

Don’t be fooled by these fools. Onlydrastic solutions will help us bestow aliving planet for those who are to follow;we must vote more wisely, fire theseliars, hire people who inspire, stop thewars and adapt our own lifestyles beforethe inevitable, sudden collapse ofmodern society propels generations intotrials and tribulations unprecedentedsince the fall of Rome.

Joel HarrisWinlaw

Conservativecandidate makesunjustified claim

I am writing in response to theConservative nominee’s letter to theeditor and his unjustified claim that theopposition parties are banding togetherto kill Bill C-10, the Conservative’s guncrimes Bill. This Bill is very complex,covering many statutes and if it is tohold up in court it cannot be crafted inhaste. For instance the originallyproposed 10 year mandatory minimumhad to be dropped as it would never havesurvived Charter of Human Rightschallenges. I can assure the readers thatthe opposition parties have beenworking extremely hard to ensure thelegislation is well thought out and doesnot end up causing more problems thanit solves.

The truth is that Canada is, andalways has been, far tougher on crimethan most industrialized democracies,and the rhetoric we hear today is anotherform of political grandstanding aimedat garnering votes. Instead of being‘tough on crime’ we should be getting‘smart on crime’.

Even the U.S. is recognizing thatthe ‘tough on crime’ policies theyinitiated have resulted in little more thana burgeoning prison population. Manystates are now placing an emphasis onrehabilitation and reintegration throughinitiatives such as the Second ChanceAct. Yet here in Canada we see theConservatives moving us towardsmaking the same policy mistakes theU.S. has already made and are nowattempting to correct.

When we talk about punishmentour motivation must be to remove thesethreats from our community and not justcreate a forum for vengeance. As asociety we must ask ourselves, do wewant fewer police on the street, more

victims and more people in jail or morepolice patrolling our neighborhoodswith fewer victims and fewer people injail. Let’s not forget that it costs $82,000per year just to incarcerate one person.

The NDP will continue to advocatefor the three pillar (3 - P’s) approach tocrime; Prevention, Policing andPunishment. We must strive for successin all three of these areas, and take tothe national stage those ideas andprograms that work at the local level toreduce crime and help victims. Thesocial and economic fabric of oursociety is interconnected with crime andjustice issues and an oversimplified,one-dimensional and punitive approachhas never worked in the past, nor will itever work in the future.

Alex Atamanenko, MPBC Southern Interior

Another JumboMistake

Jumbo Glacier Resort is far from adead issue as the proponents push forrezoning in the East Kootenays. Duringits environmental review all partiesacknowledged the substantial impactthe resort would have on the Grizzlybears of the Purcells. What appeared tobe the most biologically effectivemethod, however politically odious,was the lock out of the public – hikers,hunters, rock hounds, skiers, everyone– from nearby drainages such as GlacierCreek, Howser Creek and HorsethiefCreek. This could still happen,especially with the latest industrialscheme in these very drainages up forreview.

The Glacier/Howser hydroelectricproject description was submitted to theEnvironmental Assessment Office(EAO) in mid-January. In addition toheavily impacting the MacBeth IcefieldTrail, they also plan to build a trans-mission line across the Purcell Moun-tains to Invermere via Edouard Pass.

The transmission line punches aright of way through 23 kilometres ofpresently unroaded pristine habitat inupper Howser and Stockdale andEdouard Creeks. The entire upperHowser is designated by MOE andMOF as an old growth area and is offlimits to logging. The importance ofStockdale and Edouard Creeks ishighlighted by the fact that Canfor hasvery recently decided to set this entirearea aside as a reserve in their loggingplans. But the proponent here is not alogging company; they are a ‘green’energy company that plans to make a25-30+ metre right of way destroyingthousands of old growth trees as a result.

Worse, this is the first industrialcrossing of the Purcell Mountains northof the Gray Creek Road. Presently, it ispossible for large mammals to travelfrom the far south end of the PurcellWilderness Conservancy hundreds ofkilometers north to the trans-Canadahighway without setting paw on roador development of any kind. Thistransmission line with its attendant roadswould bisect this wild mountain rangefor the first time.

The EAO is required to assess thecumulative impacts of projects in anarea. So it looks to me like we needserious mitigation measures more thanever, unless we insist that no more ofthis destructive industrial developmentoccurs. We can go a long way withstronger conservation measures beforewe need to pay high prices for electricityfrom private projects that degrade ourwilderness. Let’s not let the governmentmake yet another Jumbo mistake.

Gary Diers,Argenta

Wants politicalposturing offthe letters page

I would like to take issue with therecent ‘letter to the editor’ by localfederal Conservative Party hopeful RobZandee. My first problem with this letteris that it is an advertisement for theConservative Party of Canada, and nota genuine letter to the editor! It shouldhave been treated as an ad, and notpublished in the letters column.Secondly, I have some issues with thecontent of the so-called letter. First ofall, Zandee says the mainstream mediacalling Stephane Dion an outstandingleader is “laughable.” I would suggestthat many agree that calling StevenHarper a good leader is equallylaughable!

Zandee begins his comments witha diatribe against the formergovernment. Nothing new here, almostevery Conservative comment beginswith a lengthy rail against the formergovernment.

Then Zandee goes off at lengthabout the environment. This from amember of a party that initiallyintroduced a Clean Air Act that didnothing to address environmentalconcerns for 50 years! It wasn’t untilthe polls showed the Conservatives theywere in the dunk tank on the issue, thatthey actually started producing somelegislation that had immediate impact.And where did they find this legislation?They found it in the tons of legislationproduced by the former government. Infact, they basically lifted it word forword. I have to wonder if the policiesof the former government, and theirNDP helpers, was so bad, then whyhave the Conservatives resurrected it,albeit under new names?

Finally, Canadians are righfully sickof the way their government does busi-ness and with partisan party politics. Formany of us, all the parties are equallyguilty of being more concerned withtheir own fortunes than the well beingof everyday Canadians. We are lookingfor representation that we can trust,people who will serve the entire country.

We want people who are of goodcharacter. That said, many of usremember, from the candidate the localconservatives provided us with in thelast federal election, what good charac-ter judgement the local ConservativeParty riding association possesses.

Will WebsterKaslo

The Valley Voice February 28, 20076 COMMUNITY

Please come to the

SLOCAN VALLEYCOOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION

49th Annual General MeetingPassmore Hall

Sunday, March 11, 2007Celebrating our fiftieth year of community ownership

Registration: 12:30

Meeting: 1pmReports

Election ofDirectors

New Business

WHAT IS DIABETES?THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2007 10 AM TO 2:30 PM

SLOCAN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE, EDUCATION

DIABETES AND NUTRITION

WHAT’S THE CONNECTION?

MANAGING YOUR DIABETES

TAKING GOOD CARE OF YOURSELF

DIET AND NUTRITION:

MARLENE CHERNENKOFF, REG’D DIETICIAN

DIABETES:

PATRICE RYAN-DORN, PHC NURSE

*LIGHT LUNCH INCLUDED

Call to register: (250) 358-7911

Seniors, LowIncome Individuals

& FamiliesAre invited to the WE Graham

Community Service SocietyComputer Lab

Monday March 5th9:00 am to 12:00 pm

To learn how to file your taxes atUfile.ca with Ruth Peirson of

Rudy’s Accounting

THANK YOU DICK ANDBARB AND Dr. FUN!

The preschool wants to say thanks! The Dr. Fun Dance wasexcellent! We want to extend our sincere appreciation to

everyone. Dick and Barb for bringing Dr. Fun to ourcommunity, all the community volunteers, Village of

Silverton, the places where tickets are sold, and all thepeople who supported the evening by coming to the danceand purchasing tickets. The preschool relies on community

donations and this fund raiser is very helpful in allowing us tomeet the cost involved in running a preschool program.

submittedMany of us will go to any length

to avoid meeting a snake or lizard.Then there’s Jakob Dulisse,photographer and wildlife biologist,who spends endless hours seekingthem out. Dulisse is presentingReptiles of the Southern Interior onMonday, March 5 at Brent KennedyElementary School; and Tuesday,March 6 in Kaslo at the United

Church Hall. Both sessions start at 7pm.

Dulisse has studied numerousspecies throughout the southerninterior and his research has led toimportant findings on western skinks,western yellow-bellied racers, rubberboas and northern alligator lizards,to name a few.

“Reptiles are amazing creatures.There are several at-risk reptiles righton our doorstep, but they are oftenoverlooked,” says Dulisse.

The presentations are hosted bythe Fish & Wildlife CompensationProgram (FWCP) in association withthe Slocan Valley RecreationCommission and Pennywise.Although the sessions are free, pleaselet the FWCP know if you plan toattend by calling (250) 352-6874 or226-0008. For a sneak preview ofsome of the photos to be shown, visitwww.fwcp.ca.

Reptile biologist to make presentationin Kaslo and Slocan Valley

submittedMany people in the Slocan Valley

have never had the chance topersonally experience the beauty ofFrench Canadian culture. This year30 students in grades 10,11, and 12from Mount Sentinel SecondarySchool will get their chance to do justthat. They will travel to Coaticook,Quebec during the week of March17-24 on a visit sponsored by theSociety for Educational Visits andExchanges in Canada (SEVEC).

SEVEC Youth Exchanges ofCanada has been offering educationalexchanges for 70 years. They makesure each student is paired with a‘twin’ that matches their specifica-tions. Prices for participation are veryreasonable because the travel costsfor the two groups is covered by theGovernment of Canada throughSEVEC.

The ‘twins’ Mount Sentinel willbe receiving will also get toexperience a different culture – thediverse culture of the Kootenays.They will soak in AinsworthHotsprings, race down Whitewater,tour Celgar and spend time learningin Mount Sentinel. They will arrive

Quebec culture comes to the Kootenayson February 24 and return home onMarch 2.

For further information contactMelissa Halliday at 1-250-359-7005,Mt. Sentinel student communicationscommittee member, or HeatherRobertson, Mt. Sentinel teacher co-ordinator, 1-250-359-5960.

submittedMembers of the Slocan Valley

Threads Guild recently created awork of art that has disproved the oldadage, “You can’t make a silk pursefrom a sow’s ear.” The handmadequilt Flowing Threads, developedfrom a traditional pinwheel design,is the stunning result.

Joanna Boer, the mother of aguild member visiting fromCalifornia, was the lucky winnerwhen the quilt was raffled in October,2006. Monies raised by the raffle willgo toward insurance, hydro andgeneral maintenance of the Guild’shome, a one-room school at PerrySiding built in the mid-1940s. Sinceits incorporation in 1981, the Guildhas maintained this heritage building.Members meet informally to sharenew skills, work on projects, orperuse the Guild’s impressive library.

Using largely donated materials,hundreds of hours of volunteer labourwere needed to prepare the cloth, cutand sew the blocks, then hand-stitchthe quilt. Nearly a year elapsed from

concept to completion. The finishedproduct debuted at a Threads Guildshow in the Silverton Gallery,followed by exhibits at Four SeasonsFall Fair and Art-in-the-Park, bothWinlaw events.

The Guild’s next fundraiser willbe their annual Yard and Yardage Saleon April 22, 2007, from 10 am–2 pm.Everyone is invited to check out the

Flowing Threads quilt raffled by Slocan Valley Threads Guildbargains and goodies in the tea room.Donations are welcome. For moreinformation, or donations you’d likepicked up, please call Sharon at 226-7703, Lynnda at 352-1987, or Brendaat 355-2459.

New members are alwayswelcome. Meetings are the secondWednesday of each month (in Marchit’s the 14th) at 7:00 pm.

submittedThe Hidden Garden Gallery

presents touring Alberta singer/songwriters, Lara Yule Singh and AlexiaMelnychuk on Thursday, March 1,7:30-9:30 pm. Taking turns on the stagewith an assortment of instruments,guitars, banjo, shakers, melodica, andxylophone, these songbirds will delightyou with their fresh folk-pop, folk-country sounds, beautiful voices, andentertaining banter.

Lara, a Grant MacEwan graduateand vocalist with composition andrecording diplomas, released her debutCD Something In the Still in May 2006.

It spent ten weeks in the top 30 onEdmonton’s CKUA Radio charts,peaking at #3, just under Paul Simonand T-Bone Burnett. Her meaningfullyrics and quirky style are a delicate andrefreshing avante-folk poetry.

Alexia released her debutrecording, Flying Machine, inNovember 2005. Her collection ofsongs melds folk and country soundswith inspired harmonies, fiddle andmandolin. Since its release, she hasearned Honourable Mentions for hersongwriting from the Calgary FolkMusic Festival and The West CoastSongwriters Association.

Alberta songwriters perform at Hidden Garden

by Art JoyceThe Columbia Basin Trust has

approved $10,000 in funding forEmergency Medical Responder (EMR)training in the region, to complementthe $5000 put up by the Arrow LakesHospital Foundation. The funding willcover training expenses for EMRapplicants from Edgewood, Nakusp,New Denver, Kaslo, and Winlaw. Thisrepresents a substantial benefit to thoseapplying for EMR positions, as coursecosts total $1356 per person.

“One of the barriers to people has

been the cost of training, so we’rehoping this will stimulate interest,” saysBC Ambulance Area SuperintendentChris Mason.

According to the Justice Institute ofBC’s Paramedic Academy, “the EMRcertification course is designed toprovide participants with the basicknowledge and skills to be able tomanage any medical and trauma relatedemergency.”

