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The Rocky Mountain Goat News PM42164515
Thursday, December 15th, 2016
Serving Valemount, McBride & the Robson Valley since 2010. Locally owned & operated.
Volume 7, Issue 50
Donations pour in for Meek-Olson family by EVAN MATTHEWS
Updates on fatal fire
A02
After a tragic fire has claimed the life of a child in Valemount, the community has rallied together to support the family. Fire crews responded to a blaze at the Meek-Olson household just after 10 p.m. Dec. 6th in Hartman Trailer Park, North District RCMP Corporal Madonna Saunderson says. The blaze “fully engulfed the home,” she
said. There were three people inside, according to RCMP, including father Clint Meek, and his two sons Landon and Dominic. One child, identified by RCMP as 16-month-old, Dominic Meek, did not survive. Clint and Landon suffered second-degree burns and were sent to the burn unit in Vancouver by helicopter for treatment. “It’s going to be a very long road for Clint,
and it breaks my heart every time I think about it… He was burnt pretty badly,” says Olson. “I don’t want to give out false facts, but he will need Skin Grafts… Landon is doing okay. He has ups and downs, but they’re taking really good care of him,” she says. The mother, Allison Olson and daughter, Samara, also lived in the home, but were not inside at the time of the fire. Allison has been
Cont’d on A02
Local mill expands on Community Forest land
Paramedicine in the Valley A03
Slash and burn A07
RCMP report
A09
by EVAN MATTHEWS
Listings on A23! P15!
Prince George
The girls are champs
Photo: Evan Matthews Jason Alexander and Brianne Mcneill own Cedar Valley Holdings Ltd., a company specializing in making shingles and producing cedar products. The couple’s business is the first to re-locate to the VCF Cedarside Industrial Park, as they expect their business to double in size in coming months.
A14
The Valemount Community Forest’s (VCF) Cedarside industrial park will soon see its first tenants, as Cedar Valley Holdings Ltd. — a company that manufactures cedar products, specifically posts, rails and cedar shingles — will be moving in shortly. Brianne Mcneill and Jason Alexander have owned and operated Cedar Valley Holdings Ltd., originally a Shingle and Shake manufacturing operation since 2000. The couple has been planning an expansion for some time now, they say, as their company is expanding its operation — adding a post and rail manufacturing line from machinery rendered obsolete from previous operations around the Valley, but a newly constructed building — and the pair says they will now own the biggest cedar-manufacturing producer in the region.
Originally the hope was to have the new post and rail line operational around Christmas, according to Alexander, but the bout of cold weather has delayed the construction, while he says he’s anticipating more delays. “The old mill is still manufacturing (shingles), and we’re piling up post and rail logs for when the line is ready to go,” says Alexander. “There is no sense in getting jumpy,” he says, while not confirming any official timeline for a move in. The old mill, which is just a short drive away from the new site, was pieced together as the business could afford to do so, and out of necessity, Alexander says. Now the operation in its entirety will be producing shingles, shake, posts and rails, with almost unlimited potential, according to Mcneill. “The products we’re making compliment each other,” she says. “We also have the ability to take on more wood
than we did previously.” Cedar Valley Holdings saved a lot of money by setting up a long-term lease on VCF land — land with an existing concrete pad to construct a new mill on — with Alexander adding VCF has been an absolute pleasure to work with. However, it’s access to fiber — lumber — that is the biggest motivating factor for his company’s move to the industrial park, Alexander says, as cedar down the West Canoe area is available to his company with the Carrier License now in the hands of VCF. The last time cedar in the area was available, Alexander guessed to be about 15 years ago. Alexander says his own company has been trying to obtain the necessary licenses and permits for about five years. “There hasn’t been any activity down there,” says Alexander. “There are tons of decadent trees that suit our needs.”
Cont’d on A02