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North Salt Spring Waterworks District awards plant contract

Driftwood Staff
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North Salt Spring Waterworks District awards plant contract

The North Salt Spring Waterworks District has awarded the contract to build a new water treatment plant for St. Mary Lake, with work set to start as soon as mid-August.

The contract was awarded last Wednesday to Maple Reinders Inc., which had the best price and experience necessary to construct the new dissolved air flotation plant. Engineering supervision will be done by Kerr Wood Leidal. The new DAF plant will bring the district up to government standards for water purification and upgrade the water quality as well as protect against potentially harmful toxins while using less chlorine.

“I’m really pleased that we got a good contractor, somebody who knows how to do it, and at a price that’s within our budget,” said NSSWD chair Marshall Heinekey.

The total cost of the plant is expected to be in the ballpark of $8.1 million. Heinekey said $1.1 million had already been raised from ratepayers with an initial tax increase as well as other funds already set aside for the project. This leaves the required loan at $7 million.

The new plant will bring NSSWD in line with current government regulations, said the district’s environmental manager Meghan McKee.

“Many people have believed in the past that this is us building an extra-fancy plant, but it’s not the case,” she said. “Not only are we told to build a plant by Island Health, we were told what to build. They even say the process, the DAF process.”

The financial burden of paying off the $7-million loan to build the plant lies on the ratepayers of the water district, who approved the borrowing of up to $8.4 million for the plant in a March 2015 referendum.

McKee said the estimated cost to repay the loan is $250 to $300 per connection (household) per year. The new rate will be in place until the loan is paid in full, with initial estimates from 2015 of between 20 and 25 years. Heinekey added that the $250 to $300 total includes the $150 annual parcel tax surcharge that began as a result of the vote in 2015. So in the end, if the estimate is correct, ratepayers will see an increase of $100 to $150 over last year.

“For the last two years we’ve been charging $150 because we’ve had a lot of delays,” Heinekey said.
NSSWD district manager Ron Stepaniuk clarified some details behind the numbers in the increase.

“Once we’ve determined the actual cost there will be a surcharge on your tax bill to pay for capital infrastructure upgrades and that will include payment of the cost of building the plant, which will be fixed over a term.”

For more on this story, see the Aug. 2, 2017 issue of the Driftwood newspaper or subscribe online.

Salish Raven set to sail

Driftwood Staff
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Salish Raven set to sail

BC Ferries is bringing the Salish Raven on stream early to replace the ailing Queen of Nanaimo on the Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands route. 

The inaugural sailing of the Salish Raven, the third of BC Ferries’ three new Salish Class ships, will depart Tsawwassen at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday. 

“The 53-year old Queen of Nanaimo, which is set to retire from the BC Ferries’ fleet this fall, experienced a mechanical problem with the starboard controllable pitch propeller last week and repair plans continue for that vessel,” said Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ vice president of engineering. “Engineers have been unable to determine the root cause of the problem with the Queen of Nanaimo as yet, so we are focusing our crew resources into getting the new ship, Salish Raven, into service sooner than we had originally planned.”

The company says it has worked diligently to fast track the new ship into service to ensure smooth sailing for the remainder of the summer.

Salish Raven will be based at Tsawwassen terminal for the summer and will service the Southern Gulf Islands. Salish Eagle, which entered service in June, will be home-ported at Long Harbour. 

The Bowen Queen, which is a smaller vessel, was brought into service last week to replace the Queen of Nanaimo. It will continue on the route through the end of Wednesday. 

BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said the plan is to fix the Queen of Nanaimo. 

“We do want to repair the ship so that she will be in an operational readiness state until the fall in the event she is required,” she said.

 

  

Salt Spring fire rating hits ‘extreme’

Driftwood Staff
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Salt Spring fire rating hits ‘extreme’

Salt Spring’s fire danger rating is now at extreme. 

“I encourage everyone to be extra careful in the fire season and to report any concerns to the fire department or through the 911 system,” said Salt Spring Fire Chief Arjuna George in a press release on Saturday. “Working together to protect our island is our best answer for keeping Salt Spring Island safe.”

George said it is not too late for people to FireSmart their homes and properties by ensuring they have a defensible space around your home. Information booklets are available at the Ganges Fire Hall. 

“We will be happy to answer any questions you may have to help keep your home safe and help you develop a family fire safety plan,” said George.

In other fire department news, Salt Spring firefighters Jason Gaffney and Dustin Bean left the island for Williams Lake on Friday to help with wildfire suppression efforts in the area. 

They will replace Salt Spring firefighters Eric Taylor and Simon Wells, who have been working in the Cariboo-Chilcotin since Thursday, July 20.