EMRs are paid a nominal sum towear a pager, but receive full pay basedon the union’s collective agreement

when they attend a scene. Working asan EMR can be a stepping stone to acareer in ambulance services as aPrimary Care Paramedic or AdvancedCare Paramedic. However, many whowish to stay in their area are content towork part-time as EMRs. Applicantsmust be 16 years of age , pass a physical,and have completed grade 10.

New Denver is in especially dire

straits, says Mason, with only twocurrently on staff. Although course plansand dates are still being decided, Masonsays interested applicants can begincontacting unit chiefs now.

“This is a wonderful outcome fromthe stakeholder’s meeting that was heldin the fall,” says Mayor Karen Hamling.“Many people have been working hardto make this happen and it shows what

can be done when we put our energiestogether.”

If you are interested in serving as aparamedic contact your local UnitChief: Edgewood, Donna Murray, 250-269-7323; Nakusp, Barb Miller, 250-265-3721; Kaslo, Larry Badry, 250-353-7373; New Denver, Karen Forsyth,250-358-7777; Winlaw, CathyPoznikoff, 250-226-7557.

Ambulance training for part-timers gets a boost from Columbia Basin Trust funding

February 28, 2007 The Valley Voice 7SLOCAN VALLEY

PO Box 48, Winlaw, B.C.

Discover the fastest growing construction

technology in North America

Global Forming – Reduce energy use

See LOGIX at the Castlegar Home Show

March 2, 3, 4

Installer TrainingNelson - Selkirk College- Silver King Campus - March 10

Register Now!Call 1-888-289-4731 or email: briano@netidea.com

Take the TRASHART Challenge!

Create a work of art usingRECYCLED MATERIALS.

Entry deadline: Apr. 18$550 in cash prizes

Get entry form atslocanvalley.com/events.php,

at local Valley businesses,or call 226-7479

A Slocan Valley Arts Councilevent, thanks to

BC Arts Council andthe RDCK.

New Denver council, February 13: Petition shows support for goats inside Villageby Michael Dorsey

•A delegation of local residentsincluding Julia Greenlaw, NorbertDuerichen, Charlene Alexander, Kevinand Jane Murphy and a small group ofassociated children attended to speak tothe Village policy concerning goatsinside the Village boundaries. A petitionin favour of keeping goats inside theVillage, signed by 74 citizens, waspresented. Of the 74, 19 are non-residents of the Village, 55 live in town,and Kevin Murphy signed twice,indicating his strong stand on the issue.The group was informed, after livelydiscussion, that council would addressthis during the Official Community Planreview process, when changes in theAnimal Control Bylaw would beconsidered.

•During Mayor Wright’s RDCKreport, he mentioned that he, as RDCKChair, and Area H Director Don Munrohad attended a meeting of the RoseberyParklands Development Society onFebruary 12 to discuss the possibletransfer of the 7.5-acre parklands to anagency such as RDCK, which couldmanage the area as a Regional Park.Wright commented that he and DirectorMunro thought it was a “good meeting.”

Wright also spoke of the RDCKbudget process for 2007, stating thatDistrict is attempting to lower GeneralAdministration costs; user groups willsee a rise in their share of these costs.The West Waste Management budget

shows a decrease in taxation, attributedto “good management.” On a more localnote, Wright reported that the NewDenver Reading Centre has the secondhighest circulation of reading centres inBritish Columbia, topped only byRobert’s Creek, and it was moved bycouncil to congratulate the hard-working centre volunteers, and thepublic for reading.

•Public Works reported thatsidewalk repairs are a priority for the2007 budget. Staff will be applying fora grant under the provincial Towns forTomorrow program for the stormwaterdrainage project. The cost of the projectis $184,000, and the Village will pay20% of it.

Council, in responding to aresident’s letter, complimented PublicWorks staff on their fine snow removalduring the severe weather of late.

It was moved that staff research andapply for 2007 Local GovernmentInfrastructure Planning Grant programfunds to assist with engineering costsrelated to the new water reservoirproposal.

•Concerning the Centennial Parkgazebo project, Administrator Gordonreported on progress to date and council

moved to have Gordon apply for Phase1 (planning) of the Spirit Squarefunding program, and advance to applyfor Phase 2 (construction) as soon aspossible. This project involves a costnear $70,000. The grant should cover50% of the cost, the May Days commit-tee has contributed $5,000, and the Vill-age will pick up the remaining $30,000.

•The May Days committeerequested financial support from theVillage for the centennial celebrationthis year. Council committed to co-sponsoring the Citizen of the Yearaward again, and Councillor Bunka andMayor Wright will arrange a meetingwith the committee and report back.

•Council received a letter andinformation regarding the recent cutsto BC childcare programs fromCharlene Alexander of the New DenverNursery School, as well as from the Cityof Trail. Council passed a motion towrite a letter asking for the restorationof the funding and programs, to be sentto Premier Gordon Campbell, Ministerof State for Childcare Linda Reid, theCity of Trail, the MLA, and UBCM.

•The Healthy Housing Societysurvey results were discussed, andreferred to the OCP process.

South ValleyOCP updatesubmitted

The Advisory Planning Commis-sion for the southern Slocan Valley nowhas a set of guiding principles that willgovern the planning process andsubsequent preparation of a draftOfficial Community Plan. Theseguiding principles were prepared afterthree meetings of the Advisory PlanningCommission (APC) in the southernSlocan Valley. The APC consists ofGreg Bachelder (chair), April Anderson,Bonnie Baker, Derek Murphy, FrankNixon, Gerry Shaw, and WalterSwetlishoff.

Area H Director Don Munro statedthat the APC members workedincredibly hard to prepare the principles.“The APC feels that the guidingprinciples are a critical first step to letthe public know how the OCP processwill be developed,” Munro stated.

The Regional District of CentralKootenay has created a website for theOfficial Community Plan project so thatresidents and property owners can keepthemselves informed. The guidingprinciples can be found on the website:http://rdck.bc.ca/development/planning/about.html or can be pickedup at various businesses in the SlocanValley.

The Valley Voice February 28, 20078 COMMUNITY

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318 Broadway St. Nakusp, BC 265-3288

Request for ProposalsThe Nakusp Roots Music Society is requestingproposals from people/organizations interested inproviding the ‘Green Team’ service for theupcoming 2007 Nakusp Music Festival. Pleasesubmit your proposal to: Nadine Guthrie, Box559, Nakusp, BC V0G 1R0. Proposals mustinclude the number of people provided per shiftand the contract price for four days of Green Teamservice. For more information and a complete jobdescription, please contact Nadine at 265-2141.

by Art JoyceIf what you’re doing isn’t

sustainable to the seventh generation,then it shouldn’t be done. That’s the

natural ‘law of the land,’ according toSinixt spokesperson Marilyn James,that protects the land, air and water(LAW). James spoke at Lucerne school

Thursday, February 22 to a small butattentive group, bringing them up to dateon her nation’s progress.

The Sinixt were invited to sit on aroundtable discussion hosted bySARCO (Species at Risk CoordinationOffice) regarding the endangeredmountain caribou. James said SARCOis “managing for extinction,” and isprepared to sacrifice some of the caribouherds. The Sinixt are therefore seekinglegal counsel for a blanket injunctionover the entire mountain caribou habitatarea, by asserting aboriginal rights. Theproblem with this solution is that theSinixt’s ‘extinct’ status has yet to belegally revoked. Such an injunctionwould also bring serious liability issueswith it.

The Sinixt have formed a societyso that they may apply for funding topursue their various projects and coverlegal costs. Only Sinixt may holdpositions on the society board but allare welcome to become associatemembers at no cost, as an expressionof support for their goals. This strategyaddresses the issue put to them by onejudge who told them that until they arerecognized by their community, theycannot exert aboriginal rights. However,recent material unearthed from theWashington State University archivesshows Sinixt geneaology in US censusrecords.

James said the current treatynegotiations are being used by thefederal government to pit First Nationsagainst one another. The Ktunaxa,Shuswap and Okanagan (Westbank)First Nations are all contending thattraditional Sinixt territory belongs tothem. This is in part a competition forfinancial compensation from thegovernment, to which the Sinixt have

no access as long as they remain in‘extinct’ status. James was encouragedby the rebuttal of the Westbank Nation’sclaim to Sinixt territory by members ofthe community last year.

The Sinixt have plans for a numberof biological and environmental studies:terrain, hydrology, fisheries, lichens,wildlife mapping, and more. And theycontinue to work with watershedcitizens’ groups such as the Perry RidgeWater Users Association. James saidthey have named four ‘keystone’ speciescritical to the local ecosystem: grizzly,wolverine, caribou, and fisheries. Shesaid industries and tourism must beevaluated in the context of the seventhgeneration law. By this criteria, activitiessuch as the molybdenum mine at TroutLake, heli-skiing, and the proposedJumbo resort are unsustainable.Mountain goats fleeing helicopters burnup much-needed body fat for the winterand some have died as a result.

Billie Jo Bray, a Sanpol indian ofSinixt descent living in the ColvilleNation territory in Washington, spokepassionately about her resistance tomining. Bray explained how exposingminerals to air can create acid drainagethat seeps into groundwater, rivers andlakes, killing fish and microbial life. Shehelped rally a vote by members of theColville Nation to defeat a molybdenum

Sinixt Nation holds public information meeting in New Denvermine that would have exposedradioactive uranium. Bray said minessuch as the one being developed at TroutLake cannot be done safely orsustainably given current miningpractices such as earth berms. The Sinixtare planning a prayer ceremony on theLardeau River for the Gerrard rainbowtrout this spring. They are concerned thatthe new mine will create runoff that willpoison spawning grounds.

Among the plans for the Sinixt area publicly accessible archive, aninterpretive centre, a Sinixt languageprogram, and a tribal centre. There areplans to build a winter dance house byinviting volunteer labour from thecommunity. Last year’s Froggy Festwill be held again this year, but the barterfaire will be held separately from theThanksgiving Day dinner. James willbe working with Barbara Wilson tocontinue with the artist calendar, whichwill feature a different tribal legendconnected to the local landscape eachyear. The Sinixt are cooperating withthe Mir Centre for Peace in Castlegartoward reconciliation for the AlexChristian family, who were driven offtraditional lands at Brilliant.Repatriation and reburial of ancestralremains continues, with the 60th and61st ancestors re-interred at Vallican lastyear.

Armed with costumes, charts andcalculators, the Sierra Club of BC willbe touring Slocan Valley schools withits Climate Change Education Program.The program’s goal is to reduce BCgreenhouse gas emissions with helpfrom students across the province.Participating schools locally willinclude WE Graham, Brent Kennedy,and Vallican Whole.

Program instructors bring withthem a wealth of knowledge on thewonders of BC’s different ecosystems.Students will be encouraged to takeaction on environmental challenges,such as helping endangered species andclimate change. Kids will be shown howto calculate their reduction ingreenhouse gas emissions. Acombination of interactive games andtheatrical skits make learning fun andyouth-friendly. Programs focus ontangible, real-life situations andsolutions that inspire youth.

“When students see the tangibleresults of their efforts, such as areduction in greenhouse gas emissions,”says Education Program Director JennHoffman, “they experience feelings ofaccomplishment and empowerment.”

Instructors spend the day visiting2-3 classes, and return within two weeksto monitor and support students on theiraction challenges.

Nearly half of the more than 125classes that participated in the Sierra

Sierra Club environmental ed programcomes to Slocan Valley schools

Club’s school program in 2005-06decided to continue the project for theentire school year. Altogether theseclasses slashed their greenhouse gasemissions by four tonnes (and stillcounting)! One hundred percent of the400 classes participating in otherprograms requested the Club’s returnthis year.

Five different school programs areavailable for kindergarten to Grade 12classrooms. Since inception, over45,000 BC students have participated.For more information, visitwww.sierraclub.ca, BC programs, orcontact Kerri Lanaway, SchoolProgram Coordinator at 250-386-5255ext 252,schoolprograms@sierraclub.bc.ca.

Crystal the Explorer and Rocky theRockfish from the Sierra Club recentlyshowed up at Mrs. Lawrence’s Grade

4 class at Brent Kennedy School.

February 28, 2007 The Valley Voice 9COMMUNITY

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NOTICE OF

PUBLIC

MEETING

DATE: THURSDAY, MARCH 15

TIME: 7:00 PM

PLACE: COUNCIL CHAMBERS

AGENDA: 2007 Five Year Financial Plan

The Council of the Village of Silverton invites public

consultation in the preparation of the 2007 Five Year

Financial Plan. Council welcomes public input from residents

of the Village with regards to items of interest and concerns

they may want to see addressed in preparation of the 2007

budget.

Please submit your comments in writing to:

Mayor and Council

The Village of Silverton

PO Box 14

Silverton, BC V0G 2B0

Deadline for submission is Noon, Thursday, March 8, 2007

If you wish to make a presentation to Council at the meeting

of Council to be held on Thursday, March 15 at 7:00 pm,

please contact the Village office before Noon, Thursday,

March 8, 2007.

Ms. Junko Ida

Administrator

ComputerActing Up?

Call Ron at the Old Grey Barn250-265-2163

submittedOld photographs tend to collect dust

but in the right hands they can be

Old photos help scientists determine historical water conditionsextremely valuable. This was the casewhen members of the Arrow LakesHistorical Society (ALHS) teamed up

with a consulting firm working for theFish & Wildlife Compensation Program(FWCP).

