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August 06, 2015 edition of the Merritt Herald
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Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905
MERRITT HERALDmerrittherald.com bcclassified.com
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
3673 DeWolf Way • 250-378-5030
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FIRE INJURES ONEHousefire on Clapperton sends occupant to hospital / Page 2
RACERS ROARStock car racers bring Merritt Speedway to life / Page 17
A LITTLE BIT COUNTRYPutting on a new country music festival four years later/ PAGE 5
Didn’t get enough of the Rockin’ River Music Festival? Check out the Herald’s exclusive photos/ PAGES 12-13
IN THE SHADOW OF A MOUNTAIN
PHOTO SPREAD
Headliner Lady Antebellum played the festival on Friday, July 31. Right to left: Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood. Michael Potestio/Herald
www.merrittherald.com 2 • THURSDAY, August 6, 2015
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
Advertising: [email protected]: [email protected]: [email protected]
MERRITT HERALD
Donations desperately needed for spay and neuter services. Donations can be to made to The Angel’s Animal Rescue Society at The Interior Savings Credit Union, Account #1193739.
Adopt a Pet
Nina
“Breaking the Chain of Abuse”
Please make an appointment to visitPh: (250) 315-5276
E: [email protected] other future best friends @ www.angelsanimalrescue.ca
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Max OttoMax is extremely well trained, affectionate and loving. He is a natural protector and will make sure your car and house are safe. He gets along well with other dogs both large and small. He loves to play, swim, hike and has ex-cellent house manners.
Nina is a medium size dog looking for an active adult family to call her own. She is in-dependent, travels well, is house trained and well mannered.
Otto is a very sweet medium size boy with LOTS of puppy energy. He is house trained and rides well in the car. He behaves well in public and walks well on a leash. He would love an active family with no small animals (cats, gerbils, rab-bits etc) We suggest no small children.
Physiotherapy Servicesin Merritt
“Good Care with a Good Heart.”
• Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS) for Chronic PainUsing acupuncture needles to treat tight, shortened, and tensed-up muscle bands, which can contribute to abnormal functioning of the nervous system.Example: neck, back, shoulder & hip pain issues
• Ultrasound Therapy For pain relief from sprain/strains injuries to soft-tissue like muscle, ligaments, etc.
• Manual Therapy Hands-on treatment option for treating stiff joints and tight muscles.
• Exercise TherapyExercise prescription, training, education for building muscular endurance, strength, improving posture, improving work and sports performance.
• Post-Surgical or Post-Fracture RehabilitationTreat pain, swelling, stiffness, mobility and strength issues.
• Sports Injuries Soccer, rugby, lacrosse, baseball - sprain/strain injuries.
Call our Kamloops Office to Book Your Appointment with
Robinder “Robin” Gill, BPT, MPT-Australia Ph: (250) 318-2018E: [email protected]
Registered Physical Therapist
www.northkamloopsphysiotherapy.com
No Referral
Required
WITH IN-SCHOOL MENTORING
TO BECOME A MENTOR IN MERRITT CALL 250-280-2327
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Adult mentors needed! Please contact: Brittney Parks, Mentoring Coordinator for [email protected]
The In-School Mentoring program provides girls and boys with a role model and a friend to talk to. Mentors meet with their mentee for 1 hour per week and engage in activities such as board games, crafts or just hang out in the playground.
MERRITT CENTENNIAL BOOSTER CLUB
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
MONDAY, AUGUST 10 @ 6 PMLOCATION: Ska-lu-la Workshop
EVERYONE WELCOME!
HOUSEFIRE INJURES ONE
Merritt Fire Rescue Department (MFRD) was called to a house on the corner of Clapperton Avenue and Orme Street yesterday morning (Aug. 5) to suppress a fire that was already in full blaze when they arrived.
According to Fire Chief Dave Tomkinson, the blaze injured one.
“One occupant of the building had been taken to the hospital with some burns and smoke inhala-tion,” he said Wednesday morning.
BC Emergency Health Services con-firmed the patient was taken to Kamloops in critical condition.
A total of 19 firefight-ers responded, with the ladder truck and engine.
Don Loewen, a neighbour, said his fam-ily heard the sirens at around 5:30 a.m., and his son, whose bedroom faces the now decimated home, told them it was on fire. By then the fire department had already arrived, and had it out within minutes.
“It was very efficiently and professionally done, for sure,” he said.
[The house] definitely looks gutted from this standpoint, we’ll have to investigate further,” said Tomkinson.
Fire investigators will now look into the cause.
David DyckTHE MERRITT HERALD
A single occupant was taken to hospital with burns. Jody Tait Loewen/Submitted photo
Neighbours said the blaze was brought under control within minutes. Jody Tait Loewen/Submitted photo
www.merrittherald.com THURSDAY, August 6, 2015 • 3
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
Celebrating lives with dignity
MERRITT FUNERAL CHAPELA Division of Service Corporation International (Canada) ULC
• FUNERAL SERVICES • CREMATION • BURIAL• MONUMENTS• COMPASSION HELPLINE• ESTATE FRAUD PROTECTION • 100% SERVICE GUARANTEE
A Funeral Pre Planning advisorwill be available at the
Merritt Funeral Chapel
on the second and fourth
Friday of the month, be-
tween the hours of 10am -
3pm (or by appointment).
A Personal Planning
Guide will be provided.
250-378-2141or 1-800-668-3379
2113 Granite Ave. Merritt, BCwww.MerrittFuneralChapel.com
Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri 10:00am - 3:00pm
Wednesday 1:00pm - 6:00pm
On Call 24 Hours A Day
Century 21CoopersFieldsExtra Foods*Safeway*Home HardwareRona*Canadian Tire*Jysk*Natures Fare*
Smartsource*
• Food bank looking for fresh produceAs opposed to donating the stereotypical can of cranberry sauce to the food bank, Merritt residents can give fresh garden vegetables.
DiD you piCk up TuESDay’S HERalD?
