INSIDE: Get in line for gaming grants
Pg. 7
T H U R S D A Y September 5, 2013
World champion piper
5 N E W S , BACK TO SCHOOL
SPORTS,
WEATHER
&
E N T E R T A I N M E N T abbotsfordtimes.com
China demands recycling changes
– RAINY DAY TUESDAY
Hefty fines threatened for non-compliance CHRISTINA TOTH CToth@abbotsfordtimes.com
A
per hour for multiple shot devices. However, the revised bylaw has added measures intended to give Abbotsford some control over the management of the cannons, which are used by some blueberry growers in the region. Growers with cannons and other bird scare devices within 200 metres of a property with livestock or dogs kennels must advise the owners within 24 hours of the first firing of the season.
bbotsford and Mission will have to clean up their recycled newspaper or pay hefty fines of up $20,000 a bale to the Chinese buyers of the material. Buyers may even stop taking paper from the communities if bale contamination continues. “[ The Chinese market] is being more restrictive of accepting contamination in the bales,” said Rick Bomhof, director of engineering and public works at the District of Mission. Bomhof explained in his report to the Mission council on Aug. 21 that all of western North America’s mixed paper is sent to China for recycling. No other market exists for mixed paper at a comparable price, he said. Locally, the options are to send the recycled paper material to the landfill, or to pay staff overtime, both of which are costly alternatives, or to add capacity to the sorting line, which is the most cost-effective option over the long term, said Bomhof. To address the problem, the two communities will likely fund an $80,000 expansion to the current sorting line at the Abbotsford Mission Recycling Depot as soon as possible.
see CANNONS, page A14
see RECYCLING, page A7
– JEAN KONDA-WITTE/TIMES
Students going back to school Tuesday morning were met with helpful crossing guards, inset photo, teachers as greeters and a torrential downpour. Kids at Abbotsford Middle School found the perfect place to sit to wait out the late summer storm. See page 4 for a report on speeding in school zones.
Banging out a cannon bylaw CHRISTINA TOTH CToth@abbotsfordtimes.com
A
bbotsford will take its newly minted propane cannon bylaw to the provincial government for approval, but councillors voting on either View more with side of the issue say the matter won’t be resolved as long as nuisance birds, mostly starlings, continue to plague local blueberry fields. After a public hearing on the mat-
Newly written bylaw to be sent to Ministry of Agriculture for approval ter in June, and a failed version of a more restrictive bylaw in July, the city council approved an ordinance that more closely follows provincial regulations. The council gave its audible bird scare device bylaw – which includes the propane cannons – third reading on Aug. 26, but it must be approved by the Ministry
of Agriculture and Lands before it can become law in the municipality. Like the agriculture ministry guidelines, the Abbotsford bylaw requires propane cannons to be 200 metres from homes, to be used from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. or sunrise to sunset, with cannons blasting one shot per five minutes for single shot devices or three shots
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