AIM ecological consultants werehired to estimate the level of primaryproductivity in the Arrow Lakes plantfood chain before and after damconstruction. Milton Parent – one of thefounding members of the ALHS –provided more than 150 photographsof the Arrow Lakes dating back to theearly 1900s. The old photographsshowed how turbid (sediment-filled) thewaters were during the spring freshetperiod prior to dam construction. Theresearchers were then able to assess howmuch light was penetrating the waterand estimate the level of plant life

productivity.“Topographical maps and aerial

photographs played their part, but to getdetailed images of what theenvironment – and most importantly,the rivers and lakes – looked like backin the ‘50s and ‘60s was critical to theproject,” said FWCP Fisheries BiologistSteve Arndt.

The full results of the work, whichare expected this summer, will helpguide the FWCP in its future work. TheFWCP is a partnership between BCHydro, Ministry of Environment, andFisheries and Oceans Canada toconserve and enhance fish and wildlifepopulations affected by the constructionof BC Hydro dams in the Columbia

Basin.Parent expressed gratitude for the

donation that the Fish & WildlifeCompensation Program made to theSociety for using the photographs.

“The Society is very pleased to helpand it is very rewarding to know thatour archives are actually increasingtoday’s knowledge base,” said Milton.“It certainly helps bring a purpose tothe many hours of volunteer time ourmembers put in.”

To learn more, visit http://www.fwcp.ca. If you are interested inbecoming a member of the ALHS, orwant to learn more about their work,email alhs@netidea.com or call 265-0110.The SS Revelstoke on the Columbia River above Revelstoke in the early 1900s.

PH

OT

O C

RE

DIT

: ALH

S A

RC

HIV

ES

submittedSeven ski teams from Salmo,

Whitewater, Red Mountain, andSummit Lake, comprised of 86 racersaged 5 to 12, along with coaches andparents, converged at Summit LakeFebruary 10. The racers were givenNakusp Hot Springs passes as theyregistered. Coaches were impressed bythe event’s scope, which included theAlcan Nancy Greene West KootenayZone Racing League. This was the firstE1/E2 race of the season, yet there werefew DQs, which means that it was awell set-up course, thanks to Bryar, Liz,and Brenden from the NSS ski team.

Chief of Race Doug McQuair andhis starting crew Frances and Brendawere all smiles as young YashuahMartin, from the Salmo B team,snowplowed up to the starting gate andwhispered from under his helmet, “Thisis sooo much fun. I really like this race!”

The placements in E1/E2 races aredetermined by combining the top 6times on each team to come up withrankings, as these are team races.Bronze medals went to the Salmo Ateam, the Salmo B team, and the SLRB team. Silver medals went to the SLRA team and the Whitewater ‘Water’team. Gold medals were won by theWhitewater ‘White’ team and the RedMountain team.

Individual times were kept,however, and three female skiers, TaylorAichele, Katelyn Horning, and ErinMcLeod placed in the top 20. TylerHascarl went from first position afterthe first run to twelfth overall, after anamazing second run finish on a singleski, allowing Tiivo Ruutapold from theRed Mountain. team to finish first. BrierMcLean, from the SLR A team, wasthe only boarder and did a fine job inhis first E1/E2 race. Claire Jackson wasstar of the day as the fastest female and

the fourth fastest racer overall.Kids mingled after the race to play

in the snow and eat the hamburgers andhotdogs sold by Karen Likness and the22 member NSS ski and snowboardteam. These students are working toraise funds for their trip to the HighSchool Provincial Ski and SnowboardChampionships at Whistler March 7-9.They also helped with gatekeeping,setting up, and taking down the course.

Organizers are grateful to theColumbia Power Corporation forsponsorship funding, which made itpossible to purchase dog tag medals forevery racer from On-the-MarksPrinting. Red Mountain racer QuinnPozzo was overheard commenting that“the thing about Summit Lake is theyhave the coolest medals!” Thanks aswell to Susan Madden, the coaches, and

Claire Jackson was star of the dayas the fastest female and the fourth

fastest racer overall.

Summit Lake ski hill sees plenty of team spirit for races

by Art JoyceSchools are getting a failing grade

when it comes to school fees, accordingto a recent Kootenay Lake SchoolDistrict Parent Advisory Council(DPAC) survey. The survey is part of aprovince-wide initiative, with 19DPACs and over 9800 respondentsparticipating. The following is asummary of results from the 227responses with 92 written commentsreceived by parents in Kootenay LakeSchool District #8.

Not surprisingly, 99% ofrespondents said they believe thegovernment should fund core publiceducation. Fully 98% said they expectthe public education system to provideevery child with full access toopportunities for development,regardless of family income or capacity.

Again, not unexpected. But the devil isin the details, as the saying goes.

Defining ‘core public education’was a critical issue on the survey. Whenparents were asked what they thoughtshould be covered by public educationfunding, the following items scored90% or higher: fine arts (art, drama,music, etc), industrial arts (shop,mechanics, woodwork, etc),technology, physical education,textbooks, course workbooks,computers, library books, audio/visualequipment, safety items (earthquakekiosks, fire extinguishers, call-backphone lines, walkie-talkies, etc.).

Scoring 80% or higher as areas thatshould be covered by public educationfunding: home economics, playgroundequipment, drama and band equipment,small capital expenditures (curtains,

lighting, fountains, etc.)Parents overwhelmingly felt

excluded from the decision-makingprocess on school fees. District-wideconsistency on fees was seen asnecessary by 82% of respondents, andover 80% believe parents should havemore input, including setting feeamounts. Most agreed that fees shouldonly be charged to recover actual costs.However, survey results do not implyparents are any more willing to paythese fees.

Based on this input, the KootenayLake DPAC has forwarded threerecommendations to School DistrictNo. 8. The first is to strike an ad hoccommittee to clearly define what corepublic education should consist of, inconsultation with students and parents.The second is for the school district to

revise policy #205, Fees and Deposits,to reflect the recent BC Supreme Courtruling after discussions on core publiceducation have concluded. The third isfor the school district to review allindividual schools’ fees and deposits onan annual basis, and to approve these

schedules only after the PAC and/orSchool Planning Council has signed offon them.

The participating DPACs will bemaking recommendations, based onsurvey results, to the BC Confederationof PACs and the Ministry of Education..

School fees survey results released: Kootenay Lake SD #8

the parents who volunteered and madethis such a successful event.

The Valley Voice February 28, 2007

Winter Hours:Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday 11-5

Friday 11-6 • Sunday 11-4

508 Broadway • Nakusp, BC

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10 COMMUNITY

NakuspPublic Library

Expands itsHours

Now open Friday

evenings

New Open Hours

Monday 12 - 4:30 7 - 9

Wednesday 12 - 4:30, 7 -

9

Friday 12 - 4:30, 7 - 9

Saturday 12 - 4:30

nakusplibrary.bc.ca

265-3363

Emergency Social Services

Training

Setting up a Reception Centre

Saturday, March 10, 10 - 4

Knox Hall, New Denver

Documentation

Sunday, March 11, 9:30-12:30

Fire Hall, 90-5th Ave NW, Nakusp

Please register with Valerie Piercy

358-7112 • email”piewil@netidea.com

Slocan LakeBoating Association

will hold the Annual GeneralMeeting on Thursday,

March 15th at 7:00 pmat the home of

Amy and Dave Soltis in New Denver.

Info: 358-2133or 7285

by Art Joyce•Councillor Stephanie Masun

submitted her resignation February 9,as she and husband Alex havereceived a job offer in Williams Lakestarting in March. This was her finalcouncil meeting. Council expressedregret at her departure and thankedher for her service on council and onthe emergency services committee.A byelection must be held within 80days to fill the vacant seat on council.Junko Ida was appointed chiefelection officer.

•Vern Hartman has resigned fromthe fire department. Mayor Everettnoted his many years of service, andCouncillor Bell inquired about aprocess to offer formal acknow-ledgement of thanks, such as acommemorative plaque. Council willinvestigate this.

•Mayor Everett reported that inrecent conversations with the RCMPthey are supportive of cell phone servicein the valley, as their mobile computersare unable to link to the police databasewithout it.

•Councillor Laktin attended arecreation committee meeting where itwas reported that the gym at the NewDenver health centre is thriving, with17 new members signed up.

•Councillor Provan was absent butleft word that the CBT has informedthe Friends of Memorial Hall that its

grant application has been successful,provided the matching funds areobtained from an MRIF (MunicipalRural Infrastructure Fund) grant. Themechanical engineer’s inspection hasrevealed that in order for the hall to haveair conditioning installed, the electricalpanel needs to be doubled in capacityfrom 200 to 400 amps. This will createsome additional unforeseen expenses.

•CAO Junko Ida reported on ameeting of municipal administratorsheld in Castlegar, where it was decidedthat councillors should receive the fullminutes of RDCK meetings. To avoidwasting paper, councillors will bereferred to the RDCK website, whereregular minutes are posted.

•Councillor Bell reported on theregular board meeting of the RDCKheld January 27, and the RDCK budgetmeeting held in Slocan February 6. Atthe West Waste meeting held February6, the recommendation was made to theboard that mixed plastics recycling beincluded in the contract currently heldby the Waste Management company.A compactor will be installed at Slocan,and there are “ongoing plans” forinstalling phones at transfer stations, andclosing the Rosebery landfill site. At theRDCK general affairs meeting heldFebruary 8, Kaslo requested supportfrom the RDCK to be placed on the BCHydro list of communities affected bythe Columbia River dam system.

•The Valhalla Summer School ofFine Arts (VSSFA) request for 50% rentrelief for the Memorial Hall was broughtforward from the previous councilmeeting. Mayor Everett suggested thegroup may not have been aware thathall rental rates for community groupshave been reduced to $100. The policywas adopted by council to cope withthe frequent requests for grants and rentreductions. A motion was passed thatVSSFA pay the new regular rental rateand that council will grant the requestfor a $200 grant for the theatre program.

•Council voted to write a letter to

Silverton council, February 13 marks departure of Councillor MasunMinister of State for Child Care LindaReid, expressing serious concern aboutthe recent cutbacks to childcareprograms in BC.

•Council has applied for a $500,000Towns for Tomorrow grant for the watersystem. The mayor explained thatduring the last upgrade, several linesweren’t replaced due to cost. Manyvillagers are therefore still on the oldsystem. The Village will be required topay 20% of the grant amount, which itwill do with funds it has set aside fromthe federal gas tax rebate. Mayor Everettsaid it costs the Village as much to run

its water system as New Denver, with asubstantially smaller tax base.

•Letters were received from theVillages of Nakusp, Kaslo, and RDCKArea K Director Paul Petersonexpressing support for Silvertoncouncil’s petitioning of Telus for cellphone service in the Slocan Valley.

•Healthy Housing Society DirectorCatherine Allaway attended as adelegation to discuss the recentlyreleased housing survey results.

•Council agreed to sign the liabilitywaiver for the July 1st committee’sCanada Day celebrations.

by Jan McMurray•Mayor Hamling reported that the

new Halcyon assisted living facility wasset to open March 1 and that RosemaryHughes had been hired as site manager.The grand opening is being planned fortowards the end of April.

•Mayor Hamling reported that theNakusp and Area Development Board(NADB) had written a letter to theMinister of Transportation asking for alarger ferry and more sailings at Galena/Shelter Bay. The letter mentions longferry waits, the lack of food service atthe landings and the unavailability ofthe washrooms during winter months.Hamling said that the Arrow LakesTransportation InfrastructureAssociation estimates that its bridge/causeway project for this crossing willtake 5-10 years, so relief is needed inthe meantime. Council decided to senda letter in support of the NADB’srequest.

•Councillor Switzer reported thatthe Comptroller of Water Rights hadapproved the Columbia River ProjectsWater Use Plan (WUP). MayorHamling expressed disappointment thatthe Nakusp boat ramp was not includedin the plan. Councillor Switzer said thatinclusion in the WUP would probablynot make any difference to the Nakuspramp project, and would possibly evenhold the project up. He said that theComptroller had ordered BC Hydro todeal with the Nakusp ramp under clausem of BC Hydro’s water licence.

Mayor Hamling asked forconfirmation that the Province will payfor improvements ordered under theWUP, but that BC Hydro has to pay for

Nakusp council, February 13: Assisted living a realityimprovements under clause m. Switzerconfirmed this.

Switzer also spoke about the accessagreement currently being negotiatedbetween the Village and BC Hydro.Because the Village owns the boat ramp,BC Hydro wants an agreement to accessthe ramp in order to work on it. A draftagreement was being reviewed byVillage lawyers at the time of the councilmeeting. Switzer said BC Hydro wastrying to put covenants on the propertyto get unlimited access, “so we will seewhat our lawyers come back with.” Hesaid the two parties seemed to be indisagreement about emergency repairsvs. a long-term solution for the ramp.

•Mayor Hamling reported on anupdate Beth McLeod gave at a recentNakusp and Area Development Boardmeeting. McLeod has websites up andrunning for the NADB, community

forest and community foundation. Shewill be applying for funding for eventssignage from Columbia PowerCorporation and NADB will contribute$500 towards signage.

•Council granted a 50% rentreduction of the arena auditorium to theCelebration of Wellness Festival,scheduled for May 12 and 13.

•A church group was scheduled toattend as a delegation to speak againstthe proposed mixed martial arts event,but did not show. A group of four peopleon the organizing team for the eventattended in anticipation of thedelegation. It was agreed that sincecouncil has already given approval forthe event, the Village will forward anyconcerns coming from the public to theorganizing team.

