The collapse of the sale of the mill site leaves Campbell River in a awkward situation.
Obviously the site has some great potential. Existing buildings and great access from water and land are very important to every industry.
The biggest drawback for any buyer will be the potential cost of cleaning up the years of pollutants in the ground. So it is imperative that the city realize this and must work on a solution. The city needs to confront this problem with the environmental government departments to establish what must be done in order for it to become a usable work site. The clean up needs to be clearly defined as to who’s responsible for the cost. Does it need to be done at this time?
There are probably as many suggestions as people in Campbell River. I would like to see Rivercorp take the lead and make it a priority. We, the city of Campbell River, have a lot invested in the mill. A very valuable property is paying almost no tax.
The concept of renting the various work sites to smaller businesses seems to be the most logical. Since the property is costing Catalyst without any possible revenue they are no doubt a motivated seller (indicated by the price of $8-9 million).
If Rivercorp was to lease the property from Catalyst with the agreement that when portions are rented out Catalyst will get a portion of the rent. I realize this is an oversimplification but the concept the previous buyer had is the most likely to succeed and if city hall does nothing- that is what will happen. Most light industry cannot afford major investment of legal and professional services only to find the costs to be too high.
This is what Rivercorp should be working on.
Frans Hoogeveen
Too many driveways
I am very surprised that there is passing allowed in between Rockland Road and the hill leading into Campbell River where Hidden Harbor is.
I suppose, over 20 years ago, it wasn’t an issue but today it seems that there are too many driveways turning onto the highway...homes, businesses etc.
Here is a perfect example as to why passing should not be allowed. My boyfriend was waiting to make a left turn onto the highway.
We live on the water side so we have to cross the northbound lane to go south. He was waiting in our driveway to go south. He looked both ways and saw that it was clear to turn into the southbound lane. As he starts to go he suddenly has to go off to the side of the road as a vehicle heading north started passing coming out of the northbound lane into the south bound lane to pass right as my boyfriend was in the southbound lane. My boyfriend quickly went off the other side of the road to avoid a head on. The guy passing waved at him as he obviously didn’t expect a vehicle to turn onto the highway.
Very, very fortunate that there was room to get off the road and that there were no pedestrians walking right there at that time. But it seems to me passing should not be allowed. Along with passing comes speed.
With the Seawalk there are so many pedestrians, adults with kids, dogs etc., people on bikes, roller blading skate boarding...just a very busy area and as well as people there are a lot of deer. I see them on our lawn.
We live on the water side and down by the water. They have to cross that highway and many have been hit.
I understand that it can’t always be avoided but if the speed was dropped to 50 km along this area and no passing I really believe it would help a lot. If people need to speed there is another route. Thank you for listening to my concern and I don’t think I am the only one concerned about this. I am hoping something can be done.
Joanne Moon
Did I miss something?
I do not attend city council meetings nor do I watch them on TV. I’m reliant on the local newspapers to keep me informed.
Somehow I missed some local events that may or may not have occurred. I may have slipped into a coma for the last couple of years or just missed what was happening around me.
A. I thought a costly referendum was held several years ago that shot down a multi million dollar Sportsplex and million dollar improvements to Robron field.
B. A huge crack was found in the surface of the local rink which may necessitate in shutting down one of the ice surfaces since there is no money to fix it.
C. School children in the Peterson road area will have to continue to risk their lives on a daily basis since there is absolutely no money for any type of road improvements.
D. The city proclaimed itself a green community and spent untold amounts of money on a green roof for city hall. Now they seem to be headed in another direction. They are now prepared to hire a army of contractors to rip up a perfectly green field and replace it with artificial turf costing millions of dollars and god only knows how much to maintain it.
This despite an article earlier this year in one of the Vancouver dailies, that interviewed Vancouver Whitecap players. In the article the white cap players stated how they hated playing on artificial turf since it damaged their knees and ankles which in turn left lifelong medical problems.
But why would anyone listen to professional soccer players our local experts probably know what is best?
Peter Sabo
Campbell River