“This is the third request from the Office of the Fire Commissioner to deploy firefighters from Salt Spring Island, and we are proud to serve the people of British Columbia,” said George.

He said he will provide updates on the local firefighters as they develop. 

“On behalf of the board of trustees and myself, I would like to thank our firefighters who protect Salt Spring Island every day, and to those that are assisting in the wildfire efforts in B.C.”

Queen of Nanaimo out this weekend; Bowen comes to rescue

Driftwood Staff
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Queen of Nanaimo out this weekend; Bowen comes to rescue

The Bowen Queen is being put into service today to replace the Queen of Nanaimo while a mechanical issue is fixed. 

The Nanaimo was removed from service Thursday due to a mechanical problem on the starboard controllable pitch propeller. 

Beginning with the 2:35 p.m. sailing from Long Harbour, the Bowen Queen will service all Queen of Nanaimo scheduled sailings through to the end of Monday, July 31.

The Salish Eagle will continue to provide service on the Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands route, whose summer schedule requires two vessels to maintain.

“Unfortunately, the Bowen Queen has less vehicle capacity than the Queen of Nanaimo and does not have an elevator,” states a BC Ferries press release. “If the Bowen Queen reaches capacity or customers require an elevator, they can travel from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay to connect to the Southern Gulf Islands. This route has large capacity and many customer amenities. BC Ferries’ customer service representatives are standing by to assist any travellers with questions.”

Further updates will be provided as soon as more information becomes available. For the most up to date travel information, follow @BCFerries on Twitter.

“We apologize to our customers for this inconvenience caused by the Queen of Nanaimo’s malfunction and we are working as quickly as possible to complete the repairs,” said Mark Collins, BC Ferries’ president and CEO. “We have the Bowen Queen going into service on this route and we are making every effort to keep all sailings as scheduled.”

 

The Queen of Nanaimo was also out of service due to a controllable pitch propeller problem for several days beginning June 22. No replacement vessel was available at that time. 

The 53-year-old Nanaimo is due to be retired at the end of this summer.

Writer, activist, visionary visits Salt Spring

Contributed Article
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Writer, activist, visionary visits Salt Spring

BY WENDY JUDITH CUTLER

Special to the Driftwood 

“We will not survive as people or a planet if we do not learn each other’s reality in every cell of our bodies. We will not survive if we do not look unflinchingly at the grave harm we are doing.”

These are the words of Deena Metzger, poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, teacher, counsellor, activist and visionary. Salt Spring is fortunate to host her on Wednesday, Aug. 2 for a reading and discussion of her newest book, A Rain of Night Birds.

In her 80th year, her life and prolific writings embody her unwavering passion as a lifelong activist and radical thinker and her commitment to healing the earth and the separations between people and nature.

Her appearance at the Salt Spring Public Library Program Room at 7 p.m. is lovingly organized by her longtime friend, Peter Levitt, poet and Zen master. Her novel presents the confrontations and disconnections between Indigenous wisdom and scientific knowledge. Metzger unflinchingly addresses the realities of climate change and the threat of planetary extinction and bears witness to the colonial mind that enacted genocide on Indigenous people. Its protagonists are drawn together by a mutual love of and fear for our planet, this precious Earth.

“We are called to share the stories we carry so that we can live within them. We need to speak the stories that shape us as a people and teach us how to live with the earth and each other,” Metzger writes.

I first came upon her existence through an iconic poster which is known throughout the world, a photograph of Metzger, her arms outstretched, with a tattoo of a tree where she had a mastectomy on her right breast. Her experience with breast cancer in 1977 is reflected in a subsequent writing, Tree, and led to her work as a counsellor and healer, creating Healing Stories to address diseases, spiritual and emotional crises as well as community and environmental disintegration.

For Metzger, story is her medicine. And stories are what she encourages us to record and work with. Nothing has equalled the impact she had on my own writing and teaching of her much-lauded and classic writing book, Writing For Your Life: A Guide and Companion to the Inner World, published in 1992. Her friendship and collaboration with the writer and diarist Anais Nin inspired this text.

She co-edited the groundbreaking anthology Intimate Nature: The Bond Between Women and Animals, published in 1999. This led to connections with animal justice activists, into the area of interspecies communication and visits to animal sanctuaries, especially her work towards the preservation of the endangered African elephants.

She epitomizes how to be a conscious person in a world that is increasingly in need of healing and, in order to heal our earth, we must be involved in our own healing as well.

Levitt remarked, “She understands that her life belongs to the world and there’s a wheel around her that she is in the centre of.” He hopes that people from many different communities will attend her talk because her work “has touched so many communities.”