•Accounts payable of$224,1623.30 were approved.

Arrow Lakes Arts Councilpresents Hungry Hillsubmitted

The Arrow Lakes Arts Council ispresenting bluegrass performersHungry Hill for the final concert of theseries at the Bonnington Arts Centre onFriday, March 2 at 8 pm. Doors open at7:30.

Based in northwestern Canada andthe US, Hungry Hill playscontemporary bluegrass, with a focuson original material. Jenny Lester onvocals, fiddle and guitar, Bob Hamiltonon vocals and mandolin, MarkThibeault on resophonic guitar andvocals, Ross Nickerson on banjo, andNadine Landry on bass create a freshsound while staying true to the roots ofbluegrass. Lush vocal harmoniesresonate from three singers around onemicrophone in the traditional acousticsetting of old time music.

The band came together in 2003 atthe Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festivalin the Yukon mountains. Summer 2005saw the release of their self-titled debutalbum.

Tickets are available at theBroadway Deli or at the door. TheArrow Lakes Arts Council would liketo thank The Old Grey Barn for hostingthis concert.

submittedThe Nakusp Public Library is

responding to requests to be open Fridayevenings, and beginning in March willbe open Fridays from 7 - 9. Theatmosphere will be relaxed, and coffeeand tea will be served.

“The library aims to please,” saysLibrarian Evelyn Goodell andwelcomes suggestions and ideas fromthe community. “Library patrons haveexcellent ideas and help make ourlibrary a lovely place to be,” Goodelladded. In response to recent patronrequests the library will increase thelarge print, classics, travel and buildingcollections, will install a water cooler,and has added new tables in thechildren’s area.

In January the Nakusp PublicLibrary Association held its annualgeneral meeting and celebrated theexpansion and remodelling of thelibrary. There is now comfortableseating, space for children to study, morecomputers for patrons, areas for localartists to display their work, more roomfor the collection, new flooring andlighting and furnishings and more.

The Nakusp library is extremelywell used. Last year 1,985 people wereregistered and borrowed 30,798 books,magazines, videos and DVDs, andaudio books. The library received 14grants which helped to cover the costof the expansion and also helped toincrease and improve the collection.

The library is at the ‘finishingtouches’ stage of the expansion andremodelling. Most of the furnishingsare made by local carpenters.

Nakusp library to open Friday evenings

Studio Connexion, across from the Kuskanax in Nakusp, is the only place westof Quebec that carries antique reproduction furniture made by a company called

Idantique. The store is also currently featuring textiles and jewelry by Nakuspartist Linda Dixon and photographs by Patrizia Menton of Hills.

February 28, 2007 The Valley Voice NAKUSP & THE ARROW LAKES 11

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Call Ron at the Old Grey Barn250-265-2163

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The Arrow Lakes Arts Councilpresents:

In performance at theBONNINGTON ARTS

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HUNGRY HILLThe sounds of Bluegrass

FRIDAY, March 2nd at 8:00 pm

Tickets are $20 Adults and $15Seniors/Children

(60 and over) (12 and under)

Tickets available at theBroadway Deli or at the door.

Doors open at 7:30 pm.

Hospitality Host: The Old GreyBarn

VILLAGE OF NAKUSPPUBLIC MEETING( MUSIC FEST PROPOSED EXPANSION PROJECT)

THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2007 AT 7 PMNAKUSP AUDITORIUM

The Nakusp Roots Music Society has proposed an Expansion Projectinvolving the Village’s parklands and sportsfields. This project wouldrequire significant changes to the park and surrounding area.

The public is invited to a presentation, to be given by the Music FestSociety, on Thursday, March 8th, at 7 P.M. in the Village Auditorium.Representatives of the Society will outline their proposal. They willhave a scale model of the expansion for review, and will be availableto answer your questions.

We encourage all residents to attend. Council is seeking your input tothis proposal before any decisions are made. A questionnaire will beavailable at the meeting.

Village of Nakusp

submitted by Kris JamesOn February 11, Nakusp Bantam

Warriors headed to Kaslo to play theAmerican Coeur d’Alene team.

Bryce Cann picked up Kris James’rebound to take the lead early. Later thatshift James got a breakaway goal on a

submitted by Kris JamesThe Castlegar Rebels minor hockey

team brought a fast game to Nakusp onSaturday, February 18. Castlegar got anearly one about 10 seconds in but JesseCann took passes from Nathan Weibeand Kayla Yoshida and dangled out thedefense to put one on the board for theWarriors. Castlegar took the lead onceagain only to be tied up by a point shot

Nakusp Warriors challenged by fast Castlegar playersfrom Brody Simpson when he took apass from Andrew Likness.

Cann picked up an assist with RossZelzenik, putting it five-hole on the goalkeeper. Castlegar tied it up and took thelead but with goalie Terryn Stensethpulled Cann passed to Kris James.James put it behind the net for BryceCann, who banked it off the other teamand into the net. The final score ended

by Jan McMurrayKindy Gosal, Manager of Water

Initiatives at Columbia Basin Trust,gave a presentation about the ColumbiaRiver Treaty on February 21 atNakusp’s Selkirk College. Hispresentation left no doubt about theimportant role our region plays in thisbig issue.

He explained that the ColumbiaRiver Treaty (CRT) was negotiated inthe context of post World War II in thePacific Northwest. During thateconomic boom time, there was agrowing need for power. There was alsoa need for flood control, as communitieswere springing up along the floodplainsof the Columbia River system in the US.

Under the treaty, Canada built threedams: Mica, Duncan and Keenleyside.These dams provide water storage inCanada that generates additional powerat the 11 downstream dams in the US.The Canadian dams also provide the USwith flood control. Gosal mentioned thatbecause the 11 dams on the Americanside are navigable, the river is atransportation system for the US, andagriculture and salmon fisheries arethriving there.

Gosal explained that when theAmerican government approached theCanadian government with this issue,the Canadians were “lukewarm.”However, the BC premier at the time,WAC Bennett, was “hot on it” andended up doing the negotiating. Both

federal governments ratified the treatyin 1964, and then the Canadian govern-ment transferred all rights and obliga-tions under the treaty to the Province.

In return for the water storage, BCis entitled to half of the extra powergenerated at the downstream powerplants in the US. The Province sold thefirst 30 years of this entitlement to theUS for a lump sum of $254 million, andused the money to build the dams. In1994, this expired and the US beganpaying BC $250-$275 million eachyear.

The Columbia is the mosthydroelectrically developed riversystem in the world, with 14 dams onits main stem and 450 dams on thewhole system, including tributaries.Gosal pointed out that the only freeflowing section of the river remainingis the Columbia Wetlands, a 200-kmspan from the headwaters at ColumbiaLake to the Kinbasket Reservoir. “Wemight want to protect this,” he said.

Although the Canadian side hasfewer dams, a shorter length of the river(800 kms vs. 1200 kms in the US), andmakes up only 15% of the total area ofthe Basin, it has the water. Canadaprovides 40% of the run-off, andresearch on climate change shows thatthis percentage will increase. There are3.2 million Americans living on the USside of the Basin (compared to 500,000on the Canadian side) and “if they startgoing dry, there could be huge

implications.”Gosal also pointed out that the

Canadian Columbia River systemprovides 50% of the total hydro powerproduced in BC.

He spoke about the benefits andimpacts of the treaty for Canada. Thebenefits, he said, include thedevelopment of hydropower generationthat resulted from the water storage, andthe fact that BC has the lowest electricityrates in the world.

“We got a lot for the ColumbiaRiver Treaty,” he said. “However, therewere lots of impacts and they wereconcentrated in this region. Very fewpeople felt them and we were forgottenabout.” He explained that at the time,the concerns were flood control and theoptimization of power generation, so“other water related values were notexplicitly dealt with in the treaty. Theyreally did not know what the impactswould be. They had no information. Itwas done out of ignorance, not malice.”

He proceeded to list the treaty’snegative impacts: 2,300 people lost theirhomes and lands; 500 square km offertile valley bottom was flooded; FirstNations lost much of theirarchaeological heritage as well astraditional use areas for fishing, hunting;loss of fish and wildlife habitat andspecies; communities along thereservoirs suffer ongoing negativeimpacts due to the large fluctuation inreservoir levels.

Gosal indicated that probably thebiggest negative impact of the treaty was“the way we were not included indecisions that drastically affected thelives of people then and futuregenerations. This is why we’re angrywith BC Hydro.” He said that Nakusp’sboat ramp was a prime example of thedisrespect. “One billion dollars per yearare taken out of the area in terms ofpower – is it too much to ask forrecreation, fisheries? I don’t think so,”he said. He added that CBT hasadvocated for the Nakusp ramp, andsays he thinks there is a win-winresolution to the issue.

CBT was created with a mandateto leave a legacy of social, economicand environmental well being and

achieve greater self-sufficiency forpresent and future generations in theregion most affected by the ColumbiaRiver Treaty. Gosal said that water hasbeen identified as one of CBT’s mostimportant objectives, and one of themost significant water issues is theopportunity to renew, terminate or re-negotiate the CRT. As long as notice isgiven by 2014 by either side, the powerprovisions of the treaty can be re-negotiated in 2024. Although re-negotiation resides with the federalgovernment, the Province must beconsulted. Gosal said the CBT isworking on ensuring that the people willbe consulted.

On the subject of stable reservoirlevels for the Arrow Lakes, Gosal saidthat after the treaty obligations were met,“the flexibility for operators in thisregion is very limited.” He also pointedout that “if you ask for something here,there will be a negative impact forsomeone else in the region.” He showeda slide of the Kinbasket Reservoir at lowwater. It becomes a little river flankedby huge mud flats. He said that wherethe difference between high and lowwater on the Arrow Lakes is 70’, it is175’ on the Kinbasket.

Someone asked if we could try topush for stable lake levels to protectfisheries, as has been done in the US.

Gosal replied that what is good for thefish is not necessarily good forrecreation, so he didn’t think this wasthe way to address the issue offluctuating water levels.

Another person asked if it wouldbe feasible to create power at Duncan.Gosal said it is not feasible now, aspower couldn’t be created all the time,but if prices continue to spike, it will befeasible.

submittedThere are 25 volunteers

researching ideas to help shape anOfficial Community Plan (OCP) tobe presented to the public for theirinput in May.

Boundary Expansion, By-law/Health & Social, DowntownRevitalization and Hot SpringsCommittees, which have beenmeeting since last September, arenow finalizing their recommenda-tions for inclusion in the OCPdocument. Once responses are com-piled for a ten-question hot springssurvey sent to residents, RamonaMattix, Senior Planner at the RDCK,

will begin drafting the OCP.To date, committees have

consulted with Trevor Sheppard ofDelterra Engineering, RDCK Area KDirector Paul Peterson, Chris Masonof BC Ambulance Service, NakuspFire Chief Terry Warren, Ministry ofForests Surveyor Rod Powers, ArrowLakes Airport Users Group, KenFrance of Canadian MountainHolidays, Bob Toews of HelimedCanada Inc.

Members of the public arewelcome to observe any committeemeetings and ask questions at the end.Meeting dates and minutes areavailable at the Village Office.

Village of Nakusp Official Community Plan update

Presentation about the Columbia River Treaty at Nakusp’s Selkirk College

in a tie on a very closely fought game.Once again on Sunday a different

Castlegar team came into town to facethe Warriors. Jesse Cann took a passfrom Nathan Weibe and scored but notbefore Castlegar put in the first twogoals. Castlegar soon took a 3 goal leadbut Cann put in another one withAndrew Likeness’ help. Brody Simpsonand Nic Watson made it possible forKris James to put one in the mesh tomake it 4-3. but with Terryn Stensethpulled Castlegar put one in the emptynet.

Nakusp Warriors win against US teampass from Brody Simpson. For the next30 minutes nothing happened untilAndrew Likness picked up a reboundfrom Brody Simpson’s shot and after acouple whacks put it in the back of thenet. Terryn Stenseth only let in 2 beforeNakusp took the victory 3-2.

Congratulations to the Nakusp Atom House team, which won the WestKootenay Banner this past weekend at the playoff tournament held in Nakusp.

The Valley Voice February 28, 200712 KASLO & DISTRICT

Thank youValley VoiceThe only newspaper that

tells us what is going on inthe Kaslo area. The onlynewspaper that gives us a

chance to say what we thinkabout it, free of charge, inVoices from the Valleys.

Paid advertisement by Jane Lynchin support of the Valley Voice

KASLO MOHAWK

Open every day ofthe year!

• Fuel • Groceries •• Convenience Store •353-2205 405-4th St.

by Jill Braley•Vern Klapper of the Marina Ridge

development and Peter Ward of WardEngineering attended as a delegation.

The developer’s current priority isto rezone a 3.92-acre piece at the footof Larch Drive, on the point near KasloBay Resort, from C1 WaterfrontCommercial to R1 Residential. The planis to subdivide the property into 12 lotsand build 12 single family dwellings.The homes would be 1,200-2,000square feet, two levels, with waterfrontviews. Klapper said the homes wouldbe in the $350,000-$600,000 pricerange. Councillor Hewat pointed outthat these expensive homes would notattract young families to Kaslo, andcould in fact drive young familieselsewhere. Hewat asked if there wereplans to offer any lower incomehousing, as the rental market in Kaslois not very strong. Klapper respondedthat he had approached the previousmayor a few years ago with an idea tooffer lower income housing, and themayor would not write a letter ofsupport at that time. Mayor Hollandmentioned that basement suites wereone way to attain affordable housing.

