JANUARY
• On Jan. 1, approximately 100 swimmers took part in the annual Polar Bear Swim at Armours Beach, organized by RCMSAR-14. And in Davis Bay, dozens of hardy souls splashed into the ocean at the Polar Bear Swim hosted by Sunshine Coast Lions Club.
• The estimated cost to replace the community hall at Coopers Green Park in Halfmoon Bay increased once more, but directors remained committed to move ahead with the project.
• Gibsons council issued a temporary use permit for the S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe, despite the store owners’ stance that they wouldn’t apply for a provincial non-medicinal cannabis retail licence. Owners Michelle and Doug Sikora said they remain committed to selling only to people with medical cannabis certificates.
• The District of Sechelt was awaiting the results of test drilling and engineering analysis before deciding whether Seawatch Lane could be reopened. The district closed the road on Jan. 9 after a new sinkhole was reported, another in the cluster of sinkholes that developed previously.
• School District No. 46 created a new substance-use regulation to stop students from using e-cigarettes or vaporizers at school, in addition to cannabis, tobacco and other “impairing substances.” The new regulation was brought before the board of trustees on Jan. 9.
• Vancouver Coastal Health proposed two major projects to redevelop public residential care facilities Shorncliffe and Totem Lodge, and would move ahead with a deal with Trellis Seniors Services to build a new long-term care facility on the Coast.
• On Jan. 12, the 2963 Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps celebrated their 40th anniversary with a ceremony and parade.
• Respected elder Anne Quinn (sempatkwa, sonee) passed away peacefully surrounded by family in the early morning of Jan. 14 in Sechelt. She was 84. She was a key figure in the preservation of shíshálh language and culture. Along with Margaret Joe Dixon and Anne Quinn, Joe was part of the last generation of people born into the language who remained conversant.
• Work began Jan. 14 on a new well at Dougall Park. The Zone 3 water service expansion would allow the Town of Gibsons to service its entire water system from the aquifer.
• An 18-year-old man was in Sechelt Provincial Court Jan. 16 after an incident at Chatelech Secondary on Jan. 15. He pointed a firearm at a group of students at the skate park, then drove off. RCMP said he was arrested later in Sechelt.
• The Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre’s official reopening celebrations were held Jan. 19 with a ribbon cutting and treats prepared in the renovated kitchen. The expansion project took about eight months to complete with a budget of approximately $900,000 and included extending the building by five metres, updating the kitchen and office space, installing new floors and adding a dining room.
• A total lunar eclipse occurred on Jan. 20, visible through North America.
• WorkSafe BC was investigating, and blasting permits were suspended, after blasting on Wakefield Road Jan. 21 scattered large blocks of rock, causing damage to the road surface and knocking out Telus and Eastlink service.
• The Department of Fisheries and Oceans issued a emergency shellfish closure for part of Porpoise Bay after a sewer system failure. An estimated 10 cubic metres of effluent spilled into the inlet after a pump failure Jan. 25 at the lift station.
• The price of gas continued to spark debate on local social media forums, and in a letter to the editor, Sunshine Coast Labour Council president Ed Erickson claimed the price of gasoline “has come to a point where some residents are having to choose between gas and groceries.”
• Sunshine Coast Regional District directors gave unanimous first reading to two bylaw amendments that could allow the Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station (PODS) to move ahead with construction in the Irvines Landing neighbourhood in Pender Harbour.
• The Roberts Creek pavilion was nearly complete, with only the living roof remaining to be done. The pavilion is located on School District No. 46 property next to Roberts Creek Elementary School.
• Tain Sung Chong, co-owner of Fong’s Market on Marine Drive, died Jan. 29 at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Lee Chong, and children Jeremy, Pearl, Crystal and Gordon. A steady stream of customers stopped to offer condolences.
FEBRUARY
• A well site was identified in the Church Road area of Granthams Landing that could supply enough water to reduce the projected supply deficit of the Chapman Creek system by 40 per cent. Three other potential well sites – Grey Greek, Dusty Road in Sechelt and Mahan Road in Elphinstone – were also explored.
• The District of Sechelt said it would keep the barricades on Gale Avenue North and Seawatch Lane in place. Warning signs were also up telling pedestrians not to enter the area, effectively blocking all access to the Seawatch neighbourhood.
• Roberts Creek resident Robert Hogg officially joined the Order of Canada Feb. 1 in a ceremony at Rideau Hall. Hogg was among 125 new appointments to the order announced by Gov. Gen. Julie Payette.
• Emergency crews were called out Feb. 1 for the second crash on Highway 101 in Roberts Creek in as many days. Traffic had to be rerouted temporarily along Lower Road while the air ambulance was brought in to medevac an injured man in his 80s.