•Water use restricted on Coldwater
Call Mike today. He has the answers! 1-877-517-6477
TIRED OF CREDIT PROBLEMS?
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DIFFICULTY ESTABLISHING CREDIT?
Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905MERRITT HERALD
merrittherald.com
bcclassified.com
GETTING FRESHThe food bank is asking Merrittonians for excess produce
/ Page 3WHERE THEY ARE NOWMSS grads achieving greatness
around the country/ Page 9
Interim CAO named
The City of Merritt has named public works manager Shawn Boven as its interim chief administrative officer effective Monday, August 10.
Current CAO Allan Chabot will be leaving for the same job in Revelstoke, and his last day at the City of Merritt is Friday, August 7.
The CAO position oversees the management and operations of city staff, ensures policies, programs and other directions of council are implemented and advises council on city affairs.Merritt Mayor Neil Menard said
council appointed Boven because he’s been an interim CAO in the past.
City council is still leaning toward hiring a corporate officer to work under the CAO, but council wants to have the CAO position filled first.Once it is, council will consult
with their new CAO before decid-ing whether or not to hire a corpo-rate officer.Deciding what to do about the
vacant economic development man-ager position is a decision council will make once they hire and con-sult their permanent CAO as well, Menard said.Menard has told the Herald
he wants to recruit a permanent CAO by the end of the year and is working with the municipal recruit-
ing firm Ravenhill Group to find Chabot’s permanent replacement.
“We definitely want the new CAO’s input,” Menard said.“I’m hoping that the person
we hire will be able give us some very positive guidance on what we should do,” he said.Boven said he’s honoured to be
able to assist council in this time of transition.“I’m just excited for the oppor-
tunity and to work with council and staff in a greater capacity than I have been,” Boven told the Herald.
Boven served as an interim CAO back in 2013 when the position was last vacated, sharing the duties of the role with leisure services man-ager Larry Plotnikoff.That, however, won’t be the case
this time around as Boven will be responsible for all the duties that come with the CAO job in addition to his role as public works manager.
Public works manager Shawn Boven will temporarily take over from outgoing chief administrative officer Allan Chabot on Aug. 10.
Responding to a continuing level 4 drought, the
province has placed a temporary water use restric-
tion on the Coldwater River and its tributaries.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural
Resource Operations said the measures are being
put in place to protect coho, chinook and steelhead
salmon populations, which are threatened by low
stream flows. The restrictions went into place Friday at mid-
night. Water from the river may only be diverted from
6 p.m. to 6 a.m.This will continue for a week and a half, until
Aug. 11, when the restriction will escalate. At that
time, no water whatsoever may be diverted from
the river, until Sept. 30.“These measures strike a balance between pro-
viding water during a critical time for agricultural
producers, while still taking the action necessary to
protect fish populations,” the ministry stated in a
press release.There are 50 water licenses affected by this
restriction.The Nicola Valley has been suffering from a
Level 4 “extremely dry” drought since July 21.
On July 22, all angling was suspended on the
Coldwater River, as well as the Nicola and Spius
rivers.
Water use restricted on Coldwater
Public works manager Shawn Boven will tempo-rarily take over from outgoing chief administra-tive officer Allan Chabot on Aug. 10.
Responding to a continuing Level 4 drought, the province has placed a temporary water use restriction on the Coldwater River.
• Interim CAO named
ToDay’S HERalD FlyERS *Selected distribution
Aug. 4 Headlines
Available at news stands
today.
• SPORTS: MSS grads doing well around Canada
opinion ------------------------------------------ 6-7Health --------------------------------------------- 16 Sports --------------------------------------------- 17 Classifieds --------------------------------------- 20
INSIDE
Find the Herald onlinewww.merrittherald.com
Merritt Herald
@MerrittHerald
Strong winds have brought smoky skies to Merritt from wildfires burning to the west of the Nicola Valley.
The BC Wildfire Service says it’s received many reports and questions about smoke in areas of southern B.C., particularly in the Nicola and the South Thompson.
However, none of the wildfires burning in the Kamloops Fire Centre have caused the smoke that’s settling in the local valleys, fire information officer Kelsey Winter told the Herald.
Wildfires burning on the west coast of the province are the sources of the smoke that’s settled here.
“[The smoke] hasn’t been able to lift up into the upper atmosphere yet, so right now we’re just socked in from those fires on the coast,” Winter said.
There are currently no active wildfires in the Merritt Fire Zone. The last was the fire that broke out in a wood waste pile at a hogfuel plant in Lower Nicola last week. That fire has since been extinguished.
At the moment, no smoky skies advisory has been issued due to the smoke, Winter said.
While that could change, she said the fire centre is expecting some rain in the Merritt Fire Zone today that could help clear up the smoke.
The smoke in the Nicola Valley is coming from fires on the coast settling in valley bot-toms around the B.C. Interior. It is also drifting in from fires such as the Wood Lake fire near Harrison Hot Springs, and the Cougar Creek fire west of Boston Bar.
The Wood Lake fire was discovered on
Sunday about 20 kilometres north of Harrison Hot Springs and has grown to an estimated 650 hectares in size as of Wednesday morning.
On its webpage, the BC Wildfire Service stated the fire is suspected to have been human-caused, and 135 firefighters along with nine helicopters are attacking it.
Although it’s burning in a “much-used recre-ational forested area,” the BC Wildfire Service states it isn’t a threat to homes or structures, and the fire is currently burning northward away from Harrison Hot Springs.
Some nearby campers, however, were moved out of the area.
The fire is not contained at the moment.
The Cougar Creek wildfire, south of the Nahatlatch River, was discovered a month ago and is 45 per cent contained. It is nearly 2,900 hectares in size and 77 firefighters along with four helicopters are working to extinguish it.
Winter said the wildfire danger rating is cur-rently extreme in the Merritt Fire Zone and the expected rain is only about one to three mil-limetres, meaning it won’t do much to drop the fire danger rating.
The BC Wildfire Service is advising the pub-lic that if they spot a column of smoke — not general haziness — or a wildfire, please report it immediately by calling *5555 or 1-800-663-5555.
