AUGUST
• Environment Canada and Vancouver Coastal Health said people needed to be prepared for extreme weather conditions.
• Roberts Creek Legion 219 – The Little Legion – celebrated 70 years in the community in August.
• The history of a Town-owned property on Shaw Road in Gibsons became the focus for opponents of the Vancouver Coastal Health-Trellis agreement for a new long-term care facility on the Sunshine Coast.
After delays in getting zoning and other approvals for a location in Sechelt, the for-profit company Trellis Seniors Services made a deal with Gibsons to buy the lot for $2.24 million. Restrictions were placed on the future use of the property by the previous owner, Thor Christenson, who wanted to ensure the property “would not be flipped or developed for profit.” Christenson’s nephew Bill Merilees questioned whether having a for-profit operation on the property was in keeping with the spirit of his uncle’s wishes.
• Sunshine Coast RCMP handed out tickets worth more than $10,000 Aug. 7 in the biggest incident involving an illegal campfire since the Coastal Fire Centre and local fire departments issued a complete open burning ban in early July. RCMP had a call from an off-duty firefighter who spotted a fire on Home Island, a rocky outcrop off the southwest point of Keats Island.
• The moon’s reddish-orange hue was spectacular on Aug. 6. The change in colour was caused by smoke and particulate matter from wildfires burning in the province’s Interior.
• On Aug. 21, well over 600 people crowded along the Davis Bay Seawall Aug. 21 to get a look at a solar eclipse through telescopes and solar viewing glasses provided by the Sunshine Coast Astronomy Club. The moon eventually hid approximately 86 per cent of the sun’s disk.
• Local emergency responders were proud to have been part of efforts to help during the province’s wildfire emergency. Sunshine Coast Regional District emergency planning coordinator Bill Elsner, firefighters and trucks from the Halfmoon Bay, Sechelt and Gibsons departments as well as Sunshine Coast RCMP officers joined hundreds of others from across B.C. in aiding Interior communities during the province-wide state of emergency that was declared July 7.
• The 22nd annual Sleepy Hollow Rod Run and Show and Shine was a huge success during the Aug. 11 Festival of the Rolling Arts weekend. The Rod Run on the Friday night saw 459 classic and souped-up vehicles signed up to take part in the rolling parade that started at Hackett Park in Sechelt and stretched 30 km to the Halfmoon Bay Fire Hall and back again.
• Key findings from BC Ferries’ six-week public engagement exercise that wrapped up July 5 after hearing from more than 4,000 people through an online survey, focus groups and interviews were: Sunshine Coast ferry users want more frequent service and more capacity to accommodate their growing population and tourism market, they would like later evening sailings out of Horseshoe Bay, and they consider commuters – including students – as priority users and feel that schedules should be built around commuting times.
• A new homeless shelter proposal for the corner of Ebbtide Street and Trail Avenue was met with fear and anger by some residents at a public information meeting on Aug. 16. The meeting at the Sechelt Seniors Centre was put on by BC Housing and RainCity Housing, who are jointly proposing to relocate the shelter operation beside St. Hilda’s Anglican Church to the district-owned parcel between Trail Avenue and the sewage treatment plant. The proposal is to lease the land from the District of Sechelt and erect a modular-style 40-bed shelter on it by this winter.
• Gibsons saw a rash of bear incidents in the latter half of August. A brazen black bear followed a two-year-old boy into a house in the Franklin Beach area of Gibsons and it took a punch in the nose to get him to leave – but the bear came back and ultimately had to be destroyed. Eleri Froude was at home with her two boys on Aug. 19 when the male black bear made his appearance. Police arrived with direction from the Conservation Officer Service (COS) to destroy the bear. On Aug. 27, a bear became the prime suspect in the theft of a wallet in Gibsons. A resident in the 600 block of Dougall Road reported a thief had smashed a window on his vehicle, broke a side view mirror, gained entry to the vehicle and stolen a wallet. Police attended to assess the damage and found paw prints, dirt smudges and a bit of fur.
• Zero waste advocates Buddy Boyd and Barb Hetherington returned from their Bolt Across Canada road trip on Aug. 26. Boyd said the trip re-energized their commitment to zero waste and showed them that individual Canadians are adopting zero waste ideals even if their governments aren’t quite there yet. They covered more than 17,000 kilometres, touching their Chevy Bolt’s front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean at Quidi Vidi, Newfoundland to celebrate making it all the way across Canada.
• Users on Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) water systems south of Pender Harbour were under Stage 3 restrictions as of Sept. 1. The Town of Gibsons followed suit for properties in Zone 3. Zones 1 and 2, which are supplied by the aquifer, will remain at Stage 2. As of Aug. 27, people on SCRD water systems were using 19.2 million litres a day, 28 per cent more than the conservation targets.
• The final two development permits (DP) for the George Hotel and Residences Project were approved by the Town of Gibsons. DPs covering geotechnical hazards and aquifer protection were reviewed and approved by engineering and planning staff. A DP covering environmentally sensitive areas was approved on July 31. The council vote, however, was being challenged in court. Gibsons resident Marcia Timbres along with the Gibsons Alliance of Business and Community (GABC), filed papers with the Supreme Court of B.C. on Aug. 28. Timbres’ argued that conditions set out in the Local Government Act regarding environmental remediation were not met and the council decision is illegal.
• No one was seriously injured, but the damage was extensive after fire swept through one of the buildings at the Park Rise condo complex at 689 Park Road in Gibsons on Aug. 30. Gibsons fire chief Rob Michael said 39 firefighters were on scene, including a mutual aid crew from Roberts Creek.
• Sunshine Coast Regional District chair Garry Nohr was back at work after suffering a heart attack at the start of the summer. Nohr has been a fixture at the SCRD for many years; he was elected as SCRD director for Halfmoon Bay in 2005 and was elected as the chairperson in 2010.
