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MERRITT HERALD FREE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Registration open, up at LNIB school By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
Enrolment at the Lower Nicola Band School is taking a big leap this year as other public schools in the district remain closed during the teachers’ strike. So far this fall, 97 students have enrolled at the school, compared to 70 last year. While registration is still open, class sizes will cap at 24 students and some of the classes are filling up quickly, principal Angie Sterling said. “Every day, there have been a few more trickling in,� she said. The kindergarten class has the most room for new students as it’s currently at 16, she said. Sterling said the ongoing teachers’ strike is likely a fac-
tor of the influx of students. “Parents are wanting their kids in school, so I think that would be part of the reason, for sure,� she said. The school covers kindergarten to Grade 7 and is open to all students in that age range. “You don’t have to be a band member and you don’t have to be status. Anybody can enrol their child here at our school. You don’t have to be First Nations,� Sterling said. The school follows School District 58’s curriculum with an added language and culture piece. “We do have a good handful of non-First Nations students attending our school and I think it’s great,� Sterling said. “I’d like to see more.�
ARBITRATION MARCH Teachers in the Nicola Valley rallied outside MLA Jackie Tegart’s office on Tuesday at noon to begin their march through downtown Merritt. The teachers handed out apple-shaped cards with Tegart’s and School District 58’s contact information, as well as held signs supporting binding arbitration. BC Teachers’ Federation members were scheduled to take a vote on whether or not they support binding arbitration Wednesday. The results of that vote were not available before this paper went to press on Wednesday afternoon. The provincial government has rejected binding arbitration several times. Emily Wessel/Herald
Mall rezone for recycling depot turned down By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
City council unanimously rejected an application to rezone the former Sears building at the Railyard Mall, which would have allowed it to become zoned for a Return-It recycling depot. The land use amendment application by the Railyard Mall failed to receive approval for third reading, which would have sent it to the adoption phase. About 45 people attended a public hearing on the potential rezone Tuesday night prior to the regular For all your landscaping needs call the professionals at
city council meeting. Seven people made speeches and three letters were read aloud which all essentially disapproved of the rezoning. People cited traffic congestion, safety issues, cleanliness, possible broken glass and attraction of mice as reasons not to have the property rezoned to allow Encorp Pacific to house a recycling depot at the mall. Paul Maire, regional manager for Colliers International — the property manager for the mall — spoke at the hearing as well. Maire said the company’s initial reaction was to deny incorporating
the recycling depot, but upon further investigation and the inspection of some of Encorp’s other recycling depot locations in the Lower Mainland, their minds were changed. “One site’s adjacent to a retail grocer. Another site is in between a restaurant and a dental office. They were clean, they were well presented, they were bright and not in any way, shape or form what my vision of the typical bottle depot was,� Maire said. Maire said the company was satisfied that Encorp could operate a recycling depot “in a clean and wellrepresented manner that is attractive to the public.�
Maire also said all inventory would be housed inside the building. No Encorp representative was at the public hearing or subsequent council meeting. Current owner of the Merritt Return-It Depot Pauline Warren said she was initially looking to relocate to the Railyard Mall, but determined the rent was too expensive. She told the Herald she is in the process of acquiring a new location on Clapperton Avenue, which is already zoned C3 — the zoning that allows for recycling depots. Warren said the application to rezone the mall location was a back-
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up plan as the depot’s Blair Street temporary use permit expires in May and can’t be renewed. She said Encorp will be renewing her operating licence if she moves to a proper location. Coun. Dave Baker said he thinks Encorp should award a definite licence to operate at this location before council commits to a rezoning. The bylaw was returned to Tuesday night’s council meeting, where third reading was denied and the application was defeated. Coun. Neil Menard was absent from the meeting.
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