One of Salt Spring’s favourite annual events is taking place right on schedule, with Ruckle Heritage Farm Day on Sunday, May 3. 

Running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the free event features all kinds of demonstrations, adorable farm animals plus various vendors, displays and demonstrations. 

People can learn how soap is made, butter is churned and how blacksmiths ply their trade. Sheep herding and shearing demonstrations are always a big hit, and kids of all ages can try their hand at log sawing and nail hammering, and enjoy the fish pond game or getting their face painted. 

Live music comes courtesy Marianne Grittani, Valdy and Rose Birney. 

Everything is free of charge except for food, drinks and gift items. Some food vendors take credit cards but bringing cash is recommended. 

As Ruckle Farm is a working farm, no dogs are allowed on site. 

People can also call Abey Scaglione at 250-526-0096 or email abey@ruckleheritagefarm.com with any questions about the event.

Three Salt Spring residents have been nominated for two available seats on the five-member North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) board of trustees.

Voting takes place either by mail-in (or drop-off) ballot — which must be received at the NSSWD office on Upper Ganges Road by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 4 — or in-person voting on Wednesday, May 6 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Community Gospel Chapel. Voting will be followed by the NSSWD annual general meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. Voting results will be announced at the meeting. 

All ratepayers qualified to vote should have received a ballot package in the mail by now. Contact the NSSWD office if packages have not been received or for more voting information. Recent issues of the Driftwood have contained voting qualification details. 

Candidates have answered four questions posed to them by the Driftwood, as shown below in alphabetical order by surname. 

Philippe Erdmer 

Q. What motivates you to run for a NSSWD trustee position?

A. Providing water on Salt Spring is both challenging and costly. The value of NSSWD assets now exceeds $100 million and the annual budget is over $6 million. Ratepayers deserve responsible oversight of these assets and expect value in the service they receive. As a ratepayer, I am standing for the board to ensure that local needs and priorities continue to be heard. Everyone who can, should take a turn.

Q. Please describe your past career, board or academic experience and how it is applicable to the trustee position.

A. I have been a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) for 41 years and am now a life member. My career has included working for industry, government (provincial and federal geological surveys) and universities (Royal Military College of Canada, University of Alberta, now emeritus). I have served on and chaired regulatory boards (37 years on the APEGA Board of Examiners), scientific research and grant committees, strata corporation boards, non-profit foundations and community boards (sailing and flying clubs). Successful boards are made of people who cooperate, and I have been privileged to contribute to many.

Q. What decisions of the current board do you applaud and what might you have wanted to see done differently?

A. My reading of the district’s Strategic Plan gives me confidence that we are on the right track regarding the Maxwell Lake treatment plant. It is the largest capital project in NSSWD history. It has taken years to finalize and it will serve us for decades. It is a success. As with any organization, there have been challenges and lessons learned over time, but it is more constructive to look forward.

Q. As succinctly as possible, why should people vote for you?  

A. As a geologist, I am interested in understanding the limits of unconstrained (surface) aquifers and the hydrogeology that sets those limits. I am acutely aware of supply challenges posed by climate change, and the eutrophication and drawdown of finite water resources. 

For more than 10 years, our family lived with a 100 per cent rainwater catchment system in an otherwise normal, newly built house on Salt Spring, without a well or connection to piped water. Potable water supply is an infrastructure constraint within the district, and for all of Salt Spring. NSSWD trustees take on responsibility for leadership and guidance in the best interest of the community. This is achieved through fact-based, collective decision-making.

Steve Lam 

Q. What motivates you to run for a NSSWD trustee position?

A. It has been an honour to serve as your trustee over the past three years, and I’m motivated to continue building on that experience. I love living here on Salt Spring Island. Water is one of the most important services in our community, and decisions made today have long-term impacts on reliability, affordability, and growth. I’m motivated by the opportunity to help ensure our system is sustainable, practical, and fair for ratepayers.

Q. Please describe your past career, board or academic experience and how it is applicable to the trustee position.

A. I bring over 30 years of experience in the water treatment industry.  I currently work for Veolia, one of the largest water and environmental services companies in the world. My work provides a strong foundation for understanding the district’s challenges. Combined with my experience as a current trustee, this allows me to make informed and balanced decisions.

Q. What decisions of the current board do you applaud and what might you have wanted to see done differently?

A. The board has made important progress on long-term infrastructure, including moving forward with the Mount Maxwell treatment plant and lifting the moratorium. I also support decisions that improve fairness, such as capping leak-related charges and adjusting the rate structure so essential water use remains affordable.

One area for continued improvement is communication. Water decisions are complex, and I believe we can do more to clearly explain both the costs and the long-term benefits to ratepayers.

Q. As succinctly as possible, why should people vote for you?

A. I bring real-world water treatment experience, a proven track record as a trustee, and a practical, fair approach to decision-making.