• The Sunshine Coast Regional Economic Development Organization (SCREDO) expanded the FUSE Community Workhub into Sechelt and Pender Harbour and moved the original FUSE in Gibsons to a bigger location. SCREDO purchased the assets of FUSE, which was privately run at the time, for $9,000 in 2018.
• The first blast of winter weather cancelled buses and ferries on Feb. 2 and snow and plunging temperatures continued through the weekend, with accumulations from three to seven centimetres. • The population of the Sunshine Coast continued to grow slowly but steadily, according to the latest estimates from BC Stats. In its recent population estimates for 2018, the Sunshine Coast had a population of 31,977 – up 1.1 per cent from 2017.
• Arena user groups clashed at a regional district meeting over how ice and dry floor time would be divvied up at the two arenas operated by Sunshine Coast Regional District. The final motion guaranteed ice in one arena until April 30.
• Sunshine Coast RCMP took two men into custody and seized about 2,200 cannabis plants a home on Nickerson Road on Feb. 5. Along with the plants, police seized dried cannabis, lights and equipment.
• The Chapman drawdown project was dealt a fatal blow following a Feb. 7 announcement that the province was not willing to move ahead with a proposal to adjust the boundaries of Tetrahedron Provincial Park. As a result, the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s proposed expansion of the water supply system infrastructure in the park could not proceed.
• On Feb. 9, a major windstorm hit the South Coast, damaging a breakwater barge and other infrastructure at Horseshoe Bay and forcing BC Ferries to cancel sailings. Over the weekend, more snow led to ferry cancellations and disruptions to transit service. Events were cancelled, waste pickup was delayed and schools were closed for three days in a row starting Feb. 10.
• The SC Conservation Association gave the John Hind-Smith Environmental Award to Sechelt resident Linda Williams in recognition of her long-term work in protecting local ecosystems. The award, named for the renowned local conservationist who died in 2005, was presented to Williams during the association’s 22nd anniversary celebration, held Feb. 9.
• On Feb. 11, crews started assembling the modular units for BC Housing’s new $7-million supportive housing project on Hightide Avenue in Sechelt.
• West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones and Federal Minister of Seniors Filomena Tassi (the first Trudeau government cabinet minister to visit Sechelt) were on the Coast Feb. 11 for a tour of the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre, a brief town hall session and a meeting with the Seniors Planning Table.
• A deal to protect unionized workers was being heralded as a “significant step” in getting a new 125-bed long-term care facility for the Sunshine Coast. The facility would be owned and operated by Trellis Seniors Services, under contract to Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). The health authority announced Feb. 14 that negotiations yielded agreements between VCH, the Hospital Employees’ Union, the BC Nurses’ Union, the Ministry of Health, the Health Employers Association of BC and Trellis.
• Seawatch neighbourhood was on evacuation alert since Feb. 7 after a report from Thurber Engineering concluded the risk of damage to property, injury or death was too great to allow people to remain in their homes due to several sinkholes discovered in the area. Two displaced property owners filed lawsuits and the Feb. 15 order to evacuate would prompt new legal action.
• A statement from Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth suggested residents of Seawatch should not expect any financial help from the province. Sechelt officials contacted MLA Nicholas Simons and Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth to request information on possible assistance for the residents but did not receive “a favourable response.”
• Sechelt council approved the development permits for West Porpoise Bay Estates, a multi-unit project planned for a steeply sloped area on the shores of Porpoise Bay.
• The Canadian government and shíshálh Nation signed a Letter of Understanding Feb. 15 that commits the two parties to “explore a number of key topics and priorities that would support the negotiation of a long-term nation-to-nation reconciliation agreement.”
• Gibsons council’s new youth representatives were sworn in at the opening of the Feb. 19 regular meeting. Elphinstone Secondary students Sacha Stipec and Jason Lewis were chosen to be the lead and alternate youth councillors.
• A rebuild project was underway for the wharf at Granthams Landing that was severely damaged during an intense windstorm in December.
• The Town of Gibsons was named the winner in the Open for Business category for small communities at the 16th annual Small Business BC Awards Gala on Feb. 21.
• On Feb. 24, a team of firefighters from the Sunshine Coast participated for the 12th year running in the BC Lung Association’s 18th annual Climb the Wall event – a fundraiser held at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre in support of the one-in-five British Columbians who struggle with lung conditions. Bill Higgs, now retired fire chief for Sechelt, is a veteran of the event and a consistent top fundraiser.
• Sunshine Coast RCMP said the man living in an apartment in the 5600 block of Inlet Avenue was lucky to walk away Feb. 25 after a butane stove exploded. The blast smashed the main window of the apartment and pushed the exterior wall out by nearly an inch, but the man escaped injury.