I am in awe of Metzger, her writings, her political commitments, her ability to tirelessly create communities of engaged and respectful people who care about other people, animals, the natural world and this Earth. I am certain that I will be inspired and, perhaps, feel energized to continue to be engaged, critical and hopeful at the same time — the paradox of living a full, creative, community and activist-inspired life.

“If we bear witness and afterwards still have hope, then the hope is real.”

 

Wendy Judith Cutler teaches journalling and writing workshops on Salt Spring Island and is the co-author of Writing Alone Together.

Isabella Point gets permanent protection

Driftwood Staff
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Isabella Point gets permanent protection

Long-time Salt Spring Island resident Basil Franey has permanently protected 2.15 hectares (5.3 acres) of his treasured property on historic Isabella Point on Salt Spring Island. 

According to the Islands Trust Fund, Isabella Point is a beautiful coastal property of maturing mixed conifer and woodland forests with rocky open bluffs. The land includes Douglas-fir, cedar, maple and arbutus trees, and provides habitat for several species at risk, most notably the peregrine falcon and band-tailed pigeon. Scientists have also located the federally endangered sharp-tailed snake nearby. A conservation covenant, held by the Islands Trust Fund and the Salt Spring Island Conservancy, now protects the land’s rugged shoreline, forest and moss-covered rocky bluffs from human development and habitat loss. 

“I wanted to ensure the land would not be lost to development and that it would be protected in perpetuity,” said Franey. “The first thing that got me triggered to the idea of land conservation was when the landowner of Beaver Point donated lands adjacent to Ruckle Provincial Park to the province for protection 15 to 20 years ago. I thought what a nice thing to do and it planted a seed in my mind that stayed for many years.” 

Franey used the federal Ecological Gifts Program to help him protect Isabella Point. The Ecological Gifts Program conveys important income and capital gains tax benefits for qualifying covenant and land donations. 

“The scarcity of publicly owned land on the islands means that private landholders hold the key to protecting our island ecosystems,” said Tony Law, chair of the Trust Fund Board. “The Islands Trust Fund is grateful to Basil for his dedication to protecting Isabella Point and looks forward to working with other Islands Trust Area residents who might be inspired by his initiative.” 

“The Salt Spring Island Conservancy is delighted to hold a permanent conservation covenant on Isabella Point and work hand in hand with the Islands Trust Fund to realize Basil’s vision to protect a place that is so special to him and to the island,” said Christine Torgrimson, the conservancy’s executive director. 

 

The Islands Trust Fund is the conservation land trust for Canada’s islands in the Salish Sea. Since 1990, the Islands Trust Fund has protected more than 1,190 hectares and helped partners protect another 300 hectares of island ecosystems. 

SCOTT, Gerald W. Scott, MD

Driftwood Obituary
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SCOTT, Gerald W. Scott, MD

Gerald W. Scott, MD (Gerry)
Jan. 12, 1931 – July 13, 2017

Gerry died at home on Saltspring Island July 13, 2017 age 86. Survived by his wife Beryl, 5 children; Martin (Brenda), Nigel (Gyl), Liz (Dean), Celia (Karl), and Ian (Liz), and 9 grandchildren (Xav, Nellie, Logan, Michaela, Becky, Georgia, Matt, Stephanie and Michael). Also, his only surviving sister Carol of Brighton, England.

He reached out to them all in the last few weeks of his life and felt the love all around him.

He was a highly intelligent man, with wide ranging interests, combined with a great passion and curiosity for life.
Gerald graduated from Medical School at University College London in 1955. He took his surgical training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota and emigrated to Canada in 1964. He worked at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary (1966-1973). Charles Camsell Hospital, Edmonton (1973-1989). Lady Minto Hospital Salt Spring Island (1989-1995).

Gerald was an accomplished surgeon and research scientist, and served as the Director of the Surgical Medical Research Institute of the University of Alberta from 1978-1988. In 1989, he left academic life and was the local surgeon on Saltspring island until 1995. At this point he was able to devote time to his other passions of woodworking, landscape painting and gardening.

He passed away peacefully in the home that he loved, looking out over the Sansum Narrows. He will be deeply missed  by his family and friends.

Our sincere thanks to Dr. Beaver for his sensitive care and compassion. We also thank Maureen, Karen and the home care team for their care and support in the final weeks of Gerald’s life.

Online condolences to be made at www.haywardsfuneral.com

ROMERIL, Terry Gordeon

Driftwood Obituary
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ROMERIL, Terry Gordeon

TERRY GORDON ROMERIL
June 13, 1945 – July 17, 2017

It is with profound sadness that I announce Terry’s recent passing in Lady Minto Hospital on Saltspring Island, after a very brief battle with cancer.

