OCTOBER
Ashcroft Bio-Oil inks long-term contract
Start-up company, DBO, is building a seed crushing plant in Ashcroft to provide the crude canola oil.
DBO chief executive officer Andrew McKinnon moved to Ashcroft three years ago as part of a retirement plan and saw potential in Ashcroft.
“I liked the climate, the mountains and the people,” McKinnon said of his original decision to settle in Ashcroft.
Ashcroft mayor Andy Anderson, is optimistic the oilseed crushing plant will be a good news story for Ashcroft. Current projections show the plant will generate 25 full-time jobs in the first year of operation and another 40 ful-time jobs by the second year of operation.
Fire claims lives of two children in Lytton
Two Armstrong children, a 5 year old girl and her 4 year old brother, lost their lives following a late night fire on Oct. 12 in Lytton.
The fire broke out in the 2006 35 ft motorhome around 11:50 pm, according to RCMP. Ambulance crews from Lytton, Lillooet and Boston Bar attended, as well as the Lytton volunteer Fire Dept.
The motorhome was parked on a decomissioned air strip adjacent to Hwy 1, 2 km north of Lytton.
The children’s grandparents were also in the motorhome. They tried to rescue the children, who later succumbed to their injuries.
Four more years of decline predicted
The Gold Trail board of education reviewed September’s enrolment figures at its Oct. 18 open board meeting, noting that the District had 45 less students in total. Some schools are up but most are down, pointed out Superintendent Teresa Downs.
“We anticipate more decline for the next four years,” said Financial Officer Lynda Minnabarriet.
NOVEMBER
Towns want job erosion to stop
John Les, Chilliwack MLA and Parliementary Secretary to the Premier, was in Ashcroft on Nov. 8 as part of a “boots on the ground” road trip with Pamela Martin, Premier Christy Clark’s Director of Outreach, and staff. They had been in Lillooet earlier in the day and were heading for Logan Lake after leaving Ashcroft.
“We’re finding out what the issues are that people want the Premier to know about,” Martin told a gathering of local leaders.
Ashcroft Councillor Helen Kormendy pointed out that every year the local communities faced shrinking health services and education. She asked: “When we talk about sustainability, what are we sustaining?”
“It’s great to talk about how wonderful it is,” said Cache Creek Councillor Wyatt McMurray, “but we had a great industry here at the landfill. You let that industry go.”
Anderson re-elected as Mayor
There were few surprises in Ashcroft’s election for council as incumbent Mayor Andy Anderson was returned for a term term in office, as were the three incumbent councillors who ran for re-election. Former councillor Jackie Tegart returned to council.
In Cache Creek long-time incumbent councillor Ida Makaro lost her seat to two new council members, Herb Hofer and Lisa Dafoe. Incumbents Darrell Rawcliffe and Wyatt McMurray were returned.
In Clinton both incumbents were voted out. Daniella Dyck gave up her council seat to run for mayor but was defeated by Jim Rivett.
Marian Nelson ran again for Council but placed fifth out of seven candidates. Susan Swan topped the polls, followed by Diana Guerin, David Park and Wayne Marchant.
There was no contest in Lytton. Mayor Jessoa Lightfoot was acclaimed, as was her council of Denise MacIntyre, Patricia Thorpe, Robert Austen and incumbent James Steer.
TNRD Area I’s director Barry Tait lost his bid for a fourth term and was defeated by newcover Steven Rice.
TNRD Area E’s director Sally Watson held on to her seat, beating former Clinton Mayor Roland Stanke.
Meanwhile, in Logan Lake, Mayor Marlon Dosch was acclaimed and all of the incumbent council members retained their seats.
Landfill extension gets TNRD approval
The regional district board of directors has agreed to amend its Solid Waste Management Plan to include the 42-hectare Extension to the Cache Creek Landfill. If the amendment is approved by the provincial government, the Extension will be able to accept waste from anywhere within the TNRD.
The motion was made at the TNRD’s Nov. 10 board meeting. Director John Ranta said there was an overwhelming response around the board table for including the Extension in the Solid Waste Management Plan.
The Extension was approved by the BC Environmental Assessment Office in January 2010. It was hoped at the time that the new capacity would encourage Metro Vancouver to continue using the Cache Creek Landfill.
