Residents of Meadowbrook, including members of the Residents’ Association have been fighting against a mineral claim for a quarry.
The claim is held by Lost Dog Slate and Stone, The proponents are looking to place a trailer on the claim near Cherry Creek Falls in Meadowbrook, with the potential for a quarry in that location as well.
With political support from Area E Director Jane Walter, among others, the Association had been pursuing the potential for the proponent to perhaps swap the claim with another in a different area.
Walter had also pursuing an opportunity to create a park at the falls.
However, a meeting at the end of August at the RDEK with the proponent, representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, as well as Mineral Titles, Area E resident Bob Eccleston, and Doug Clovechok, BC Liberal candidate for Columbia River Revelstoke has left the possibility for a park a little more distant.
It appears that the possibility of a claim being switched to another location is no longer on the table. Instead, the claim holders want to sell it.
An option was posed that a portion of the claim be purchased to create a 10 to 15 acre park. However Lost Dog Slate and Stone are not interested in splitting the claim.
They prefer that the entire area be purchased, a park created and no mining occurring on the claim site in the future. The cost of the entire claim purchase would be $51,000.
Other conditions of the sale would be that the sale amount agreed upon would have to be paid in full prior to the tenure expiration date of May 4, 2013. There would also have to be a notification of decision by October 1, 2012. Lost Dog has an October 31 deadline for deliverables to the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
“At present neither the RDEK nor the province has the budget or is prepared to purchase the mineral claim on behalf of the community,” says an RDEK planning and development services memo authored by Andrew McLeod, Manager. “The consensus expressed at the meting was that this should be the responsibility and the contribution of the local Meadowbrook community if they want to see a regional park project proceed.”
In addition, McLeod explained that with the approximate area of the claim being 188 ha the RDEK would have to apply for Crown land tenure over all of it as a regional park. This would have long term operational and maintenance implications for the RDEK’s regional park program.
The next step is a public meeting to explain to Meadowbrook residents that there is an opportunity to purchase the mineral claim area.
That meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 20 at 7 p.m. at Trickle Creek Lodge.