My life with Terry was never boring. A typical Gemini, he was full of creative talent and innovative ideas, constantly pursuing new challenges to apply his seemingly endless energy and desire to avoid boredom at all costs.  During Terry’s 30 years on Saltspring, he embarked on many new ventures, including: Applying for the proper zoning and permits, then building and operating the Island’s first full-service car wash and detail shop. Co-managing a Government-sponsored Job Development Project for unemployed Islanders. Creating and helping to produce the “SS Island Digest” newspaper. Managing Branch 92 of the Royal Canadian Legion. Establishing and operating “Save-on Saltspring General Store” (or “SOS” as it was known). Working on various construction projects under the direction of some of Saltspring’s most talented and accomplished contractors. Performing general property maintenance tasks for two of the Island’s well-known hotels, and for several neighbours in Brinkworthy Place. And, of course, as the consummate “car guy”, buying and selling vehicles…too many to count! I will never know what the future had in store for Terry and I, but I will always treasure the many fun times we had, and he will stay in my heart forever.  I wish to thank Dr. Shane Barclay and the wonderful staff at Lady Minto for their compassionate care of Terry during his brief stay, as well as expressing my appreciation to the many friends and family who have been there for me during this difficult time.

A gathering to remember Terry and celebrate his life will be announced at a later date.
~ Susan Monahan

ROGERS, “Bob” Norman

Driftwood Obituary
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ROGERS, “Bob” Norman

“Bob” Norman Rogers
June 18, 1949 – July 4, 2017

It is with a sad heart that I announce that my good friend Robert “Bob” Norman Rogers, lost his battle with cancer at the age of 68 on July 4th 2017. He started his next great adventure peacefully surrounded with friends.

Bob was born in Prince George, BC on June 18, 1949 to Andrea and Norman Rogers. An only child, he is survived by his mother Andrea Rogers formerly of Merritt BC now of Kamloops BC.

A long time Salt Spring resident, a friend to many, a member of Toastmasters, an active member of the Salt Spring Gallery of Fine Art and a founding member and the first President of the SaltSpring Photography Club, Bob always had a camera in hand and documented the world as he saw it, “one image at a time”.

In his early life he lived and worked in the Netherlands for IBM and Philips as a coder but with camera close at hand of course. Returning to BC, he turned his creative hand to fine furniture building. This three dimensional talent served him well in his many years at ArtSpring where his creative eye hung and lit shows, set stages and kept the building warm and welcoming.

There will be a Celebration of Bob’s Life on Sunday, August 13th from 1 to 3 pm hosted by the Photography Club at 200 Bay Ridge Place (south Salt Spring near Ruckle Park).

I invite all of his Friends and Family to join us in celebrating his life and sharing stories of him.

Bob’s loving friend and partner, Wendy.

MACKENZIE, Peggy (Margaret)

Driftwood Obituary
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MACKENZIE, Peggy (Margaret)

Peggy Mackenzie (Margaret)

Sept. 28, 1933 – July 19, 2017

Peggy Mackenzie (nee Ramsay) was born in Verdun Quebec, September 28th 1933, daughter of Victoria and George Ramsay.

Peggy died unexpectedly July 19th 2017, in Royal Jubilee Hospital Victoria, BC.
Peggy will be sorely missed by her husband of 64 years; Ken Mackenzie, sons; Doug, Keith (wife June, and daughters; Chanelle and Victoria), Donald (husband Luis Araujo), and her loving brother Ken Ramsay.

Prior to moving to Salt Spring Island in 2010, to share her warmth, charm, sense of fun and all round passion for life, as well as her talents as a prolific knitter, quilter, Lady Minto Thrift Store Volunteer, Peggy had lead an incredibly full and rewarding life.

In the years 1957 through 1986, Peggy raised her family, and was, for a number of those years, an Adult Education Coordinator, in Chateauguay Quebec.

Early retirement and a dream to be closer to her beloved grand daughters, Chanelle and Victoria lead Peggy and Ken to Kelowna BC. It was in Kelowna where she became an active Golfer.

Her retirement years also allowed her annual trips to visit London England, as well as trips to France and Italy and often to Scotland a place very dear to her heart.
The last seven years of Peggy’s life have been on Salt Spring Island, her dream destination, where she has been surrounded with friends and family.

Peggy would often say; “We live in the most beautiful place, it’s like a dream and we are with the most lovely people”

A memorial service will be held for Peggy on Sunday, July 30 at 3:00 PM in United Church, 111 Hereford Avenue, Salt Spring Island, BC, followed by tea and sandwiches in the Church Hall. Friends of Peggy and of her family are all welcome to come celebrate her.

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