FRIDAY APRIL 04, 2014 VOL. 41, NO. 13
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Living with Beavers
Healthy Bowen
Autism Awareness Month
A humane solution for co-existing with the sometimes troublesome critters
The benefits of dark nights, beyond star-gazing
Meet a one-of-a-kind kid
Council brings back free waste clean-up days MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Bowen Islanders for Ferry Fairness (BIFF) held their second formal protest against rate hikes and service cuts by BC Ferries on Sunday. Peter Baumgartner, photo
BC Ferries posts revised schedule MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
BC Ferries posted a revised schedule of the run between Horseshoe Bay and Snug Cove this week. The new schedule shows the cancellation of the 5:30am and 7:30am sailings from Snug Cove on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as the 7pm Snug Cove departure on Saturday and the 8pm Snug Cove departure on Sunday. Four sailings from Horseshoe Bay have also been cut from the weekend mornings and evenings.
Adam Holbrook, the chair of the Bowen Island Ferry Advisory Committee (BIMTAC), calls the cuts arbitrary but says that this schedule is an improved version of the one set out in the consultation document put out by BC Ferries in November. “In mid-March, we met with them and they offered a revised version of the schedule which met our basic objectives,” said Holbrook, explaining that the municipality’s “basic objective” was to hold on to some early morning and late evening runs on the weekends. continued, PAGE 2
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On Friday, March 28, the municipality held a special council meeting to address concerns about the cancellation of “free clean-up days” previously scheduled three times per year. Mayor Jack Adelaar said the decision to cancel these events was made in his absence, and he asked council to revisit it. After debating the issue and hearing from the head of Bowen Waste Services, Dave McIntosh, council agreed to re-instate the summer and fall clean-up days, with the aim to charge users for these services in the future. Councillor Cro Lucas told council that Bowen Island is the only municipality in the lower mainland where citizens don’t pay for special waste disposal days. “The issue is not whether we cancel free pick-ups. Free does not make sense. We have worked very hard to keep tax raises below three percent, and this would add another one percent and not everyone uses it.” Abbotsford, Lucas added, issues coupons for people to purchase in advance of the waste clean-up days. The cost of such a system, as calculated by Bowen’s manager of finance, Kirsten Watson, would likely equal a charge of $8 per car bringing waste and $16 per truck. Watson said that items such as
mattresses, which cost $20 to drop off at the North Shore Transfer Station, should be added to those fees. “It costs us $10,575 to run one of these events,” said Watson. “Trying to recoup those costs would be prohibitive.” Councillor Andrew Stone said he agreed that there should be an extra fee for disposing of items such as mattresses, where extra costs are incurred. He added that from his perspective, the cost of free waste clean-up days is well worth it if divided among the island’s homeowners. “When these clean-up days were established it probably cost $10 for car and driver to take the ferry, and the price of gas was well under a dollar per litre,” said Stone. “Now we’re looking at a minimum cost of $45 per trip, plus the time… We have a commuting crowd on the island that makes up about half of the island… and here we are forcing them to have to borrow, beg, or steal a van from their neighbours and fill it up with stuff to take to the transfer station when they already have to go to town five days a week. Many of them have kids who have activities on the weekend and then there’s this on top of it?”
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