Klapper said he is interested inworking with the Village to providegreen spaces and a public walkway toconnect the Larch Drive developmentaround the point to Kaslo Bay Park.

Ward said all the Marina Ridgelands are presently zoned C1 WaterfrontCommercial, which allowed for the 30-unit condominium project that has justgone in. The project is in its first phase,with several phases to be completedover the next few years.

For one of the future phases, theVillage asked the developer to providean in-depth geotechnical report on theproperty, as the proposed building sitesare surrounded by steep slopes. Councilreceived the report at this meeting, andreferred it to Golder Associates Ltd. forreview.

•Councillor Jones’ concerns aboutthe costs associated with installing thethird cell at the water treatment plant toprovide water to the residences in theRDCK’s Allen subdivision werereferred to the Administration andFinance Committee for detailed review.

Jones feels the RDCK owes theVillage of Kaslo about $70,000 forexpenses related to the water upgrade.His concerns were forwarded to theRDCK. Council received a response tohis concerns from Dawn Attorp of theRDCK, along with a memo from RobLang, now the Senior UtilitiesTechnician for the RDCK and formerlythe Public Works Foreman for theVillage of Kaslo. Lang states that “noneof the amounts claimed [by Jones] canbe validated.” Current Village PublicWorks Foreman Glen Walker agrees

with Councillor Jones’ assessment ofmonies owed to the village.

For the past two years, the Villageand the RDCK have been negotiating acontract to supply water to theMcDonald Creek water users in theAllen subdivision. The contract remainsunder negotiation.

•RDCK staff has prepared a reportwhich looks at possibilities forproviding fire protection to the currentlyunprotected communities in Area Dbetween Schroeder Creek and CoffeeCreek. This was referred to theAdministration & Finance Committeeto meet with all parties concerned.

•The Kaslo Hotel DevelopmentCorporation has applied for aDevelopment Permit and DevelopmentVariance Permit (DVP) to renovate theformer Mariner Inn. The corporationplans to create upscale hotelaccommodations, a pub, restaurant andmicro-brewery, and three condominiumunits for owner occupancy. Thevariance is to allow construction of abalcony over the sidewalk on FrontStreet and an increase in the height ofthe building’s peak from 39.37 feet to46 feet. Prior to construction takingplace over the Village sidewalk, anencroachment agreement will benegotiated and registered on title. Thefacade design for the hotel wasapproved. A notice will be sent to allaffected property owners and tenants.

•All agenda items relating to theOfficial Community Plan review werereferred to the Planning & Development

Committee and budget deliberations forrecommendation to council.

•Council voted to support anapplication for LocalMotion grantfunding by the Kootenay LakeIndependent School Society forwheelchair accessibility to a maximumproject cost of $4,000, subject to thereceipt of a completed application form.

•The Village will submit anapplication for $5,000 for the planningstage of a Spirit Square, subject to theapplication reflecting a non-specific site.

•At a special meeting on February6, council decided to make anapplication to the ProvincialLocalMotion program, in partnershipwith the Kaslo Trailblazers Society, for$55,900 for construction of the KasloRiver pedestrian bridge. Council alsodecided to apply to the Towns forTomorrow funding program for$128,000 for Kemp Creek Reservoirrehabilitation.

•Council received approval andconditions from the Ministry ofEnvironment for the completion of thewaterfront pedestrian walkway. Thepublic works committee will receive acopy for action.

•The Village is looking into thefeasibility of underground power,telephone and cable lines in the 400block of Water Street and received someinformation from Telus regarding theirrequirements and costs. The Villagewould be responsible for 50% of thecosts and for providing conduits andcivil works. Telus would contribute

service boxes and vaults required onpublic roads. The Village cost wouldchange to 33 1/3% if it got fundingunder the Beautification Act for theproject. Council voted to refer theinformation to administration and to thePlanning & Development Committeefor recommendation to council.

•Council approved three-yearairport hangar leases for Mr. Scarlett andMr. Agnew, ie: 2006 -$103.53; 2007 -$104.57; and 2008 - $105.62 and Mr.de Boer, ie: 2006 - $636.30; 2007 -$642.66 and 2008 -$649.09. CouncillorJones voiced strong objections to theserates, and said “the Village is not acharitable organization and the Villagecould have done a lot better.”

•Council received and authorizeda $2,500 funding request from GillianSanders for the current year to continuethe Bear Smart program for 2007.

•Council received a request fromthe Kaslo & District Public Library toendorse the library’s 2006-2011 budget.The library, the lowest funded libraryin the district, has asked the RDCK fora 5% funding increase (amounting to$1,350) in 2007 and 2008 and for an8% increase in each year from 2009through 2011.

At a special meeting on February20, council endorsed the library’srequest for the operating grant increasesfrom the RDCK.

•Ernest Mason, from a real estateand property management company outof Nelson, wrote to express concernregarding the septic tank capacity for a

Kaslo council, February 13: Marina Ridge presents plans for subdivisionlarge family living at 626A Avenue andrequested hook-up to the village sewersystem. Mason stated the family willhave to move if the problem cannot beaddressed in the immediate future.Mason will be advised the Village isundertaking a complete OCP review in2007 and expansion of the specifiedsewer system cannot be addressed inthe immediate future.

•In response to two complaintsregarding dogs, council will inform thecomplainants that the Village willcontinue to address animal controlissues with the Animal Control Officer.Councillor Jones was opposed, statingit was the Village’s responsibility to acton complaint letters. Council decidedto send a letter to the Animal ControlOfficer, asking what action has beentaken with regard to the complaints andwhether a ticket has been issued.

•A letter will be sent to theorganizers of the Kaslo Logger Sportssuggesting they arrange for temporaryaccommodation for the event in 2007.

•Council received notice theprovincial government will beintroducing a new police tax for smallcommunities and electoral areas as ofJanuary 1. The new police tax willoperate similarly to the current schooltax and will be identified as a separateline item on residents’ property taxnotices. The amount of the police taxfor Kaslo was estimated to be about$38,000.

•Accounts Payable of $102,228was approved.

by Jan McMurrayA meeting took place February 15

between the two appointees of the Kasloand District Community Forest Societyand the people who appointed them –Kaslo council and Area D DirectorAndy Shadrack. At the meeting, Villageappointee Robert Mitchell and RDCKappointee Dave Russell provided anupdate on the society’s initiatives.

Director Shadrack indicated that hewas happy with the meeting. “Theydidn’t tell me anything that I hadn’talready gotten confirmed,” he said,reporting that he had spoken withsomeone from the Ministry of Forestswho said that the application for theProbationary Community ForestAgreement (PCFA) was proceedingvery well. “Other than that, they are inthe process of hiring a new manager andwill have a public meeting on March 8.I know there are some concerns beingexpressed by past board members andI would encourage them to come out tothe public meeting and get answers totheir concerns.”

Mitchell summarized the society’sfour main priorities in a telephoneinterview.

He said the position of operationsmanager was expected to be filled bythe beginning of March. The society’sPCFA application has “strong supportfrom the Ministry,” he said. Some revi-sions to the application are required, butthe Ministry has suggested that thesociety hold off on those until resultscome in from the First Nations consulta-tion, which is currently underway.

Another priority for the society isto develop a Forest Stewardship Plan,

Kaslo Community Forest to hold public meeting March 8which is required for all futuredevelopment work. Mitchell says thiswill be a job for the operations manager.

The fourth item is to move aheadwith the two cutting permits the societyholds under its current licence for

The Langham Art Gallery hosts artists Morse and Simington

by Jill Braley•A referendum on the purchase

of the provincial building has beenset for April 21.

In the meantime, the Village isworking on getting information aboutthe building that the public shouldhave to make an informed decision.This information includes anenvironmental report of the buildingand grounds, a current inspection ofthe building and a business case forthe purchase. Information alreadygathered, mostly quotes to get thesereports done, is available at theVillage office.

•Council received a memo fromCAO Rae Sawyer, requesting approvalfor accountants Berg and Naqvi toreconcile the bank accounts for 2006so they can begin the 2006 audit.

Kaslo council, February 20: Provincial building discussedCouncil approved the request to amaximum expenditure of $2,250.

submittedThe Kaslo Concert Society presents

cellist Denise Djokic and pianist DavidJalbert in recital at St. Andrew’s UnitedChurch on Sunday, March 25, at 2 pm.This dynamic young duo has beendazzling audiences across Canada.

logging operations in Kemp Creek andShutty Bench. The Kemp Creek permitexpires in June and the Shutty Benchpermit expires in September, “so wewant to move on those as quickly aspossible.” He said there is an option to

extend the permits for a year.However, Mitchell reported that it

is unclear whether this work must becompleted before the new PCFA licencecan be issued. He says he is in discussionwith the Ministry about this now.

Sawyer’s memo was referred to theAdministration and Finance committee.

Dynamic cello/piano duo to play in Kaslo“Djokic’s meticulously perfect

intonation, the unshaken evenness of hersound, the energy and exactness of herrhythm pour out of her cello as thoughshe has awakened a goddess,” raves TheHalifax Herald.

Admission to this concert is by

season subscription or single tickets atthe door. Adult $20, Seniors $18,Students $10. School age children areadmitted free when accompanied by anadult patron. For further information:Karen Pidcock, 353-7539, or DavidStewart, 366-4623.

submittedThe Langham is hosting art

exhibitions by Randy Morse andJonathon Simington, with an openingreception Friday, March 9, 7-9 pm.

Small Village. Big Mountains.Bigger Planet reflects Morse’sfascination with the beauty of Kaslo’ssurroundings and the people whohave chosen to live there. Thisongoing series of acrylic paintingsattempts to link residents withlandscape in ways that will resonatewith locals and outsiders alike. Theexhibition is a rare opportunity to see

Morse’s work locally, as it is usuallyshipped off for exhibition toEdmonton, Vancouver, New York,etc.

Simington’s show By All Means,has a range of images, from simplewatercolour strokes, exploring theenjoyment of colour and form, todecorative pastel portraits of his dogs,smiling faces and flowers, and abstractmultilayered collage and productpackage hijackings. Simington workswith whatever materials he can find –markers, crayon and pencil, productpackaging, lint, WCB manuals, faded

shopping lists – the clutter of dailyexistence.

Small Village. Big Mountains. Bigger Planetreflects Randy Morse’s fascination with the

beauty of Kaslo’s surroundings.

The Spirit of 2010 Kaslo Senior Novice Hockey Tournament took place on the weekend. TheKaslo Winter Hawks would like to thank the players and parents of the Castlegar Canucks,

Castlegar Silver Bullets, Rossland/Trail Hurricanes, Nakusp Ice Demons, and the Nelson Flyersfor their good sportsmanship, team play, and general good nature. A tournament is only as good

as the teams involved. Congratulations to the Castlegar Canucks for winning the tournament.

February 28, 2007 The Valley Voice 13LIVING

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Bowing to thewinds of spring

Growing up in Toronto, my motherused to like to refer to March as thewindy month, even though I seem torecall wind happening pretty well anytime of year. Maybe because the windin March tends to get a little warmer

and won’t cause frostbite, people areable to spend more time in it andtherefore figure there’s more of it, right?

February 21st was one of thosewindy kind of days. Still a month ofwinter left on the calendar, but the skywas mostly blue and the air warmishand even the clouds had that puffysummer day look to them. I dug outmy trusty hybrid bicycle and geared upfor the first actual ride of the seasonalong the narrow but fairly dry highwaydown to Silverton. I was dressed aboutthe same as I do for ski tours except forboots and helmet and enjoyed riding toseveral little local errands.

En-route to Silverton from NewDenver I realized how strong the wind

was, coming from the south, requiringa little effort in those lower gears. Just afew cars passed and they could see mepretty easily in my red jacket andhelmet. In Silverton I paid off a couplebills, grabbed a coffee and rode downto the boat launch to see if it was plowedto allow some early season boatlaunching. That all looked fine althoughthe water sure is low and will be forsome weeks yet. For now the laketemperature is just 3.3 degrees and tocapsize any craft even near shore couldwell be fatal. Riding back north alongthe lake I decided that it was too windyand rough out on the lake but that thingswould be perfect for my kites.

To some folks flying a kite may

seem non-productive and frivolous,both of which qualify it as a good wayto spend a couple hours. Neither of mykites require any wild running ortheatrics if the wind is brisk and Iactually have them in the trunk of thecar, handy for those times when the needand wind arises. Kites are fairly cheap,clean, low maintenance and cause fewreal injuries.

So I whipped down to CentennialPark in New Denver and after findingthe onshore wind too cold on the beachat the point, elected to set up on the ballfield where the famous Garlic Festivalnow takes place. My small parafoil kiteneeds just one line and once up high itswoops around and cavorts happily onits own. It packs into a tiny bag and iseasy to take along on hikes or bicyclerides. The other kite is a two-lined affairand demands lots of attention, but willreadily do all kinds of daring dives,loops and figure 8s.

I spent a pleasant hour there untilthe wind finally chilled me down too

much. It’s great to just stand theresteering the kite and gazing past it tothe rolling clouds and lofty snowy peaksflanking the valley. The steady southwind coming all the way up SlocanLake made for some serious breakersslamming the shoreline – a continuouslow but threatening roar. Most birds ofprey – ravens in particular – seem tocelebrate a good blow and once I had aplayful pair of ravens try to catch mykite in flight.