Jon Scott 

Q. What motivates you to run for a NSSWD trustee position?

A. Back in 2015 when the NSSWD was working on the plan for the St. Mary Lake plant, I became aware that they had hired a consultant who designed a water plant much more expensive than it needed to be and that the ratepayers were not made aware of this. This bothered me since it has cost each ratepayer at least an extra $300 per year in parcel tax since then. If I get elected, I will do my best to ensure that the ratepayers are made aware of issues like this, and fight for cost-effective solutions.

In addition to the above, I am very interested in steps going forward regarding providing adequate water as the population of Salt Spring grows. This includes things such as grey-water usage, catchment during the winter, along with the regulations and incentives to make it happen.

Q. Please describe your past career, board or academic experience and how it is applicable to the trustee position.

A. I am a retired engineer who has lived on Salt Spring for 16 years. Most of my engineering work was in new product development, and I am named on 14 patents. I am known for “outside the box” creative thinking, and I hope to use this to help the NSSWD.

During my engineering career, before moving on to consulting, I was a manager of 12 people, so have experience as a team player. This also applies to my main volunteer activity on Salt Spring, which is involvement with the Island Pathways group.

Q. What decisions of the current board do you applaud and what might you have wanted to see done differently?

A. The current board is doing a great job, but I would like to see stronger efforts on reducing costs for the ratepayers. For example, the consultant on the Maxwell Lake water plant is charging $925,000 just for project management [and construction engineering].

Q. As succinctly as possible, why should people vote for you?  

A. Firstly, I will push hard to reduce costs for the ratepayer. Secondly, my engineering and creative thinking will help in future projects.

Traffic experts are proposing roundabouts be built at two of six identified intersections in Ganges, part of a laundry list of recommendations in a recently completed analysis of village crosswalks.

And Salt Spring’s Local Community Commission (LCC) has approved the Ganges Crosswalk Project’s draft report, which targets nearly $1.2 million in work on those intersections based on safety risk and pedestrian demand, according to early cost estimates prepared for commissioners.

A conceptual design — notably from the 2023 Salt Spring Island Cycling Safety Review — was presented for one of the two roundabouts suggested, offered as a solution to pedestrian-vehicle conflicts that take place where Fulford-Ganges and Lower Ganges roads meet fronting Centennial Park and the fire hall. The draft analysis report also encouraged a roundabout at the intersection of Upper and Lower Ganges roads, again to calm speeding traffic and prioritize pedestrian safety. Neither roundabout was priced out, although preliminary cost estimates for more modest improvements near those intersections, such as realignments and pedestrian refuge islands, still rang in at $277,400 and $174,800 respectively.

But islanders should temper their expectations, according to Capital Regional District (CRD) staff, who noted the analysis was intended mostly to inform future planning, rather than to signal road crews were on their way; and with a local budget for those projects sitting at just $100,000 — and even then, pending ICBC funding and Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MoTT) approvals — in all likelihood there may be, at most, a single crosswalk tackled this year.

“There are only two projects in the six that are under $100,000,” said Salt Spring senior CRD manager Dan Ovington, who laid out the study’s conclusions for the Local Community Commission (LCC) Thursday, April 16. “If we’re successful with the grant we’d be looking at those two intersections and identifying which one we can do within that funding.”

From there, Ovington said, Salt Spring staff would put together a capital plan that identifies “two, maybe three” of the intersections that could be built over the next few years. 

Of the six, the least expensive project — and most likely to be completed within that budget — is improvement of an existing crossing of Lower Ganges Road at Village Terrace across from Pioneer Village and other senior residential communities. Traffic passing that intersection was found to be exceeding the 50 km/h speed limit about 46 per cent of the time, according to data collected for the study. With an hourly pedestrian volume of 16 and an average 8,750 vehicles going by on a busy summer day, the study recommended a refreshed crosswalk include rectangular flashing beacons to improve visibility. The Class D estimate for that work came in at $77,400.

For $93,300, a proposal for the intersection at Lower Ganges and Atkins Road would finally give pedestrians there a signed and marked crosswalk. Similarly, a new crossing at Lower Ganges and Blain roads would help people crossing in and around Country Grocer for an estimated price of $127,100. And at the high end, a long list of improvements for crossings at Lower Ganges Road where it splits Hereford Avenue and Purvis Lane frame the most comprehensive and expensive project, estimated at $397,600. 

Regardless, commissioners weren’t ready to commit on April 16 to starting with the least expensive projects first, nor necessarily to settle on $100,000 as a ceiling for the coming year’s intersection budget.

“We as a group will have to decide which of the six priorities we believe are most important,” said LCC member Gayle Baker. “There may be one [costing more] that is way more important to the island.”

“Each of these projects will require a permit through MoTT,” said Ovington. “And I think we need clarification on the funding that’s actually available in order to identify our priorities.”

The crosswalk study took place last year, and in addition to collecting traffic data incorporated community engagement, including in-person discussions during site visits, an online comment form that received 92 submissions from 75 participants and a public open house in September, according to staff. Feedback consistently identified concerns related to vehicle speeds, failure to yield, poor crosswalk visibility, accessibility barriers and informal pedestrian crossings near key destinations such as Centennial Park schools, grocery stores and senior housing.