CAMPBELL RIVER
Campbell River’s Cascadia Air has begun flights from Campbell River to Pitt Meadows on the Lower Mainland, with three daily flights scheduled during weekdays and two flights a day on weekends. The service will expand to include flights from Qualicum Beach to the Lower Mainland.
Commercial storefronts, restaurants, offices and mixed-use buildings located within the Downtown BIA area of Campbell River are eligible for grant funds for property owners and business operators interested in changing storefronts or buildings to enhance downtown safety. The funds cover up to fifty-percent of site-specific CPTED assessments, to a maximum of $5,000. Grants of up to fifty-percent of eligible CPTED-focused improvement projects, up to a $10,000 maximum, are also available. Contact Development Services at 250-286-5725 or email planning@campbellriver.ca.
Port McNeill’s base manager for West Coast Helicopters, Mike Aldersey, has been awarded the coveted Agar/Stringer Award by the Helicopter Association of Canada for outstanding contributions to the industry. The rare honor comes after forty-two years of flying, with an exemplary record of over 30,000 accident-free-hours as pilot in command.
Cermaq Canada has stocked 495,000 smolts in its semi-closed containment system (SCCS) in Millar Channel on the west coast of Vancouver Island, designed to eliminate the transfer of sea lice between wild and farmed populations. The SCCS trials will run until summer of 2022. Roughly 233,000 fish in two nearby traditional open-net pens will serve as control groups to gauge the system’s effectiveness.
The Evergreen reservoir will undergo upgrades conducted by Western Tank & Lining Ltd., to prevent leaks in the reservoir. The work has been valued at $387,381.41.
Daeco Installations Ltd. will rebuild the traffic signals at Dogwood Street and 13th Avenue. The work is valued at up to $171,756.
Mayor Andy Adams
Campbell River Council appointments confirmed for 2021 to the Strathcona Regional District Board, Comox-Strathcona Regional Hospital District Board, Comox-Strathcona Regional Solid Waste Board and Strathcona Gardens Commission – Appointments are in effect until November 2022 and are based on the highest number of votes received in the 2018 municipal election. Mayor Adams and Councillors Cornfield, Kerr, Moglove and Evans will sit as directors, with Councillor Dahl and the councillor to be elected in February 2021 as alternates. For the Strathcona Gardens Commission, Councillors Evans, Kerr and Mayor Adams will be appointed with Councillor Moglove as the alternate.
Mike Airton of Advantage Carpet Upholstery & Ultrasonic Blind Cleaning is retiring from the carpet and Upholstery Care portion of Advantage. He is transferring ownership of this part of his business to Scott Guthrie, owner and operator of S&G Floor Maintenance.
COMOX VALLEY
Mount Washington Alpine Resort has officially opened for the winter season, with two lifts operating on the mountain, and more runs expected to be available in the coming weeks as crews work on opening more sections of the mountain.
Two Eagles Lodge Bed & Breakfast at 6409 Old Island Highway in Union Bay has been recognized as the 2020 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Award winner for Bed & Breakfasts/Inns, ranking among the top twenty-five B&Bs/Inns in Canada, by TripAdvisor www.twoeagleslodge.com.
The Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET) welcomes Darnelda Siegers, Jesse Ketler, Bob Wells and Mark Swain to its Board of Directors, as well as newly-elected Executive Committee members Aaron Stone, Chair, Ian Morrison, Vice-Chair, Andy Adams, Treasurer, Dana Thorne, Secretary, Roger Kishi, Member at large, John Jack, Chair, Michelle Staples, Al Siebring, Megan Hanacek, Provincial Appointee, and Barry O’Neill, Provincial Appointee.
First Credit Union has opened a new location at 17th and Cliffe in Courtenay.
Solid waste engineering firm Sperling Hansen, with support from Net Zero Waste, has been awarded a contract for an organic compost facility by Comox Strathcona Waste Management. Construction could begin in late 2021.
The Comox Valley Regional District has begun an Alternative Approval Process (AAP) for a loan authorization bylaw to help finance construction of a new Greater Merville Fire Protection Service fire hall. The cost for the project is estimated at $2,129,430, to be funded through capital reserves and a maximum of $2 million in borrowing. To learn more visit www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/mervillefire.
Courtenay council is considering construction of a pedestrian/cycling bridge on 6th Street, which would connect downtown with Simms Park, and provide an east‐west connection to a future cycling network. The cost estimate for the bridge is $4.4 million.
Cristi May Sacht is the new Comox Valley school trustee. She will represent Area C of the regional district on the board of education for School District 71.
The board for the Comox Strathcona Regional Hospital District (CSRHD) has approved a preliminary reduction in the amount of its tax requisition for next year for Area B and Area C of the Comox Valley Regional District to the tune of roughly $4.4 million from the usual annual requisition amount of $17 million. The drop would not go through until a final budget is passed by the March 31st deadline.
The 190-member Merville Organics Growers’ Co-operative, launched in 2014, is disbanding. Three of the associated farms, Kloverdalen, Whitaker, and Tendergreens, will offer their own food box programs beginning in 2021.
Comox Council has authorized a noise exemption application to allow movement of dredged material by tug at night at the Comox Valley Marina. 16,000 cubic metres of dredged material will be moved from the marina between December 3rd to the 23rd. Dredging will be undertaken during the day and night.