Westerly wildfires causing smoky skies in Nicola Valley
The Double D Inn is getting a makeover.
The 17-bed motel, located along Nicola Avenue at the western entrance to Merritt, will undergo renovations this fall.
Expected to be com-plete by November, the renovations include three
new rooms, new landscap-ing, new siding, doors and windows, and a residence for soon-to-be caretaker Steve Ahuja, whose father owns the business.
The motel will also be renamed the River Inn.
To accommodate the new rooms, a second floor will be built atop one of the three buildings the motel consists of.
Last Tuesday, city
council approved a devel-opment permit needed to complete these renova-tions.
A report to city coun-cil stated this project will improve the overall image of Merritt’s western gate-way and be appealing to residents and visitors.
“It’s going to clean up that side of town for sure,” Ahuja said.
Merritt Mayor Neil
Menard said that the Double D Inn has looked like an “eyesore” in the past and suggested staff inform the owner to keep the motel looking neat, emphasizing that it’s one of the first buildings one sees when driving into Merritt from Highway 8.
Once the new rooms are in place, Ahuja said he plans to have the exist-ing ones renovated in
phases.“The whole building’s
going to get renovated,” he said.
“All new furniture, T.V.s, kitchens, wash-rooms.”
The Double D Inn was built in the 1960s Ahuja said.
He said the renovations will cost approximately $350,000 and the motel is in need of a facelift.
Council approves Double D makeoverMichael PotestioTHE MERRITT HERALD
Michael PotestioTHE MERRITT HERALD
The Wood Lake fire near Harrison Hot Springs is responsible for some of the smoke around Merritt. BC Wildfires photo
www.merrittherald.com 4 • THURSDAY, August 6, 2015
Next council meeting: Tuesday, August 11, 2015Council agendas and minutes at www.merritt.ca
City of Merritt H 2185 Voght Street, Box 189Merritt, BC V1K 1B8 H Phone: 250-378-4224
You’re Invited!to meet with Mayor Menard on the 2nd and
4th Wednesdays in August between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.,
in the Mayor’s Office at City Hall (second floor), 2185 Voght Street.
If you would like to schedule a particular time to meet with the Mayor at a Drop-In session please call reception at City Hall 250-378-4224.
Interested citizens are welcome to stop by, say hello and
discuss issues and opportunities for the City, its residents
and businesses.
THERE IS NO WATERING ON WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, and SUNDAY!
Sprinkling violations will result in a $50 ne for each offense.
Basic Sprinklers
Automatic Sprinklers
6 am - 8 am & 7 pm - 10 pm EVEN ADDRESS: Monday & Friday
ODD ADDRESS: Tuesday & Saturday
Midnight am to 4 amEVEN ADDRESS: Monday & Friday
ODD ADDRESS: Tuesday & Saturday
WATERING IS ONLY PERMITTED during the following days and times (and this includes soaker hoses):
Expanded watering restrictions are now in effect until September 30th or further notice.
It is vital that we all understand how important water regulations are to the community. The water we use in Merritt is the single most valuable resource that we have in our community. Most residents comply with sprinkling restrictions, and the City is able to maintain the city reservoirs at reasonable levels for all users including re protection. With your help we can insure that this resource continues to ow uninterrupted this year and in years to come. Of course if it’s raining, don’t water at all! There are many ways to conserve water both indoors and out. Please do your part. Sprinkling violations will result in a $50 ne for each offense.
Watering restrictions
RESTRICTRICTEDS RIRIRIC
Please call (250) 378-8628 for more information.
BSpr
WATE
EeffeIMPORTANT
NOTICE
As spring wanes and summer arrives many of us are aware of the unusual amount of precipitation that has fallen on our City. With this rain and warmer weather comes plant growth and it does not require a lot of searching to find out-of-control grass and weeds in empty lots, alleys and boulevards. We all want Merritt and the neighborhoods we call home to look the best that they can be. A frequent question to the City bylaw department is “Who is responsible for maintenance of boulevards and lanes?” The short answer is the adjacent property owner. Just as with winter snow, the adjacent property owner is responsible for shoveling the sidewalk in front of their home, so during the rest of the year the adjacent property owner is responsible for keeping the boulevard and lane abutting their property in a neat and tidy condition.
As a property owner you are responsible for the vegetative growth outside your property lines to the curb and if there is an alley you are responsible to the centre of that alley that abuts your property. We may all even want to consider some of our neighbours who for very good reasons may not be as able.
With this in mind Merritt’s Nuisance Abatement Bylaw provides for minimum property standards within City limits. This Bylaw allows the City to regulate and in some cases hire outside contractors to complete any work that is not done by the property owners.
Unless we all do our individual part to maintain our neighbourhoods it could simply not be done. One of the pleasures of living in a smaller community like ours is that the little extra that we contribute can translate to a huge difference that will positively reflect on the City of Merritt as somewhere great to live.
HELP KEEP MERRITT’S BOULEVARDS AND LANES CLEAN
2014 annual report: fire rescue servicesThe following is an excerpt from the City of Merritt regular council meeting agenda for July 28, 2015
Looking towards 2015
For the Merritt Fire Rescue Department, the operational tempo for 2015 is expected to increase over former years as the depart-ment migrates to FDM Elink Software in our Fire Dispatch Center located at Kamloops Fire and Rescue.
The new software will simplify dispatch-ing to first responder medical emergencies when ambulance para-medics are delayed.
It does this by integrating BC Ambulance incident information with our fire department’s dis-patch system.
The result will be proper alloca-tion of resources and improved fire depart-ment response times to first responder medical emergencies within our community.
A continued goal for 2015 is to increase the focus towards pre-fire planning of major industrial sites within our community and to work with their staff to ensure their emer-gency preparedness.
Since being del-egated the manage-ment of the Municipal
Emergency Program, the demand for train-ing, planning, input, project management and public education continues to increase as the program devel-ops.