Kites are a great idea. They’re cheapand widely available and will clearairport security, too. Even if you don’tcycle or sail or paddle you can enjoythe wind with your own colourful kite.You can fly them from a lawn chair.Unless you plan to get an airplane orcome back in your next life as a raven,you may want to look into getting a kiteand enjoying some unproductive time.

Peter Roulston owns the BicycleHospital in New Denver and prefers toride with the wind rather than againstit. 358-2133.

Increase in backcountrysnowmobiling cause forconcern

I’ve been reading the letters to theeditor section of this newspaper withinterest lately – particularly the issuewith the increase in snowmobile trafficin the backcountry. It’s hard not to noticethis increased traffic and I have to saythat I am in agreement with those thatare concerned with this increase.

As many of you are aware, I amcertainly not anti-snowmobile. In fact,I have owned one since about 1970 andhave driven and fixed them for decades.I currently ride a fairly new Skandic andwouldn’t like to be without it, as it ismy ticket to the great backcountry skiingthat this area has to offer. Just a few yearsago, it was possible to have most of thiscountry to ourselves. The skiing wasgreat, and the few out-of-town ridersone met were most welcome to share

the area. It seems things have changed,and much as I would like to think thatthe backcountry areas for motorizedrecreation are unlimited in theKootenays, this is far from the truth.

The traffic volumes have increasedexponentially in the Enterprise Creekarea, where we do most of our skiing. Itis now uncomfortable to poke along therutted and pockmarked trail, madedifficult due to the many, manymachines that now use this area. Thelocal users have been careful to taketheir machines to the base of the goodskiing area, leave the machine, and thenskin up for the slog to the top of themountains. The idea of powering up themountain, creating a big racket andtracking up the beautiful snow pack wasanathema. Snow machines wereprimarily used in this area to access theskiing, not as a recreational machine perse. There are areas set aside for trailriding such as the Lemon Creek area,and for the last 25 or so years that I havebeen using the backcountry in theKootenays, the skiers and snowmo-bilers have by and large gotten along. Iwonder if this rapport is now in dangerof fading as more and more people putpressure on this sensitive resource.

I was dismayed to hear from Craig

Pettitt, who reports that snow machinesare now crossing over the passes aboveTimber Creek into Kokanee ProvincialPark, where they are tearing up the area,disturbing the wildlife and trespassingon a very sensitive ecological system.We have been using much of this areafor years for backcountry skiing, but arebeing pushed to the fringes due to theincrease in motorized traffic. If all thesepeople were skiers, there would be morethan enough room for everyone, but theamount of powder a snow machine cancut up in a few hours would take daysof concerted effort for a backcountryskier to track up.

I also like to believe that skiers makemuch less of an impact on the wildlifethat inhabits this area in the winter. Weare quiet, sensitive to the environmentand tread lightly on this wonderfulpowdery landscape, quite different fromthe packs of loud machines that tearthrough the area in search of the speedthrill.

Will it take regulation to inhibitoveruse of this precious naturalresource, or will those interested inmotorized backcountry travel come tothe realization that they are treading ona sensitive carpet best kept intactthrough careful, light use?

with Jamie Barber

Don’t forget theLeland

Here we are in the middle of ourfavourite month: Farch. Only twoweeks away from the Ides of March.Strange goings on! Driving north fromNew Denver towards Nakusp, I wasabout to enter Hills when I saw, quitefar ahead, a large animal on the highway.I thought it might be a small moose, butit turned out to be a large reddish-browncow trotting merrily along in a southerlydirection. It was in the correct lane withseveral vehicles behind it. I slowed to acrawl, and the cow trotted past megiving me a quizzical glance. Somepeople say everything happens for areason. Why did this happen?

I arrived in Nakusp safe and soundand entered the Leland On The LakeRestaurant inside the Leland Hotel. Thehotel, built in 1892, was once the focalpoint for landing boats on the ArrowLake. There are some great old photosand artifacts in the lobby.

The restaurant has been renovatedand is now one large room with hugewindows affording a million dollar viewof lake and mountains. Opposite thewindows are big mirrors, so the placeis light and airy with slow-moving fansand old fashioned lighting fixtures. It isa comfortable room. There is seatingfor 60 inside and 80 on the patio duringthe summer.

I was met by Bruno Dietrih, a verycasual and relaxed Swiss fellow who,with his wife Mirium, run the place.They are starting their second year afterhaving run the Halcyon Hot Springsrestaurant for two years.

Let’s get on with the food. Appysinclude samosas, various chicken plates,jalapeno poppers, brushetta, nachos,soup and three salads. Bring on theburgers and sandwiches. There’s (mybeloved) clubhouse, a loaded LelandBurger, mushroom-swiss burger, pestochicken burger (yum), a salmon burger,veggie, and a schnitzel burger. Heartymeals start with chnopfli – a Swiss pastawith veggies and topped with Swissraclette cheese. There’s lasagna al forno,cannellone, salmon linguini, fish andchips, sockeye salmon, chicken withmushrooms, pork-loin schnitzel,bratwurst and the Leland NY steak. Itis an impressive menu. I finally orderedthe chicken clubhouse, but as I satgazing out the window, I suddenlyremembered THE COW! Ah ha! Iraced into the kitchen and said “Holdthe clubhouse, I think I’d like some beef– how ’bout the steak?”

And so it came to pass that I enjoyeda tender, juicy, melt in your mouth NYsteak (medium rare of course)accompanied by herb roasted potatoesand veggies along with stuffed yellowtomatoes. The steak was covered inmushrooms and onions and had, I wastold, Montreal Steak Spice Mix on italong with a secret ingredient to add‘just a bit more zing.’ It was an excellentmeal.

Meanwhile, I had a chat with thefolks at the next table. They are visitingfrom Silver Star, a ski place near Vernon.They had the Assorted Salad Plate –which I could see was huge and tastylooking. They also had the SchnitzelBurger with fries, and they asked me to

please mention that they very muchenjoyed their meal. So.

Bruno tells me that the restauranthas had so many changeovers inmanagement in recent years that theclientele has dwindled, and he wants theold customers back. He will accomplishthis with a good menu and friendlyservice, and I can vouch for both ofthese. He and Mirium do ‘in housecatering’ for weddings, birthdays,company retreats, etc. They also makespecial order cakes and other treats.Wednesday nights are WING NIGHTSand Saturdays feature a big buffet thatchanges its main courses every week.Always two choices of meat. In additionthey are working on some new menuselections. A new menu will come outin the spring.

Winter hours are Tuesday thruSaturday 11-2 and 5-8:30. In thesummer it’s seven days a week from 8am to 10:30 pm including a very goodbreakfast menu. The Leland On TheLake restaurant is fully licensed. Nexttime you’re in Nakusp, don’t forget TheLeland!

BUYERS OF CEDAR& PINE POLES

Mike Casey cell 344-8477Offering planning, managementand sales for Woodlot Licences

and Private Land Owners.

P.O. Box 4,Brisco, B.C. V0A 1B0

Phone (250) 346-3315Fax (250) 346-3218

TOLL FREE 1-866-346-3315

WOOD PRESERVERS LTD. “Not only does the Leland on the Lake Restaurant havethe best view in Nakusp, it has an excellent menu andfriendly service. Chef Bruno Dietrih offers a wide varietyof tantalizing dishes, sure to satisfy the mostdiscriminating palate.”

-Andrew Rhodes, Valley Voice Food Editor

Winter hours: Tuesday thru Saturday 11-2 and 5-8:30

Fully Licensed

Leland on the Lake Restaurant & Catering

96 4th Ave SW, Nakusp, BC • 265-0078

The Valley Voice February 28, 2007

Woodoven

Pizzas & Much

More

Summer Hours:

Wednesday thru

Sunday

3:30 - 9:30

CLASSIFIED ADS14

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

Nakusp MassageTherapy Clinic

222266665555----4444222244442222May Ann Waterfield RMT

Registered MassageTherapist

RECREATIONRESTAURANT/WINE & BEER

The Apple TreeSandwich Shop

Soup, Sandwiches & Desserts358-2691

Mon. - Fri. 7 A.M. - 4 P.M.Sat. 11 A.M. - 4 P.M.

Slocan Valley Co-op. Slocan ParkFOOD, HARDWARE, FEED, GAS PUMPS,

LIQUOR AGENCY, CANADA POST, LOTTO CENTREOPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 6 AM-9 PMOWNED BY THE MEMBERS IT SERVES.

3024 HWY 6, PH: 226-7433 / FX: 226-7916e-mail: s.v.coop@Telus.net

Ann’s Natural FoodsAnn’s Natural FoodsAnn’s Natural FoodsAnn’s Natural FoodsAnn’s Natural FoodsAnn Bunka

- 358-2552 -

805 Kildare St., New Denver

FLORIST

• • • • • Zack Graphics & InksZack Graphics & InksZack Graphics & InksZack Graphics & InksZack Graphics & Inks • • • • •Printer Sales � Discount Inkjet CartridgesPrinter Sales � Discount Inkjet CartridgesPrinter Sales � Discount Inkjet CartridgesPrinter Sales � Discount Inkjet CartridgesPrinter Sales � Discount Inkjet CartridgesPhoto Papers � Guaranteed Inkjet refillsPhoto Papers � Guaranteed Inkjet refillsPhoto Papers � Guaranteed Inkjet refillsPhoto Papers � Guaranteed Inkjet refillsPhoto Papers � Guaranteed Inkjet refills

eBay Marketing � Digitial DesigneBay Marketing � Digitial DesigneBay Marketing � Digitial DesigneBay Marketing � Digitial DesigneBay Marketing � Digitial Design

250-358-2111 • izack@telus.net250-358-2111 • izack@telus.net250-358-2111 • izack@telus.net250-358-2111 • izack@telus.net250-358-2111 • izack@telus.net612 Josephine St. • Box 292 • New Denver, BC V0G 1S0612 Josephine St. • Box 292 • New Denver, BC V0G 1S0612 Josephine St. • Box 292 • New Denver, BC V0G 1S0612 Josephine St. • Box 292 • New Denver, BC V0G 1S0612 Josephine St. • Box 292 • New Denver, BC V0G 1S0

Mark AdamsCertified General Accountant

P.O. Box 279New Denver, BCV0G 1S0

BUS. 250-358-2411

ACCOUNTANT

Beside Slocan Park Service

2976 Highway 6, Slocan Park

Wine & Beer Making Kitsto satisfy all budgets!

Winlaw Brew-Op

5972 Cedar Creek Road, Winlaw • 226-7328

Take-Home Kits, or Brew it with Us!Open 11:00 to 6:00 Tues. to Sat.

WINTER HOURS 7 AM - 9 PM

QUALITY PIZZA anytime!265-4880

Air Conditioned

93-5th Ave. NakuspSmoking & Non-Smoking

LACENICK'S

PBreakfast starts at 7:00 am

Open Tuesday - Sunday9 am - 4 pm

Main St. New Denver 358-2381

GROCERY • HEALTH FOOD

Specialty Coffees, Teas,U-Brews and Kits for Home • Open Every DayNAKUSP 265-4701

Spanglers of New Denver• Light for the

Kootenay Winter

Light-therapy LITEBOOK Elite

250-358-2145

Legendary Meats Ltd.

Bulk - Beef, Pork, Buffalo

and Sausage Sales

Custom Cutting & Sausage

Making, Curing & Smoking

of Bacons & Hams

Winter Hours: Thursdays & Fridays

8 am till 6 pm

Phone: 226-7803

2826 Hwy 6 • Slocan Park

MEAT CUTTING

Slocan Village MarketGroceries, fresh produce, fresh meat,

Agency Liquor, organic foods,in-store deli, in-store bakery.

Open 7 days/week, 9 am - 7 pmSlocan, BC • ph:355-2211 • fax: 355-2216

Lemon CreekLodge & Campground

Year-round facilityLicensed Restaurant

Open Wed - Sun12 Noon - 8 PM1-877-970-8090 tfn

PassmoreLaboratory Ltd.

CAEAL ce rtifie d to test drinking waterWe’re in the Valley at: 1-250-226-7339

Jennifer & Tony Yeow passlab@netidea.com

Water Testing • Flow Measurements

passlab4@netidea.com

MASSAGE

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

www.jonesboysboats.comAinsworth, British Columbia

4080 Hwy 31 NCall: 1-877-552-6287

(250) 353-2550 Fax (250) 353-2911

HARBERCRAFT

Archery Sales & Repairs

p&r archery

5146 Pedro Ck. Rd. Winlaw Ph/Fax: (250) 226-7499• Mathews, Forge, P.S.E., Champion bows for sale

• Excalibur Crossbows

and Sport

LESTER KOENEMANPhone 265-3128 or

24-hour Fax 265-4808Broadway St. Nakusp

Ph: 359-7111 Fax: 359-7587www.playmorpower.com

Playmor Junction Hwy 6 & 3A1043 Playmor

ENGINEERED WITH YOU IN MIND

HEALTHHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreHand & Soul Healing CentreChiropractor, Larry Zaleski, D.C.Tuesdays & Fridays - Silverton

Every other Wednesday in Winlaw or NakuspCounsellor/Healing Facilitator

Sue Mistretta, M.A., CCC.

