It was a devastating week for our friends in Japan.
Watching the news coverage of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear plant issues makes one realize that our day-to-day problems are very manageable.
One blessing is that our sister city, Shiraoi, was relatively unscathed by the devastation.
This is good news, as many in our community have formed lasting bonds with people there over the course of our 30-year twinning relationship.
There were certainly some anxious moments for many of us as we waited for news to come in.
I spoke directly with Mayor Ameya this week and offered him this community’s very best wishes. I also asked him to let us know if there is any way we can help.
We’re in the initial stages of planning a fundraising initiative for the community – we’ll have more information on that next week.
Unfortunately, one of Shiraoi’s sister cities in Japan is Sendai, one of the hardest hit areas.
Our friends in Shiraoi are doing all they can to assist, such as sending some of their disaster recovery teams to help and providing equipment such as portable toilets and a water truck.
So while Shiraoi may not have been directly affected, residents there are certainly feeling the effects and need our support.
For those of you who may have friends or relatives in other parts of Japan, we have added some links to various helpful pages right on the front page of our website, www.quesnel.ca.
Also, there are a number of organizations who are collecting aid for Japan.
A great website to use to evaluate charities is www.charitynavigator.org.
This site provides a lot of information to help you make your donation decisions.
Our friends are going to need as much help as possible.
I encourage you to find the organization that’s right for you and to consider making a donation.
Land stability
We made some big decisions on the West Quesnel Land Stability front this week.
The city has provided what we believe is the last of the information required for the Environmental Assessment to be approved by senior government.
Once that is done, we can sign the funding contract and get to work.
To help speed up the process, council approved a program budget of $3.685 million for the WQLS Program’s full-scale dewatering initiative.
Two-thirds of the funding is provided by a grant from the federal and provincial governments.
We’ve set aside $2.664 million for well drilling, drainage upgrades, site preparation and other capital works, with $782,150 for detailed engineering work, data management, monitoring, project management, water testing and reporting.
Both of these contracts were awarded to AMEC Earth and Environmental, our long-time geotechnical engineer on the WQLS Program.
The remaining $176,000 contract was awarded to Urban Systems, our long-term civil engineering firm.
The staff at both of these firms have been with us from the beginning, know the project inside out, and provide us with great support.
We’ll have more work to approve as we proceed, but these contracts will allow us to hit the ground running once we’ve got final approval.
This project remains the top priority for the City of Quesnel.
I know Council is eager to see the dewatering work begin.
Capital projects
We gave early approval to a number of capital projects on Monday night as well.
In fact, more than $2.2 million was approved for a wide range of investments.
By giving early approval, the city can begin the bid process and order specialty items or materials to make the most of our shorter construction season.
We’ve got a wide range of projects on the go, including the revitalization of St. Laurent Avenue, many street repaving jobs, sewer and water system upgrades, park improvements and public safety initiatives.
For details, visit www.quesnel.ca/Budget2011.
Climate forum
Quesnel will host a regional climate action forum at the North Cariboo Community Campus on April 9, thanks to the efforts of the Quesnel Climate Action group.
Those interested in citizen-based ideas and projects to make communities more self-sufficient are encouraged to attend.
The forum will examine the “Transition Town” movement that encourages local citizens to come together to create positive change.
The cost to attend is $20, or whatever you can afford.
Participants are asked to bring a brown-bag lunch to keep the forum cost down.
For information, visit www.quesnelairshed.org
And while we’re speaking about climate change, here’s another reminder that Saturday March 26 at 8:30 p.m. is Earth Hour 2011.
Turn out your lights and reduce our electricity consumption.
Do you have a question for Mayor Mary Sjostrom? E-mail it to us at newsroom@quesnelobserver.com and we’ll forward it to the Mayor so she can answer it in an upcoming column.