The city has received grant fund-ing to host emergency operations center logistic function train-ing for key personnel in the fall of 2015.
The training divi-sion will focus their efforts on expanding firefighter knowledge through technical instruction beyond that of the regular training program.
The Department intends to host courses pertaining to emergen-cy vehicle operations, fire service instructor, fire officer program training, advanced level auto extrication and hazardous mate-rials response; plus, complete the certifi-cation of additional medical first respond-ers.
The department will work to meet the new requirements of the British Columbia Fire Service minimum training standards for both firefighters and fire officers.
Final evaluations of
firefighters for NFPA Firefighter II certifica-tion will occur in the winter of 2015.
The continuation of the fire service work experience pro-gram (WEP) is con-sidered a priority to ensure an adequate level of service is pro-vided.
WEP firefighters enhance the response of the city’s paid-on-call firefighters who find themselves with less time available to respond to emergen-cies during day-time working hours.
The MFRD is con-fident the WEP will
remain viable in future years.
Constant inter-est is expressed by candidates willing to relocate to the City of Merritt after complet-ing training in various fire academies in col-leges across Canada.
Their efforts are focused on gaining firefighting experience as they pursue a career in the fire service.
The WEP continues to offer the citizens of Merritt an enhanced level of service at a nominal cost.
(See the full report at www.merritt.ca)
www.merrittherald.com THURSDAY, August 6, 2015 • 5
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
Merritt Timber Supply Area Timber Supply Review
Public Open HouseThe province’s chief forester will be setting a new allowable annual cut – the maximum volume of timber available for harvest each year – for the Merritt TSA later this year.
Section 8 of the Forest Act lists the factors that the chief forester must consider when determining an allowable annual cut. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations staff have been collecting and analyzing this information and the key findings are summarized in a discussion paper that is available for public review.
An open house has been scheduled as outlined below to provide an opportunity for members of the public to review the discussion paper and to ask questions.
Public Open House Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 Time: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Location: Room #2, Merritt Civic Center
1950 Mamette Avenue, Merritt, B.C.
Public feedback on the discussion paper will be considered by the chief forester before the new allowable annual cut is determined. The discussion paper provides the results of the timber supply analysis, including a base case harvest forecast. It also describes the geography, natural resources and current forest management practices of the Merritt Timber Supply Area.
The public review and comment period for the Merritt Timber Supply Review began with a news release on July 22, 2015. Comments will be accepted until September 23, 2015. The discussion paper can be viewed at: https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hts/tsa/tsa18/index.htm (look for the words “Discussion Paper” in blue).
For more information about the open house contact: Bruce D. Walter, R.P.F. Stewardship Officer / First Nations Relations Cascades Natural Resource District. Email: [email protected]
Telephone: (250) 378-8421. Be advised that any response to this advertisement will be provided to the public upon request.
IN THE SHADOW OF A MOUNTAIN
Despite losing money and selling fewer tickets than expected, Rockin’ River Music Festival organizer Kenny Hess was still happy with its outcome.
“A lot of people left very, very happy, so we feel on a musical level it was an extreme success,” Hess said.
Over the course of the four-day festival, a little less than 25,000 tickets were sold, he said.
“We would have liked to [have] hit 35,000 over the weekend,” he told the Herald.
Saturday, when Dierks Bently played, saw the larg-est crowd at the festival site with an estimated 6,500 people, Hess said.
He said the festival wasn’t financially successful, costing about $1.8 million, up from the average of $1.3 million it cost to hold the event at its former loca-tion in Mission, B.C.
Hess said the numbers were good enough to sug-gest the festival has the potential to be as big as the former Merritt Mountain Music Festival, but can be maintained as a family event.
“There was a lot going on that the kids really enjoyed and the parents still had a great time,” Hess said. Kids under 12 were allowed in free of charge.
RCMP Sgt. Norm Flemming said the festival had a reasonably well-behaved crowd.
“We didn’t have anything untoward ongoing and didn’t have any horrific problems like we may have had in the old days of the Merritt Mountain Music Festival,” he said.
Flemming said police responded to 150 calls for service between last Thursday and Monday, with only about 10 per cent of them coming from the festival site for drug or alcohol related incidents such as drunk in public calls.
Hess said he believes this festival left a positive mark on the community and has high hopes for its return next year.
Musical acts are already being lined up to play at the 2016 Rockin’ River Music Festival, which has a 10-year lease in place for the festival grounds, Hess said.
Country musician Sam Hunt has been confirmed for the 2016 lineup
“He’s the hottest thing in country music,” Hess said. “When you talk to anybody, he’s the guy every-body expects to be the biggest artist out there next year, so we’re pretty happy about that,” Hess said.
The Rockin’ River Music Festival found a new home in Merritt after outgrowing the Mission Raceway Park.
This site is bigger and has more campsites than the one in Mission, but the turnout this year was similar to the crowds of about 20,000 people Hess said the three-day Mission festival attracted over the course of the three-day event during the six years it was held down south.
Last October when organizer Kenny Hess announced the festival was coming to Merritt, he told the Herald he hoped to see the event draw about 15,000 people per day to the site — totalling 60,000 over the course of the long weekend.
Despite the slow start, the Rockin’ River Music Festival is the new sheriff in town replacing the famed Merritt Mountain Music Festival, which was held in Merritt for the last time four years ago.
At that festival’s peak in 2005 it had an attendance of approximately 148,000 people and featured Tim McGraw as the headliner.
Mountainfest’s attendance waned in the following years, however, with only 12,000 people showing up
in 2009. The festival needed 18,000 paying customers to
make a profit in 2009, and lost money in 2008 and 2009, according to an article in the Vancouver Sun.
The Merritt Mountain Music Festival was can-celled for 2010 after a 17-year run, but was brought back to life for what would be the last festival in 2011.
Hess, who performed at Mountainfest himself, said he thinks the festival world has advanced considerably since the days of the old festival.
“Now, artists make all their money touring, they don’t make money off records, so there’s so much more planning, so much more thought, there’s so much more information available,” Hess said, noting when Mountainfest was in its heyday, the Internet wasn’t.
