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www.comoxvalleyecho.com Friday June 20, 2014
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Volume 20, No. 49
Future of 911 call centre set to be decided today By Philip Round Echo Staff
Riders take a break before exiting the Comox Valley, headed south on the Old Island Highway with a police escort.
Boomer’s Legacy ride celebrates life of fallen Valley medic By Drew A. Penner Echo Staff Back in the fall of 2007 Todd McGowan rode up to Courtenay from Esquimalt in honour of Cpl. Andrew “Boomer” Eykelenboom, a medic in his Field Am unit, who was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan the previous year. He arrived at Florence Filberg Centre where Gen. Rick Hillier was addressing a gala crowd, and joked that Canada’s top soldier was his opening act. All ribbing aside, here we are seven years later and what was a one person Island ride has grown into an event that has to be capped at 100 cyclists for logistical reasons. On the Thursday night before the big trek from the gates of 19 Wing Comox recalls meeting Eykelenboom, as he trained to go overseas. “We were experiencing our first combat injuries, so Field Am had to really take a careful look at how we were treating combat injuries,” McGowan said, noting they had just begin telling soldiers to carry tourniquets with them at that time. “The primary loss of life for us initially was loss of blood.”
D-Day vet Doug Yeo, 90, was the oldest rider to participate in the Boomer’s Legacy ride. As the medics went through the ropes, they learned about what they would experience in an environment with harsh sandy terrain and difficult extractions of wounded soldiers. “Those guys had to go over prepared for it,” he said. “Unfortunately Andrew became one of the casualties.” (Continued on page 2)
Todd McGowan stands with Maureen Eykelenboom outside the Comox Legion.
A decision on whether Courtenay will continue to host the North Island’s 911 emergency call answering service is likely to be made today (Friday). For several months, the North Island 911 Corporation has been investigating alternative suppliers of such a service, currently based at the RCMP Detachment building on Ryan Road. As previously reported in the Echo, the corporation has been concerned about the escalating costs of the service, with rapidly-increasing charges being proposed by higher echelons of the RCMP. The anticipated expenditure for the North Island is set to rise from around $460,000 a year to more than $700,000 if a new contract is signed. Because of this, the 911 Corporation’s board - made up of representatives of six regional districts - has been probing options to see if a high level of service can be maintained for the region but at a significantly lower cost to taxpayers. They will meet later today to consider their options, having investigated two alternative suppliers alongside the possibility of a continuation of the RCMP contract. The alternatives involve expanding the existing Campbell River fire dispatch service to include all 911 calls, or contracting with E-Comm, the not-for-profit emergency communications centre for southwest and central BC based in Vancouver. 911 Corporation board chair Jon Ambler, who is also a Courtenay councillor in addition to his role as a Comox Valley Regional District director, said board members had made site visits to both potential alternative suppliers prior to today’s meeting. The board was already very familiar with the existing Courtenay centre - which responds to more than 62,000 calls a year - but several members had not previously visited the Campbell River or Vancouver operations to see how they worked in practice. Those visits had proved to be extremely useful and informative. The North Island 911 Corporation has a 2014 operating budget of $2.3 million. That not only pays the RCMP to provide the initial 911 call answering, but also for operating and maintaining the separate fire dispatch services and a computerized mapping system to serve 49 fire departments covering a geographic area of approximately 60,000 square kilometres. The total cost of the service is shared between the six regional districts - Comox Valley, Strathcona, Mount Waddington, Powell River, Alberni-Clayoquot and the northern part of Nanaimo - based on their populations. It is recovered through a specific line item included on every annual property tax bill in the area covered. If the decision is taken to make a switch, the North Island 911 Corporation would be following a pattern set by several other BC authorities equally alarmed about increasing costs. (Continued on page 2)
New life for 40 Knots wines as multi-million dollar sale closes By Drew A. Penner Echo Staff Having owned a tugboat company for 20 years Bill Montgomery gave a nod to the brutal southeasters experienced by Comox Valley sailors when he brought forth his 40 Knots wines. Now, in a $3.32 million deal the 23.5 acre property with 40,000 vines is moving into the hands of a couple from Fort St. John, who adore the name - because, as aviation enthusiasts, to them 40 Knots represents the “stall speed” velocity. “It’s a very surreal moment for a pilot,” explained Brenda Hetman, whose husband Layne Craig is a private pilot. “Everything quiets around you and the plane takes over flying. You just
Ends June 30/14
feel like you’re one with the plane and the wind and the sky. It’s completely silent and beautiful.” Christiaan Horsfall, a realtor at RE/ MAX Ocean Pacific Realty, said it’s been a fairly extensive process to cover the bases involved in purchasing such a large estate. “Wineries are tough sales,” he said of his role in negotiating the price on behalf of the buyers (down from the listing value of $4.9 million). “There are a lot of things that came into play for that price.” The property had been on the market for months and potential buyers from Alberta and multiple interested parties from Asia had stopped by to take a closer look, although none of these ended up following through. But lifestyle, weather and opportu-
nity for growth were all factors that cemented things for Hetman and Craig. “The buyers have assembled a team of experts across the province to help with their due diligence,” he said. “Purchasing a winery is not only about making a quality wine but also being able to market to the consumers.” The new 40 Knots business is going to be a family affair, and Hetman says they expect their two grown daughters will eventually move to the Valley to join them. For their part Hetman says they are thrilled about putting down roots in the Comox Valley. (Continued on page 2)
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