358-2177 Silverton & Winlaw

Re-AwakeningHealth Centre• Health Products

• Books• Greeting Cards

320 BROADWAY ST. NAKUSP 265-3188

COMPUTER

Grey Barn Computers

Ron Nymeyer212 4th Ave NW

Nakusp

250-265-2163theoldgreybarn@hotmail.com

ServiceRepairsUpgradesSales

ken@palmercomputerservices.com

p almerc omputers ervices

- Repairs- Upgrades

- ConsultingMicrosoft CertifiedSystems EngineerPhone: 355-2235

Advertise in the Valley Voice - It Pays!Email us —valleyvoice@netidea.com for details

West KootenayCounselling Service

•couples •addictions •stress•youth •individual •depression

Andrea Wright New Denver, BCRegistered Professional 358-7995 Counsellor RPC (c) andreawright@uniserve.com

Personal Classified Adsstart at $8.00!

Email us —valleyvoice@netidea.com for details

HUB INTERNATIONALBARTON

INSURANCEBROKERS

For all yourINSURANCE

needs265-3631

1-800-665-6010

support, kindness offered. I’ll miss you all, atthe coffee shop, the bank, the post office, thehardware, the church, the grocery store, BrouseLodge, golf course.

– Joan McLeodCOMING EVENTS

YOGA AT THE DOMES - Monday,Thursday and Saturday 9 to 10:30 am. Alllevels, all ages. Affordable.PARENT SUPPORT GROUP offered inNew Denver. Those interested phone NewDenver Nursery School 358-7768 or AndreaWright 358-7995.Come and experience a WEEKEND INRETREAT with WILBERT ALIX(www.TranceDance.com). Unique insight intothe relationships between traditional shamanichealing, western science and eastern mysticismApril 13 to 15 2007 Winlaw BC (Hwy 6). Over50 people attended a Soul Hunting Workshopheld in March 2006 the North Shore Hall inNelson. We are honoured that Wilbert isreturning to the Kootenays this year to be withus in Winlaw. Accommodation list for allbudgets, program schedule and costs: 250-226-0021 ( be sure to leave a message).WATER by DIRECTOR DEEPA MEHTAshowing at the Hidden Garden Gallery, Friday,March 2, 7:30 pm. By donation. Everyonewelcome.THURSDAY MARCH 1ST, The HiddenGarden Gallery presents touring AlbertaSinger/Songwriters, Lara Yule Singh & AlexiaMelnychuk. Taking turns on the stage with anassortment of instruments, guitars, banjo,shakers, melodica, and xylophone, thesesongbirds will delight you with their fresh folk-pop, folk-country sounds, beautiful voices, andvery entertaining banter. (larayulesingh.com /alexiamelnychuk.com / 7:30PM-9:30PM /$5.00 Cover).

SOCIAL/BALLROOM DANCE. SecondSaturday of the month. Playmor Hall, 7:30pm- mini lesson; dancing - 8pm-11pm. SinglesWelcome! Teens Free!! www.dancingbeat.orgGARY FJELLGAARD AT THELANGHAM in Kaslo Friday March 16th,7:30 PM. Western Roots Musicwww.fjellgaard.bc.ca.PASSMORE HALL is having their annualPIE/GIFT BINGO March 17 at 6:30. Comeout, have fun and support your community.Donations of Pies/Gifts welcome.THE STREAMKEEPERS 2007 AGM willbe held on Monday, March 12 at 7:00 pm atthe Vallican Heritage Hall in beautifuldowntown Vallican BC. Everyone is WelcomeTake the TRASH ART Challenge! Create awork of art using RECYCLED MATERIALS.Enter by April 18. CASH PRIZES. Entryforms: slocanvalley.com/events.php, Valleybusinesses, or 226-7479. A Slocan Valley ArtsCouncil eventINFANT SIGNING CLASS for all ages andcaregivers. Modified ASL and Global Gesture.Each Wednesday 9:30-10:30 am. March 7:Intro Class - April 18. Hand & Soul HealingCentre, Silverton. 358-2562.SUZUKI VIOLIN AND VIOLASTUDENTS of Miranda and Daphne Hugheswill be presenting a solo recital on Sunday,March 4 at 2 pm at the Silverton Gallery. Theyare looking forward to sharing their music withthe community. Free admission, but donationswelcomed.OUR LADY OF LOURDES ALTARSOCIETY St. Patrick’s Annual Bazaar, Tea& Bake Sale. Saturday, March 17, 2-3:30 pm,Legion Hall, Nakusp. Admission $2.THE NELSON PEACE COALITION isholding a peace rally on Saturday, March 17,11 am, at the Government Building on WardStreet to mark the 4th anniversary of the

invasion of Iraq. Please support this pan-Canadian Day of Action for Peace and our callfor an end to the wars of occupation inAfghanistan and Iraq. For more informationcontact Grant Clubine at 505-9656, SandraNelken at 352-5274 or Don Currie at 355-2669.

FOR RENTFOR RENT: LARGE 3 BEDROOM 1 bath1500 sq ft apartment, 222 Lake Ave. Silverton,BC Available Dec. 15th. $500.00 plus utilities.Call 250-358-2293.

FOR SALEDREAM ON - new CD by Garbanzo (PaulGibbons) For lovers of the bansuri (bambooflute). Ambient sounds to chill out, calm thekids, soothe the cat and ... dream on. Call 358-2332 for more info or to purchase. Alsoavailable at Raven’s Nest and Gaze n Chat.FOR SALE: 2006 BOMBADIER 400 ATV.353-2389.

FREEBIESREGISTERMATE 1920 vacuum frame.Call 358-7218.

HEALTHFULL SPECTRUM BODY WORK offersdeep tissue and stress reduction treatments inthe privacy of your own home. For additionalinfo and to book appointments please call 358-6808.COYOTE SPRINGS HEALINGRETREAT - Osteo-therapies, workshops,rustic lodging, hydrotherapy. Why medicatewhen you can alleviate – stress and trauma.By appointment only. Margaret Ann Simon,Specialized Kinesiologist. 250-265-2155. Noplace to go but in.

ANNOUNCEMENTERIS JORDAN & THOMAS PADFIELDare proud and happy to announce the birth ofour son Elvin True Padfield on January 27.We love you, Elvin!

AUTOMOTIVE1986 GMC PICK-UP. 3/4 ton, long box, four-speed standard. Asking $2000. 265-0168.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIESWANT TO START YOUR OWNBUSINESS? Community Futures offersbusiness counselling and start-up information.Appointments available in Nakusp and NewDenver. Contact Farhana at 265-3674 or emailnakusp@futures.bc.ca.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONSCALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “To Serve &Protect –Wild, Zany + Industrial StrengthAprons from the Columbia Basin and Beyond”will be a travelling installation, a fashion eventand perhaps a storytelling or two. DeadlineDecember 31, 2007. Preliminary Show & Tellwith Tea, September 23, 2007 at HiddenGarden Gallery, New Denver at 2 pm. Bring adream to share. Contact 250-358-2180 orgretchenperk@yahoo.ca for info.

CARD OF THANKSHELLO FROM JEAN BECK of Camrose,Alberta. My sincere thanks for all the sympathyand love cards – also phone calls – on thepassing of my dear Alfred. To every one ofyou – THANKS – so thoughtful of you alland a big hug to all of you at Nakusp, Hills,Rosebery, New Denver, Slocan Valley, alsoCastlegar. Thank You! See you on my nexttrip to the Slocan Valley.

– Love JeanA WARM AND WONDERFUL THANKYOU to the people of New Denver who gaveme help when I needed it. Opened their heartsand their homes in welcome. Friendship,

HELP WANTEDHIRING NOW! Experienced planters forMay and June. Local work Nelson/SlocanValley and Nakusp. Evergreen Forest Services.226-7611.Community Counsellor Required –Counsellor required to work as part of acommunity-based counselling team untilAugust 30th, 2007 in Kaslo and Area & EastShore of Kootenay Lake. The position is for 5days per week. Recent experience in FamilySupport & Children’s Mental HealthCounselling & Victims’ Services is required.MSW or BSW required with 3-5 years relevantclinical practice or equivalent. Resumesincluding references to: Administrator, NorthKootenay Lake Community Services Society,Box 546, Kaslo, BC, V0G1M0 or emailoffice@nklcss.org or fax 250-353-7694.Position open until suitable candidate found.Only those short listed will be contacted.www.nklcss.org.WE ARE LOOKING FOR MODELSwilling to pose nude for a group of artists inthe Slocan Valley. All shapes, sizes and gendersgreatly appreciated. Pregnant women welcometoo. Our Figure Studies dropins are held onWednesdays 6:30-9:30 pm. This is occassionalwork, and we pay $60 a session. Referencesavailable. Call Yvonne 359-8069.

NOTICESFOR INFORMATION ON AAMEETINGS in New Denver and adjacenttowns, call Dave at 358-7265.LAKE SLOCAN PLAN COMMITTEECALL FOR MEMBERS - A committee ofcommunity residents is being formed toresearch and recommend, to the North SlocanValley Advisory Planning Committee, a planfor preservation and development of LakeSlocan foreshore and navigable waters. Thecommittee is seeking diverse representation

February 28, 2007 The Valley Voice 15CLASSIFIED/COMMUNITY

COLES RENTALSPLATE TAMPERS, JUMPING JACKS,JACKHAMMERS, HAMMER DRILLS,

CONCRETE MIXERS, CONCRETE SAWS,TILECUTTERS, BLOCKCUTTERS,

SCAFFOLDING, FLOOR SANDERS,FLOOR NAILERS, ROOFING NAILERS,FRAMING NAILERS, GENERATORS,WATER PUMPS, COMPRESSORS,

PRESSURE WASHERS, ROTO TILLER,PROPERTY PIN LOCATOR, PROPANE &

ELECTRIC HEATERS & MUCH MOREPHONE 358-26321-888-358-2632

WEST KOOTENAYMACHINE SHOP

915 Front StreetNelson, BC V1L 4C1(Railway Side Access)

General MachiningParts Repaired orRemanufacturedShop Phone/Fax

250-352-2123Dave Smith Owner/Machinist

MOUNTAIN VALLEY STATIONBOTTLE DEPOT

Slocan City • 355-2245Open MON - SAT 9-5

Your “Bottle Drive” Specialists

FOR ALL YOURPROPANE NEEDS

359-73731-800-471-5630

Your local bulk dealer & service centre

HALL LUMBER& BUILDING SUPPLIES

Open Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri & Sat10 am to 5 pm

PHONE 250-269-0043Find us at 280 Lower Inonoaklin Rd.

Edgewood, BC

CONSTRUCTION • HOME • GARDEN • RECYCLING

• Ready Mix Concrete •• Lock Blocks • Septic Tanks •

• Drain Rock •• Road Crush • Sand & Gravel •

• Dump Trucks • Excavator •• Crusher •

• Coloured Concrete •• Site Preparation •

Box 1001, Nakusp, BC, V0G 1R0Ph. 265-4615 • 265-4328 (eves)

Lower Arrow Contracting• Residential & Commercial

ConstructionProperty development, subdivision & services

For estimates or consultation callBob or Kevin (250) 269-7497

BUSINESS DIRECTORY

Larry’s AutoTruck Repairs

24 hour towingBCAA, Slocan, BC

355-2632

NAKUSP GLASSNAKUSP GLASSNAKUSP GLASSNAKUSP GLASSNAKUSP GLASS201 Broadway

265-3252The clear choice forall your glass needs!

SALES & SERVICE98 - 1st Street, Nakusp • 265-4911

OPEN 6 DAYS A WEEKCHAINSAWS• Stihl• HusqvarnaMOWERS• Snapper• Toro• Lawnboy

TRIMMERS• Homelite• Stihl • Toro• HusqvarnaSMALL ENGINES• Tecumseh• Briggs & Stratton

24 HOUR TOWING1007 HWY 23, NAKUSP

PH: 265-4577

• welding repairs • full service &repair • licenced technician • radiator

repairs & service • mobile serviceavailable • fast, friendly service

Hiway 6 Service

Nakusp 265-4644

BCAA Towing

Caribou Service(250) 265-3191

5549 Frontage RoadBurton, BC

24 Hr Towing and RecoveryAuto Repairs & Tires

Auto Parts

REAL ESTATE

AUTOMOTIVE • SMALL MOTORS • EXCAVATING • MACHINE SHOP

Installation and maintenance

call Jim Berrill

(250) 359-5922

JEMS Propane Ltd.

Tammy Peitzsche“Your Valley Specialist” - Honesty - Integrity - Customer ServiceFree Market Evaluationisoldit@shaw.ca365-9640

Renovations this winter?Finishing, Renovations,

Cabinets

Reliable work in the Slocan

Valley for thirty years

SpanglerWorks 250-358-2145

ICF Building Products"We provide Star Service"

1-888-289-4731

111 Mcdonald Drive, Nelson, BCph 250-352-3191

sales@mainjet.ca • www.mainjet.ca

PAULA CONRADHOME: (250) 358-2707

SELKIRK REALTY265-3635

FREE CONSULTATION

E-mail: paulaconrad@royallepage.caWebsite: www.royallepage.ca/selkirkrealty

GRAVELEdgewood Pitrun Gravel$10 per yard plus delivery

Equipment For Hire:200 Excavator + Tandem Dump

Find us: Hwy 6 on Calner Rd - See BillLeave Message: (250) 763-1582

High Flow DeepExtraction Cleaning

•Carpets •Upholstery •Cars•Motorhomes •Spring Cleaning

•Furnace Vents •Mold Remediation•Flood Damage

Ambient IndoorRemediationServing all of your

indoor air quality needs.Call for your quote today!226-7269 • 521-0075

EQUIPMENT RENTAL

358-7769

AVA’SAVA’SAVA’SAVA’SAVA’SHair StudioHair StudioHair StudioHair StudioHair Studio

Far right entrance of the Wild Rose Restaurant in Rosebery

Tuesday to Friday 10-4open late Thursdays

Beside Slocan Park Service

2976 Highway 6, Slocan Park

LAUNDROMAT

HAIR

SEWING

Advertise in our business directory$10 or $18.50 (+GST) per issue

Email us —valleyvoice@netidea.com for details

and will develop its recommendations duringthe coming 8 months.Interested residents are asked to submit theirname, phone and email contacts to BarbYeomans, 358-7765, yeomansb@netidea.comor Dave Wahn, 352-8159, dwahn@rdck.bc.caBY MARCH 10 2007.