Hess said that thanks to the Internet he can learn from festivals around the world.
“I can watch the shows on the Internet, I can look at their site with Google Maps and see how they set it up,” Hess said adding that Mountainfest didn’t have that advantage.
Tourism Nicola Valley president Anoop Sekhon said the economic boom the former Merritt Mountain Music Festival had on Merritt was evident during its time.
“Everybody looked forward to that month, it was a huge month,” he said. “Everybody knew about Merritt, everybody knew about the festival,” he said noting the Walk of Stars program owes its existence to that festival.
“It left a small legacy,” Sekhon said.He said he hopes the Rockin’ River Music Festival
will reach the same heights the former one did.Hess said he believes the Rockin’ River Music
Festival will be bigger and better than the Merritt Mountain Music Festival because he’s been able to learn from the former festival’s mistakes and accom-plishments.
“We have a beautiful road map in front of us,” Hess said.
“If I [didn’t] think that I can get bigger than what it used to be, I wouldn’t be here right now,” Hess said.
The Rockin’ River Music Festival has restored the country music festival scene in Merritt
Lower ticket sales, but also fewer police incidents compared to Mountainfest
Festivalgoers equipped with cowboy hats take in opening night of the Rockin’ River music festival in Merritt. Michael Potestio/Herald
Michael PotestioTHE MERRITT HERALD
www.merrittherald.com 6 • THURSDAY, August 6, 2015
HERALD OPINION editorial
The shot heard round the world
The famous writer and thinker G.K. Chesterton once said “Wherever there is animal wor-ship there is human sacri-fice.”
That senti-ment rang quite true again last week, when a lion was killed, by all accounts illegally, unsurprisingly in Africa (where humans die consistently and in rather large quantities — an irony lost on many).
I don’t want to minimalize the tragedy. Overhunting is killing off lion populations, and the lack of legitimate rule of law in many African countries makes poaching easy.
In fact, it’s a miracle the Minnesotan dentist was even caught.
But caught he was, and the way folks on this side of the world reacted to it left old Chesterton’s words ringing in my ears.
The grim prophesy would have been realized, too, if PETA had their way. The radical animal rights group said they’d like to see the good doc-tor charged, tried, and “preferably hanged” if convicted.
It would be funny if they weren’t so serious about it.
Charge him, yes. Make the man pay the consequences for his thought-less actions. But hang him? We don’t even have that legal recourse with the worst criminals any more.
And now a week has passed and it’s not even in the headlines any more. Something else will be loudly dissemi-nated over brunch tables everywhere.
God is in His heaven, and all is ripe for hot takes in the world.
Biosolids and prions: a deadly combination
2090 Granite ave., PO BOx 9, Merritt, B.C. PhOne (250) 378-4241 Fax (250) 378-6818MERRITT HERALDCopyright subsists in all display advertising in this edition of the Merritt Herald. Permission to reproduce in any form, must be obtained in writing from the publisher. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.
This Merritt Herald is a member of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The council considers complaints from the public about the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee the mediation of complaints, with input from both the newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment, you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern, with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 2R2. For information, phone 888-687-2213 or go to www.bcpresscouncil.org
EditorDavid Dyck
PublisherTheresa Arnold
Sports writerIan Webster
Office managerKen Coutureclassifieds@
merrittherald.com
ReporterMichael Potestio
ProductionDan Swedbergproduction2@
merrittherald.com
Sales AssociateHolly Roshinsky
Editor:
I wonder if the honourables Clark and Polak truly do not know, or know but choose to ignore, the issue of biosolids and prions.
They certainly believe that pathogens are destroyed in the treatment process of producing biosolids.
However, they could not be more wrong! The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Water Research Compendium 2009-2014 lists prions eight times as an emerging contaminant of concern in sew-
age sludge (biosolids), wastewater effluents and manures.
There is a rising concern pre-cisely because the prions are not destroyed in the biosolid “treat-ment” process.
“Pathogen” is a term used to describe an infectious agent such as bacteria, parasite or prion that causes disease in its host.
A prion is a small infectious particle composed of abnormally folded protein. They are the only known infectious agents that do not contain DNA or RNA but do cause progressive neurodegenera-tive conditions.
These misfolded proteins do
not multiply in their original host organism.
It is when the prion moves from their original host to a new living host that they begin their deadly journey.
Prions affect the brain structure by acting as a template, inducing proteins with normal folding to convert to the abnormal prion form causing progressive neuro-degenerative conditions such as chronic wasting disease (CWD), bovine spongiform encephalopa-thy (BSE or mad cow disease) — seen in cattle and livestock — and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) seen in humans and now believed
to cause Alzheimer’s Disease.All known prion diseases,
collectively called transmissible spongiform encephalopathy’s (TSEs), are untreatable and fatal.
Current research suggests that the primary method of prion infection in animals is through ingestion.
It is thought that prions may be deposited in the environment through the remains of dead animals and via urine, saliva and other body fluids.
Prions may then linger in the soil by binding to clay and other minerals.
See ‘Research’ Page 7
David DyckIn betweenTHE LINES
www.merrittherald.com THURSDAY, August 6, 2015 • 7
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Editor:
On the heels of the clear and persistent challenges in our stopping the flow of biosolids into the Nicola Valley comes the most troubling news that Huldra Silver would like to bring contaminated soils to the old Craigmont Mines site.
For many of us, this news may well be a deal breaker for the remaining residents of the Nicola Valley. I came not once to Merritt to live, but twice. In the late 1970s, Merritt was a welcoming place for me to begin my career in social work.
The Nicola Valley was pristine, virtually untouched by the problems of pollution and wastelands.
The urban centres had not identified it as a potential dump-ing ground for potentially harmful waste generated by the big cities.
I returned to Merritt in 1991, choosing a slightly different career path.
I bought a home, brought my mother here to live with me, settled in, ran for city council, and life was good.
