In my capacity as Board Chair of the RDKB, I am writing to correct information provided in three articles which appeared in your newspaper on Feb. 26.
“Food scraps program could lighten load at dump”
1. Throughout the article, there are references to the East End Services Committee (EESC), but no discussions have ever taken place in this committee, rather these discussions have taken place in the Environmental Services Committee which is a committee of the whole Board, not just the Greater Trail area.
2. The food scraps program in Grand Forks has not achieved a 70% reduction in waste over the past year, but it has achieved a 53% reduction in buried material over the past 3 months.
3. There has never been a committee discussion of a second access to the McKelvey Creek Landfill. Currently, the Environmental Services Committee has approved the possibility of replacing the entrance to the landfill in principle only, subject to estimates of cost.
4. We cannot say that the construction of a new entrance would extend the life of the landfill to 70 years, nor can we state that the reduction of waste would extend its life by 60 years. These are highly speculative numbers.
“City has cash to purchase airport”
1. This article states that paving the airport stopways was rejected by the EESC last year. This is not true. The EESC approved the paving of the stopways in 2012, but the project was put on hold because Trail Council asked for a delay until 2013 so that some efficiency could be achieved through plans for paving projects by the Ministry of Highways.
2. The Airport Service Review did take place in November with all communities in the Greater Trail area stating that they supported the airport. At the January meeting of the EESC, a budget was presented which included plans for paving the stopways this year, resurfacing the runways and beginning the process for replacing the terminal building. The offer from Trail to purchase the airport pre-empted discussions about long term improvements.
“Cosmetic changes coming to local transit”
1. The suggestion that East Trail and Sunningdale would likely receive new bus shelters is very premature as the EESC approved a line in their recommended budget to the RDKB Board and to BC Transit, but this recommendation is subject to analysis and approval by BC Transit for any shared costs. The location of these shelters in Trail has not been considered by the EESC.
2. At the Transit Committee meeting on March 13, elected representatives and Transit staff will be considering service changes including the harmonized single fare. Staff is recommending a July implementation, not the April 1 date as cited in the article.
In each of these stories, RDKB Director Robert Cacchioni was cited as the source in both indirect and direct quotes.
I would ask in the future, in order to prevent misunderstandings and errors, that Mr. Cacchioni and the newspaper check for accuracy with RDKB staff, the chair of the specific RDKB committee or myself before such articles are printed.
Larry Gray
Chair, RDKB