The City of Trail is very pleased the Pipeline/Pedestrian Bridge has been given an official name. Columbia River Skywalk, submitted by Glenn Schneider of Trail, was chosen through a process which included Council, our regional partners and community area residents. Congratulations to Glenn and thanks to all the people who submitted their name ideas. We believe Columbia River Skywalk is well suited to the iconic new structure and its function.
Construction of the Columbia River Skywalk remains on schedule and on budget with an expected completion of mid-December 2016. The tower foundations and extensive cable anchor points are nearing completion with the two 100-foot steel towers expected to arrive in April. Construction of the towers will involve the use of two large cranes to raise and position the towers onto the concrete foundation columns. Once installed, the balance of the bridge construction will mostly take place from a cable and bucket system (hi-line) which will span the Columbia River for the summer. You can watch the excitement and progress on the City’s Columbia River Skywalk Construction Cam available through www.trail.ca.
In addition, two other City projects are well underway. Power Tech Electric is very busy installing the LEDs on the Victoria Street Bridge which will be unveiled during Silver City Days; and, with the help of the architectural firm Stantec, design of the Riverfront Centre (integrated library and museum) is progressing well.
As the digital reader board on the Trail Memorial Centre indicates, there are just 33 days until Silver City Days. Final details for the Spokane Street Food Fair, the Silver City Days Market and the Saturday Sidewalk Café are coming together. New events seem to pop up every day including a Toonie Seniors’ Dance featuring live music on May 4th and a Mountain Bike Clinic for kids at Gyro Park on May 8. For a full schedule of events, see www.silvercitydays.com or join Trail Silver City Days on Facebook.
We wish the six Trail Ambassador candidates the best of luck as they prepare for the Miss Trail Pageant, to be held May 6 at the Charles Bailey Theatre. Our candidates and sponsors include: Miss Trail Firefighters Local 941, Keandra Billingsley; Miss Kiwanis, Trynity Turnbull; Miss Knights of Pythias, Caia Gagnon; Miss Royal Canadian Legion Branch 11, Naomi Savage; Miss Shoppers Drug Mart, Nicole Johnson; and, Miss Colombo Lodge, Hannah Flick. The Trail Ambassador Committee is pleased to announce that Ashley Giles, the City of Trail’s Princess in 2011, will be representing Trail in the 2016 BC Ambassador Pageant in August. Thank you to all our sponsors and volunteer organizers as your steadfast contributions make our local Ambassador Programme the envy of the province.
Nine inductees will be recognized at the Home of Champions Induction Ceremony and 20th Anniversary Celebration occurring May 5. The inductees include: 2013/14 Beaver Valley Nitehawks; Joseph Cecchini; Don Freschi; Fred Heslop; Ryan Huska; Kimberly Joines; Graham Kenyon; Aaron Santesso; and, Joe Zanussi. Congratulations to our most recently appointed Champions.
The City is excited to join our trusted partner Pacific Coastal Airlines in recognizing and celebrating ten years of air service into the Trail Regional Airport on April 6th. In recognition of this milestone, representatives from Pacific Coastal Airlines and Trail City Council will be set up in the Ferraro Foods parking lot on Wednesday, April 6 from 1-3pm. Join us there to help celebrate this momentous occasion.
Council continues its deliberations of the 2016 operating and capital budgets and the apportionment of taxes between the residential, commercial and industrial rate classes. The application of traditional rate structures to a significantly changed property assessment would result in a large proportion of properties within Trail actually paying less tax than last year, in spite of an overall taxation increase.
In the absence of some adjustment, the burden of the overall increase would be placed on the remaining residential areas. As we all enjoy the many facilities and improvements to our City, Council continues to explore alternatives to establish a more equitable level of taxation across all rate classes. Details will be available within the next few weeks.
For more information on what’s happening in the City of Trail, please visit the Trail Parks & Recreation Spring/Summer Guide, our Facebook page, our website at www.trail.ca or call us at City Hall at 250-364-1262. The City of Trail’s eight-page spring newsletter, which will include a full Silver City Days schedule, will be delivered to your homes and businesses soon.
Submitted by Mayor Mike Martin and Trail City Council
Community Comment is an opportunity for elected officials from our local municipalities to update citizens in the region on the events, plans and progress in their respective communities. Every Friday, the Trail Times will present, on a rotating basis, a submission from councils, school trustees or regional district directors.