Fast forward 24 years. I am appalled, concerned, alarmed and, quite frankly, horrified by what is being proposed for the Nicola
Valley. We as citizens have had abso-
lutely no say in the matter of bio-solids dumping, and now we are being asked to accept contaminated soils in an area that is very close to residential areas on our First Nation reserves as well as in Lower Nicola.
Do we know what the contami-nants are, per say?
Was there any attempt by Huldra Silver to engage the residents of the valley in any consultative process? Who, exactly, is determining the “safety” of said contaminants?
It seems that the Nicola Valley is being abused in a serious way by those who would not put our collec-tive welfare first.
Why don’t we just erect a mas-sive sign on each of the three major highways saying to the offending parties, “Bring it on!”
The last time I looked, we have not declared we are open for busi-ness to toxic and/or contaminated waste, nor have we been advertis-ing that we are a massive dumping ground for hazardous waste, biosol-ids, and/or contaminants contained in soils.
Just for the record, so that the politicians understand we are intelli-gent, articulate, educated, informed and motivated people; water, air and
land are part of a large ecosystem. They are interrelated in many
ways. Hypothetically speaking, if the wind blows dust from a contami-nated soils site, it doesn’t stop at a hundred yards, or at the declared “safe zone.” Water doesn’t know any boundaries. It doesn’t stop flow-ing three hundred feet from the approved “safe zone” for biosolids. Soil doesn’t know any boundaries.
It feeds and sustains our wildlife, our vegetation, our livestock and us.
So when I ingest a vegetable or fruit grown in soil contaminated by biosolids, or I eat meat raised on biosolids contaminated land, I am sure someone in government or public service, most likely in Victoria, will shout out that I have “safely” ingested toxins and patho-gens that are “harmless” to me. Indeed.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to believe what the provincial gov-ernment politicians are telling us, in light of all the current research which points to a multitude of prob-lems with biosolids as well as certain types of contaminated soils, espe-cially soils containing PCBs.
At the very least, we have a right to know precisely what is being proposed in terms of contaminated soils deposited in the old Craigmont
Mines site. With respect to the composition
of biosolids, it is simply mindbog-gling to think of the toxic soup we put down our drains and into our sewers. It is hard to wrap one’s head around determining the “safety” of said soup. And to think that politicians will stand by their patent falsehood that biosolids are valuable fertilizers.
I am more than tired of the political rhetoric regarding what is happening to our valley. I hear for all of us in terms of our safety, health and wellbeing.
I am proud to be a member of the Friends of the Nicola Valley Society.
I am willing to put all my efforts into stopping these egregious viola-tions of our air, water and land by corporate interests. And if the pol-luting forces should triumph, then our homes and our way of life are clearly at risk.
If we do not take a strong stand together, I assure you that we will eventually grieve for what has been forever and truly lost: a pure and pristine place, our beloved Nicola Valley.
Bonnie M. CowanMerritt
We have the right to know what’s being put in our valley
A University of California research team, led by Nobel Prize winner Stanley Prusiner, has provided evidence for the theory that infection can occur from prions in manure.
And since manure is present in many areas sur-rounding water reservoirs, as well as used on many crop fields, it raises the possibility of widespread transmission.
There is considerable research on the uptake of prions by plants (crops or plants found in nature), which explains how the pathogen is transmitted from soil or biosolid or manure to plant to animal and or humans.
Persons with prion diseases pass their prions into the sewage system through their urine and feces, and ultimately into the sludge (biosolids), which is spread on the land.
What is the difference between biosolids and ani-mal manure?
Animal manure is generally raw or untreated feces
and urine when applied. Biosolids contain much more waste product such as chemicals, pharmaceu-ticals, industrial waste — whatever can go into our sewage system — and it has undergone treatment in an attempt to destroy pathogens.
As of this date, there is no known cure for prion diseases nor is there a known simple, cost effective method for eliminating prions.
It is believed that high heat incineration fol-lowed by immobilization of the ash (e.g. mix in with cement) is effective. It is certainly a wiser choice than land application of biosolids, given the mounting evi-dence of prion transmission.
Deadly prions can enter the environment after land application of biosolids via the soil, water, or by going airborne. People who live or work near biosolid facilities are particularly at risk (see WorkSafe BC re exposures to airborne biohazards).
Google biosolids and prions for more information on this subject.
The Federal Sustainable Development Act (FSDA) states, “The Government of Canada accepts the
basic principle that sustainable development is based on an ecologically efficient use of natural, social and economic resources.”
Canada’s environmental policy is guided by the precautionary principle and is reflected in the FSDS as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act, which states the Minister of Environment must “develop a Federal Sustainable Development Strategy based on the precautionary principle.” The precau-tionary principle states that: “Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as reason for postponing cost effective measures to prevent environmental deg-radation.”
In light of this very real danger we ask the govern-ment to stop spreading sewer-sludge — aka biosolids — on the land. Failure to act will be the death of us.
Sincerely,Patricia RayMember of Friends of the Nicola ValleyMerritt
Research shows prion diseases are deadlyFrom Page 6
www.merrittherald.com 8 • THURSDAY, August 6, 2015
NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
God the Word, the World
Time is moving quickly, it seems. How much we have to thank the good Lord for.
It was my birthday on June 15. I am now 91. The Lord is blessing me greatly. I went for a two and a half mile (yes, miles not kilometres) walk that morning. When I came home I made myself a vegetarian lunch. I had a nap and went on another two and a half mile walk. God is good to me.
He supplies out daily needs. Not always our wants as they may be hard to ll. When I think of these things we also need to be thankful for the stable government we have. They may not be perfect, but then are you?
On the news last month they talked about the problems in Iraq. They were asking if the U.S. should go over there and eat the ISIS? That is not the permanent solution for Iraq is made up of three religions that do not get on too well, to say the least.
I thought about that situation. It isn’t that a lot like people? Most of us have
two or more problems or issues. There is one side that tells us what we should do, then the other side says it likes it’s own way better.
Are these just little things? Or are these things that would affect our health, happiness, and our peace of mind?