PLUMBINGAQUALAB PLUMBING SERVICES.Ticketed. Insured. Local. 229-4391 or toll-freeat 1-877-224-4391 or aqualab@shaw.ca.

REAL ESTATE10 ACRES CALDER RD. and #6HIGHWAY EDGEWOOD. Flat treed landwith water. $149,000 plus GST. Phone 250-763-1582.

SERVICESRESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIALSEPTIC TANK CLEANING: “Serving theValley” 7 days/wk, 24-hr. All-Around SepticServices, Don Brown (250) 354-3644,emergency 352-5676.ROGAN ELECTRIC Residential,commercial, industrial wiring. Localreferences available. All work guaranteed. “Weget the job done.” 353-9638.

TRAVELCUSTOM VACATION PLANNING -experienced, fair & friendly service that youcan trust. NO DREAMER IS EVER TOOSMALL. NO DREAM IS EVER TOO BIG.Robyn Grant - 250-265-9948 - Nakusp. Inpartnership with UNIGLOBE, Servingtravellers since 1998.

Notes from the RCMPTHE FOLLOWING REPORTS ARE BASED ON PRESS RELEASES AND MAY HAVE BEEN EDITED

WANTEDSEEKING TWO + BEDROOM RENTALin West Kootenays. Must have shelter (orpotential) for two calm goats by April 15. 226-6885 or 226-7500.

SLOCAN VALLEY RECREATIONKIDS SOCCER REGISTRATION - Nowunderway for teams from Slocan to CrescentValley. Call for details

SEED EXCHANGE DAY - Sunday, March4th Vallican Whole Community Centre. 10a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission by donation

REPTILES OF THE SOUTHERNINTERIOR - Monday, March 5th BrentKennedy School. 7 p.m.

WINLAW HALL ART & DANCEPROGRAMS: Beginning Feb.22nd(Thurs.)-Painting,Drawing,Composition -9:00 a.m; Improv dance- 7:00 p.m. Phone226-0021. Beginning March 7th(Wed.): LifeDrawing Introduction - 9:00 a.m.;Calligraphy & Inkbrush - 1:30 p.m.; AfricanDance - 5:30 p.m. All classes on-going untilMay 30th.

BASICS OF SLAUGHTERING - WithDave Anderson. Wed. March 14th. 6:30 to8:30 p.m. Vallican Whole CommunityCentre. Free.

226-0008

Nakusp•The Nakusp RCMP detachment

was advised by a resident of Nakuspthat someone had tried to steal his utilitytrailer. The thief backed up a pickuptruck, and attempted to hook it up tothe trailer. The theft was interrupted bythe homeowner making himself visible.The pickup left the area too quickly toobtain license plate numbers. This is areminder to owners of quads,snowmobiles, trailers, etc. to make sureyour property is secure.Kaslo

•The Kaslo RCMP isinvestigating the theft of several CDs.On the evening of Saturday February

17 at the ambulance station, unknownperson(s) entered an unlocked vehicleand stole 20 to 30 CDs. Anyone withinformation is asked to call the KasloRCMP or Crimestoppers.

•On February 19, the KasloRCMP received a complaint of a dogchasing deer in the area of Wardnerand 9th Streets. As a result of theinvestigation, the dog owner wascharged under the Wildlife Act forallowing the dog to unlawfullypursue game.

•Kaslo RCMP would like toremind drivers to continue to usecaution while driving, as roadsurfaces can still be unpredictable.

by Jan McMurrayIn our last issue, we incorrectly

reported that the Coffee Creek bridgereplacement project had beenpostponed. The project shut down fora longer period than expected overChristmas because of avalanche

Coffee Creek/Enterprise Creek bridge projects updateconcerns in January. However,Surespan Construction is back on thejob, which is still scheduled to becompleted by the end of June.

Bob Corey, Project Manager,Ministry of Transportation in Nelsoncalled to let us know that it is in factthe Enterprise Creek bridge

replacement project that has beenpostponed due to the unusually highsnowpack this year, which couldcreate dangerously high levels inEnterprise Creek during springrunoff. This project is scheduled tobegin on or around July 3 and to becompleted by October 31.

The Canada Revenue AgencyCommunity Volunteer Tax program isdesigned to help those with lower in-comes to complete and file their incometax returns. The volunteer co-ordinatorin the Nakusp district is MarilynBoxwell. Contact her at 265-0075 fortax package pickup/drop-off locations,tax clinic information or referral to a toll-free Canada Revenue Agency servicerepresentative, or to arrange personalassistance, offered by one of the localtax team members on a free andconfidential basis. Canada RevenueAgency has set income ceilings for thisprogram at $25,000 for singles, $30,000for couples, $30,000 plus $2,000 perchild for families.

Help offered atincome tax time

The Valley Voice February 28, 2007COMMUNITY16

12 Lake Avenue • Silverton, BC

Grand OpeningSpecial for theMonth of March

Paradise Restaurant &Italian Pizzeria

offers you1 Large Pepperoni Pizza for $10

Pick-up onlyThis coupon valid March, 2007

The Canadian FLIKS Festivalrolls out the best in Canadian filmMarch 8-10 at the Capitol Theatre inNelson. The festival’s themes andlocations truly span the globe thisyear – from the depths of the oceans,to the top of the world, to the ArcticCircle, to the far reaches of theOrient.

Festival guest and giftedunderwater photographer Rob Stewartopens the festival Thursday, March 8with the Kootenay premiere of hisbeautiful and hard-hitting documentary,Sharkwater. Not your averageunderwater film, Sharkwater is a pleafor international cooperation to save thatmost feared of marine creatures, theshark, from catastrophic over-fishing.Filmed and screened in Hi Definition,Sharkwater was voted one of the top10 films by the Toronto Film Fest group.

Just re-released after beingunavailable for 30 years, The Man WhoSkied Down Everest, Canada’s firstfeature film to win an Oscar, screens

Friday, March 9. The film follows worldchampion skier Yuichiro Miura and histeam as they overcome frostbite, icefalls,illness, and even death to ascend andthen descend Mount Everest.

Vic Sarin’s juicy period dramaPartition headlines Saturday night. It’sa beautiful, tragic story of forbiddenlove, set in the time of India’s separationfrom Pakistan. It stars Kristen Kreuk,who may be attending the festival withdirector Sarin.

On the Trail of Igor Rizzi alsoscreens Friday night and is part of theSpotlight on Quebec program. If you’rea fan of Jim Jarmush or Aki Kaurismäki,this dry, humorous film about a guygoing nowhere won’t disappoint. Votedone of Canada’s top 10 films and Best

First Canadian Feature at the TorontoInternational Film Festival.

The Saturday matinee is The WhitePlanet, a documentary for the wholefamily about the fantastically unfamiliarworld of all four Arctic seasons. Alsoscreening on Saturday afternoon is TheJournals of Knud Rasmussen, the muchawaited second feature by the directorof Atanarjuat the Fast Runner.

Dramatic features A Stones’ Throwand The Secret Life of Happy Peopleround out this year’s festival.

Film tickets and festival passes areon sale February 25 at Otter Books inNelson, Sunnyside Naturals in Kaslo,and Pete’s TV in Castlegar. For moreinformation go to www.fliks.ca or calltoll-free 1-866-FLIKSca.

Nelson’s Capitol Theatre hosts Canadian FLIKS Festival

Rob Stewart’s High Definition underwater documentary Sharkwater opens theCanadian FLIKS Fest March 8-10 at Nelson’s Capitol Theatre.

submittedA new CD called Dream On,

featuring the meditative sounds of thebansuri, has just been released byPaul Gibbons, also known locally as‘Garbanzo’ from his stage name intheatre and clowning. The bansuri isa bamboo flute from India with a verywarm, fluid and serene sound.

“It is an ancient instrument ofgreat simplicity – just a hollow pieceof reed with six or seven finger holes

Paul Gibbons to hold release party for new CD– but with practice it can be used toplay the complexities of Indian,Western, and other world music,” heexplains.

‘Garbanzo’ has always preferredthe sound of a bamboo flute to thatof a metal one, and has been playingthe bansuri for 25 years. His flutesare made in Mysore, India byRavishankar Mishra.

The songs on Dream On arebased on Eastern scales combined

with gentle percussion and theambience of atmospheric electronics.Reports are in that it can help youchill, calm your kids before bedtime,soothe your cats, put you in the yogamood and let you, well – dream on.

For more information or topurchase, call 358-2332. Available inNew Denver at Raven’s Nest, inSilverton at Gaze ’n Chat andHorsefeathers, and soon at otherSlocan Valley locations.

by Jan McMurray•The board moved towards

providing mixed plastics recycling at all

the recycling depots in the West WasteManagement area, which includes theArrow Lakes and Slocan Valleys. The

board is willing to spend $100,000 peryear to deliver the expanded recyclingprogram. The service depends onnegotiations with Waste Managementof Canada, the company that the RDCKhas contracted to provide recyclingservices in our area.

•Director Holland’s idea ofestablishing Local GovernmentHomeowner Grants will be investigatedfurther. RDCK staff was directed towork with Director Holland to preparea proposal for Local GovernmentHomeowner Grants to be forwarded tothe Association of Kootenay/BoundaryLocal Governments for consideration.

•The RDCK will do a feasibilitystudy to look at a flood protectionservice for residents in the Indian PointRoad area of the Slocan Valley. Thiswas the area most impacted by lastspring’s flood. The study will assess thepotential for ongoing flooding andprovide options and costs for floodprotection. With this information,residents will be able to decide whetheror not they would be willing to be taxedfor flood protection. The decision toundertake this study comes from arequest from Indian Point residentMarcia Braundy, who made a case thatongoing flooding in this area is verypossible in a presentation to the RDCKRural Affairs Committee.

•RDCK staff has drafted adocument outlining the process for theDistrict to acquire water systems. Thedraft was forwarded to the Ministry ofCommunity Services for review.

•The board received notice from theEnvironmental Assessment Office(EAO) that the Glacier/Howserindependent power project is in theearly stages of the environmental

assessment process. The EAO invitedthe RDCK to participate in the reviewof the project. The board agreed.

•The board decided to send a letterto Minister of Agriculture and Lands PatBell regarding the Mountain CaribouRecovery Plan. The letter will advisethat the RDCK board is committed tothe recovery of mountain caribou andother species at risk and supports a realis-tic and feasible plan that will balanceenvironmental, social and economicexpectations and which will includeconsultation with local industry and thecommunity. The letter will also requestthat the government consult local com-munities and industry in the preparationof the needed analyses so that informeddecisions can be made on a caribourecovery plan.

•BC Hydro grants-in-lieu will nowbe lumped in with Grants in Aid. Theywill all be simply called “grants” fromnow on. Directors are encouraged togive grants of a minimum of $250.

•Rural directors will be paid anoffice allowance of $400 per month tooffset the costs of running home offices.

•Marc Septav, the alternate directorfor Slocan, was appointed to theSouthern Interior Communities Moun-tain Pine Beetle Steering Committee.Area D

•Staff was asked to provide a briefpreliminary report on developing a planto give Kootenay Lake residentsadvance notice of possible flooding dueto operations at Duncan or Libby damsduring extreme weather events.Area H

•An application from the SlocanValley Heritage Trail Society for$14,619 from the Community TourismProgram was approved.

Area K•The bylaw amendment that would

allow for the re-zoning of propertyowned by Walter and Shirley Coatesabout one km north of the Village ofNakusp off Hot Springs Road was giventwo readings and referred to a publichearing. The owners would like to re-zone an approximately 45-acre piece oftheir property from agricultural tocommunity residential for the purposesof creating 24 lots. The first phase wouldsee eight lots created, with a communitywater system. Phases II and III wouldsee 16 more lots and a community sewersystem. Before the re-zoning is final-ized, the Coates will need approval fromthe Agricultural Land Commission andthe Ministry of Transportation. TheRDCK has also decided to withholdfinal adoption of the bylaw until a bufferis installed between the proposeddevelopment area and the adjacent farmproperty. A further complication for theCoates is that the Agricultural LandReserve boundary is under dispute andcould impact phases II and III of theirproposed development.

•The bylaw amendment that wouldallow for the re-zoning of propertyowned by Jodi and Dean McLean onLower Arrow Lake south of Fauquierwas given two readings and referred toa public hearing. The McLeans’ 48-acreproperty is currently zoned agricultural.They would like to re-zone a 7.5-acreportion in the northwest corner of theproperty to small scale tourism commer-cial. They plan to build three cabins fortourism accommodation, and a singlefamily dwelling. They would like to re-zone the rest of the property to countryresidential. The property does not havedirect access to the public road system.

RDCK board, February 24: Mixed plastics recycling coming soon