A lot of the problems I see on the news surely don’t come from a healthy life. What is the answer? Is there hope?
Just now, on the news, they are talking about a shooting that took place in a historic black church during a prayer meeting. A young man walked in and killed nine people. What was the reason? They say is was ‘hate,’ but why do we hate these of different colour? They cant help how they look. Where is peace?
Jesus said, “Peace I give unto you, not as the world do I give it.”
Jesus’ real peace of mind and heart that give love for Him. Jesus’ peace is not only for here today but for at home in Heaven when He comes.
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The province is look-ing for public input on the upcoming timber supply review (TSR) of the Merritt Timber Supply Area, and will be in Merritt for an open house Wednesday, Aug. 19 from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. at the Merritt Civic Centre.
The timber supply review determines the total allowable cut per year. There is a discus-sion paper online for the public to review.
There is typically a TSR done every ten years, however the last one was done only five years ago.
“In this case, the last one was done in December of 2010, and the chief forester at that time said that as the mountain pine beetle was wrapping up its attack on the district that he wanted to get back sooner than the 10 year period. That’s why we’re back now,” said Bruce Walter, of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Cascades District.
The 20-page discus-sion paper provides three different scenarios.
Those are what the public would likely com-ment on, said Walter, though any new infor-mation is also welcome.
He said the decision, set to come down this December, is made inde-pendently by the chief forester. “It will take into consideration all the technical analysis, it will take into consideration the public input, it will take into consideration the First Nations con-sultation,” said Walter. “There’s quite a bit of stuff that goes into that determination.”
Back in June, rep-resentatives from the Tolko sawmill told the Herald that if the allow-able cut drops low enough, they could be looking at layoffs.
Tom Hoffman, Tolko’s manager of external and stakeholder relations, said the tim-ber supply review “will have an impact on the current industrial foot-print,”
Since 2010 the allow-able annual cut is set at 2,400,000 cubic metres, down from 2,800,000 previously.
Comments from the public are invited from now until Sept. 23, in person or online.
A Merritt man will remain in jail after a provincial court judge refused to release him on bail following alle-gations he strangled his spouse’s cat in a domestic dispute.
Crown prosecu-tor Alex Janse argued Frederick Drynock, 49, should remain in jail pending his trial or guilty plea because he was a risk to break court orders and the alleged killing of the cat showed a propen-sity toward domestic violence.
“There’s a link between animal cru-elty and domestic vio-lence,” Janse argued. “Harm to the cat was used to control and express violence toward his partner.”
The allegations against Drynock have not been proven in court. He is charged under the Criminal Code with unlawfully killing an animal and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
The cat was sent for a necropsy as part of the investigation.
Janse alleged the incident occurred on July 23, when a drunk-en Drynock phoned his common-law wife from a Merritt hotel, tell-ing her he was coming home. She told him to stay away.
When he arrived, she hid under a trailer.
“While she was hid-ing, Mr. Drynock got a hold of her cat, a 15-year-old she’d had since a kitten. He told her if she didn’t come out, he would kill her
cat,” Janse said.Drynock told police
the cat died of old age.Drynock has a
criminal record dat-ing from 2006 with 32 convictions, including for spousal violence. The vast majority are for failure to abide by court orders.
Defence lawyer Dmytro Antonovych unsuccessfully urged provincial court judge Roy Dickey to release Drynock on bail to live with his brother in the Lytton area, where he is able to work.
Dickey said pro-tection of Drynock’s spouse and the public is paramount.
“He appears to have an inability to comply with court orders,” Dickey said.
Alleged cat killer kept in jail
Cam FortemsKAMLOOPS THIS WEEK
Allegations have not been proven, but Merritt man is accused of having strangled his spouse’s cat
Province seeking public input on Merritt timber supply reviewDavid DyckTHE MERRITT HERALD
Public comments are accepted from now until Sept. 23. B.C. government photo
www.merrittherald.com THURSDAY, August 6, 2015 • 9
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City council will seek an independent auditor to answer ques-tions regarding how the construction of a multi-purpose lacrosse box and concession building at Central Park skyrocketed more than $300,000 over budget.
The decision was made by a 5-1 vote at their regular council meeting last Tuesday.
Coun. Ginny Prowal was the lone dissenter and Coun. Diana Norgaard was not in attendance.
The parameters of this audit were not pinpointed at the meeting, nor were any costs determined for one before approving a motion to have an independent audit con-ducted.
“I’d have to work with council to define the scope of the audit and the nature of it,” said chief adminis-trative officer Allan Chabot when Coun. Dave Baker asked how much an audit would cost.
“Is it looking at whether or not invoices came in and were prop-erly approved and those amounts were paid, or is it more looking at the process and project management and who was supposed to do what?” he asked.
Coun. Prowal said she didn’t think an independent audit was the right option, prefer-ring instead a perfor-mance review.
“Something that tells us who is supposed to do what, how it came about and did every-body do their job prop-erly,” she said.
Coun. Mike Goetz, who brought the notice of motion for an audit forward at an earlier council meeting, said someone outside the City of Merritt needs to find these answers for the sake of objectivity.
“The key word here for me is ‘independent,’
and the reason I said independent is because any group investigating themselves is not going to work out very well,” he said.
“It may come back that council sim-ply wasn’t involved enough,” he said.
Coun. Brown said the scope of the audit could be determined as they hire someone to conduct it. She said she views the audit as one that should focus on the management of the project as opposed to reviewing invoices.
Financial services manager Ken Ostraat told the Herald that if the audit is a financial one, the cost would be in the neighbourhood of $3,000.
As for an audit dealing with project management would be completely different, he didn’t know what that would cost the city.
“It could be five grand, it could be 20 grand,” Ostraat said.
He said council would need to approve the expenditure if an audit is to be con-ducted.
A two-page report summarizing the cost overruns came out in June and since then, Goetz said he’s been asked questions by community members.
He still has unan-swered questions him-self, he said.
The budget for the project was $753,000 and ended up costing the city more than $1 million.
Broken down, there was $512,000 for the contractor’s bid, $25,000 for LED light-ing, $90,000 for utilities and landscaping and there was $126,000 left as a contingency, the report stated.
Numerous change orders resulted in the city spending most of the contingency fund, but the project was still under budget at that point.
There was about $70,000 in cost over-
runs just to bring the concession building up to code.
The original build-ing plans only required the kitchen area of the concession/washroom building to be equipped with sprinklers and smoke detectors.
After most of the building had been constructed, the city discovered that under its own bylaw, the entire building was required to have fire suppression equipment installed, contrary to the plans previously approved by the building inspection department.
Major additions to the existing plumb-ing system, and utility installation were the
result.A mistake in the
geotechnical study of the construction site, which is where the for-mer beach volleyball court was located, sent the project costs off the rails.
Pit test holes missed large amounts of silt and clay in the ground and once excavation began, these materials were found to be wide-spread.
That resulted in the geotechnical engineer ordering the removal of a large amount of materials, in some spots digging four to five feet deeper than originally planned, leisure ser-vices manager Larry Plotnikoff said.
Extra costs total-ling about $240,000 for rebar and concrete for the foundation and additional engineering costs were the result of this error.
Another $25,000 cost arose when BC Hydro changed its plans for power avail-ability after engineers had already drawn up their own plans, the
report stated.Merritt Mayor Neil
Menard said he’s still getting questions on a daily basis regarding this project’s cost over-runs.
Council still looking for answers from Central Park project cost overrunsMichael PotestioTHE MERRITT HERALD
www.merrittherald.com 10 • THURSDAY, August 6, 2015
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NICOLA VALLEY NEWS
After just over ten years as Merritt’s building inspector, John Chace is hanging up his hat and retiring from municipal building inspection.
But don’t think that means you won’t see him around.
Chase’s first job as a building inspector was back in 1964, for the District of Sumas, now the city of Abbottsford. In 1975 he moved on to Mission to serve as their chief building inspector, and in 1980 he moved to Maple Ridge for the same position there.
In 2000, his firm was con-tracted by the City of Maple Ridge to assist with their down-town revitalization program. While he was working on that, he did holiday relief for the Merritt building inspector.
“Then he left and I came up here, and the holiday relief continued for 10 years,” laughed Chace.
When he first started working in Merritt he did building and fire inspections, but then the fire department took over the fire inspection side of things, and he focused solely on buildings.
He said the slow pace up here made the job enjoyable. “What we’d do in Maple Ridge in a week we’d do in a year up here,” he said.
“Your job isn’t so much as a policeman, it’s more to help
people build. Although codes and that are slowly changing so it’s harder and harder to be in a position just to assist people.”
“Merritt’s a great little town,” he added. “We’ve got a lot of friends here. That’s one dif-ference say between here and the big city is you make more friends in the job. Not as many enemies,” he laughed.
He said that of all the places he’s worked over the course of his career, Merritt has given him some of the more pleasant expe-riences on the job.
Now that he’s retired, he’s going to have more time for his hobbies.
One of them is working on hot rods, which he does with his son and son-in-law, for racing and showing.
“I’ll be able to do some of the work rather than have them do it all!” he said.
He’ll also get some fishing done, but he’s always made time for that. Even before he started working in Merritt, they had a family and friends fishing derby up here.
This will be the derby’s 21st year.
“We take it to a different lake every year,” he said. “That’s one great thing about this place, what is the claim, we’ve got 100 lakes within an hour of downtown?” he chuckled.
“It’s a little dusty, but it’s peaceful.”
John Chace, hanging up the inspector’s hatDavid DyckTHE MERRITT HERALD
Conservative leader Stephen Harper promised an expanded tax break for hiring apprentices Monday, as parties started an extended summer election cam-paign.
Campaigning in Laval, Quebec, Harper announced that if his government is re-elected Oct. 19, employers will receive a credit up to $2,500 a year for wages paid to qualifying appren-tices for all four years of their training. Harper’s Conservatives established the program in 2006, with a credit of up to $2,000 per year for the first two years, to encourage hiring and training.
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair began his campaign emphasiz-ing signs of weakness in the Canadian economy, with the latest statistics showing the econ-omy contracting in the first five months of the year.
“Wages are falling, incomes
are stagnant, and household debt is skyrocketing,” Mulcair said at his campaign kickoff in Hull, Quebec. “Middle-class families are working harder than ever, and can’t get ahead.”
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has also focused his campaign on middle-class voters, with a central policy of reducing tax on middle income and increas-ing it for the top one per cent of income earners.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May began the campaign in her home riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands. Her economic platform also calls for tax increases for the highest income earners, as well as increasing corporate income tax rates to 2008 levels.
The early election call increas-es spending limits for parties and caps it for third-party advertis-ers such as labour unions that have been targeting Harper. It also leaves some ridings without nominated candidates.
Another change is in debate formats, as first Harper and then Mulcair declined the traditional debate organized by TV net-works.
The first national debate is set for Thursday, Aug. 6, hosted by Maclean’s magazine.
Among the topics will be sharp differences over Canada’s role in the international military action against Islamic State ter-rorists in Iraq and Syria.
Harper renewed Canada’s commitment to maintain six fighter jets and special forces sup-port in one of his last acts before calling the election.
Both the NDP and Liberals are promising to end Canadian bombing of Islamic State posi-tions.
Mulcair would withdraw all military personnel from Iraq and Syria, while Trudeau supports keeping military trainers in place, with both promising increased humanitarian aid.
Struggling economy hot election topic
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces dissolution of Parliament at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, for a federal election Oct. 19. The Conservative Party of Canada
Tom FletcherBLACK PRESS
GIVING BACK Coopers Foods donated $1,127 to the Merritt food bank in the form of giftcards thanks to a pair of chari-table promotions.(From left) food bank manager Marlene Fenton and Coopers assistant manager Shawn Ashdown. Michael Potestio/Herald
