Westcoast Multiplex update: open house September 19th

by Kendal Kelly
Co-chair WCMS

The Westcoast Multiplex Society (WCMS) is a group of volunteers who are dedicating many hours of their time, with the hope that one day there will be a skating rink and swimming pool at the airport lands adjacent to the Long Beach Golf Course.  The WCMS has been making slow but steady progress on the project.

Most recently, the ACRD has agreed to lease 2.2 hectares of land at the airport for the society to build on. Likewise, a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by the governments of the seven communities of the region, as well as Region C.  The MOU  recognizes their commitment to the realization of such a facility. Beginning the week of September 20, 2010, Vic Van Isle Construction will be holding a building charrett that will begin the design drawing process, with the intent to have the drawings completed in early November of this year.  Also, the environmental assessment and the soil testing will be taking place and will be completed during the same time frame.   As such, the WCMS should be at the ”shovel ready” stage by the beginning of 2011.

With this part of the equation off of the board’s plate, the latest challenge is to make the facility affordable to all.  It is the mandate of the society to do just that.  We have no intention of pursuing the multiplex if the operation side of the facility relies on tax-payers to foot the bill.  There has been several different opportunities and ideas presented to the WCMS that can possibly offset these costs.  Alternative energies, such as biomass gasification, geothermal and solar energy are being explored.  Water catchments, on-site sewer treatment and reusable waste water systems are also being researched.  All of these solutions would have a dramatic impact on lowering the operating costs from the number projected in our present business plan.  (a $900K deficit)

Likewise, there are several acres of raw land in the vicinity of the projected building.  It is not out of the realm of reasoning to see this as an opportunity to develop greenhouses, which could use the waste water and energy being created by the multiplex to offset the operation costs of producing local food.  In turn, a portion of the profit from the farm would go towards the operating costs of the multiplex.  Jobs would be created, trucks would be taken of the road, carbon credits could be obtained and greenhouse gases would be reduced.  Similarly, a large scale museum is a possibility.  A portion of the entrance fees could go toward the multiplex, and again, jobs would be created, our heritage would be preserved, and so on.  Several other ideas have been presented, and will also be explored.

The WCMS is hosting an open house on Sunday, September 19th at 6:00 PM at the Long Beach Golf Course. It will be the last opportunity for community members to contribute their ideas of what they want the multiplex facility to offer in the way of amenities such as lap tank, hot tub etc.  Likewise, it is a great opportunity to come out and get an understanding of who we are and what we are trying to accomplish.  Also you will be able to share your ideas, provide feedback, meet some new community members, or perhaps even sign up to be a member of our board!

PS.  Watch for information regarding our 2010/2011 lottery.

MUP usage guidelines — draft for public comment

The following is an INITIAL DRAFT, posted for public comment, of MUP usage guidelines. The intent is to create a simple set of guidelines to make us all safer in our use of the ever-more-congested MUP.

This is not comprehensive — it was drafted off the top of my head with some input from local MUP users. Please add your thoughts and suggestions using the blog’s comment feature, or email me direct, and we’ll get this together for inclusion in the fall Rec Guide.
– greg blanchette aimless1@mailcan.com

MUP usage guidelines
As the name Multi-Use Path (MUP) suggests, the path is intended for mixed use. As more people use the path in a variety of ways — walking, running, biking, rollerblading, skateboarding, strollering — there is more potential for accident. These guidelines for MUP use will promote safety and minimize conflicts.

• All MUP users should travel on the right side of the path. When passing someone, pass to the left.
• Cyclists should have a bell or horn (voice also works but gets tedious) to warn pedestrians when overtaking.
• At night, cyclists MUST have front and rear lights, to see where they are going but especially to let other riders, drivers and pedestrians know they are coming. Serious collisions have happened because of a lack of lights on bikes.
• At night, especially on the darker sections of the path (south of the Esso station), pedestrians should carry a light too, or at least wear light-coloured clothing.
• When hearing a bell behind them, pedestrians should automatically move to the right side of the path, single file, to let the bikes pass. Please don’t stop in the middle of the path and turn around to look.
• There are a few blind corners and swerves on the MUP, and cyclists should slow down when passing through them.
• When cycling out of town (south), riding on the west shoulder (ocean side of the road, opposite side to the MUP) is safest up to Industrial Way, where the shoulder disappears entirely; then cross onto the MUP.
• Because of its mixed use and many obstacles, the MUP is not appropriate for high-speed cycling. When moving fast, experienced cyclists should travel on the road shoulder, rather than on the MUP.
• Skateboarders should use sensible caution, bearing in mind a skateboard’s limited turning and stopping power, and yield to other MUP users.

What drivers can do:

• When pulling out of a driveway, stop before the front of your car blocks the MUP and check for cycle traffic.
• At night, when you see an oncoming cyclist drop your high-beams. It makes a big difference to how well the cyclist can see that narrow bike path.

MUP improvements

• District staff should keep the west shoulder (heading out of town) clear of gravel up to the Esso station so cyclists can use it safely.
• Repaint the white edge lines where needed, especially in the dark sections south of the gas stations.
• Reminder signs on the pavement to “travel right, pass left.”
• Repair the potholes and root ridges.
• Fix ridges and pavement drop-offs that could spill a bike.
• Widen the narrow sections.
• Put reflectors or white paint on the telephone poles close to the MUP (particularly at swerves), so they show up better at night.
• Property owners should trim back bushes at driveway entrances so MUP traffic is visible, along with other bushes that overhang the MUP.

Cycling Advisory Group

• * There should be an advisory group of dedicated lifestyle and casual cyclists providing input to the district on all cycling-related initiatives and infrastructure.
• The advisory group should run a regular survey of the MUP to identify places and features of particular concern to cyclists.

Looks like an inside job

Well this is pretty strange.

Our district has sent out a Request for Proposals for someone to upgrade Tofino’s website. (Here is a link to the job posting; since all traces of it will likely be removed within days, here is a saved pdf of the same posting. The same RFP appeared in the most recent issue of The Westerly).

First thing weird:

It was published in the Westerly on Thursday, and online on the AV Employment Centre website on Friday – but proposals have to be in by 4pm Tuesday. Doesn’t give much time for people to see it, not to mention respond to it. Especially considering two of those days are a weekend. What’s the rush? Don’t we want to advertise it properly, so we get well qualified people applying, at a good price?

Second thing weird:

It gives absolutely no specs about what they actually want done, i.e. it is completely impossible for anyone to give a quote on. How much work is involved? What do they actually want done?

FYI, here is the total Request for Proposal:

The District of Tofino is seeking a Web Designer to upgrade the District of Tofino website.
Interested parties should submit a proposal that includes:

• Layout and features
• Cost (include breakdown if modular)
• Portfolio of completed projects

It’s not being advertised with enough time to ensure that qualified people even see the proposal – not to mention giving them time to review where the website’s at now, what needs to be done, and cost out and write a proposal.

Sounds like it’s a done deal. Let’s wait and see who gets the contract.

This is our Tofino Residents’ money being spent. Shouldn’t contracts like this be posted fairly, so that we as Tofino Residents get the best value for dollars spent?

Let them eat farmed fish…

Oh, where do I start…

Well, after years of using local media to try to get Tofino to come up with a safer and more appropriate earthquake/tsunami emergency plan, to no avail, I finally went to bigger, out-of-town media, hoping to get some reaction.

And it’s finally worked! Our mayor, John Fraser, spoke on CBC Radio’s show On the Island this morning, in response to my concerns. (You can read about my concerns in yesterday’s blog post, or you can listen to them on my own CBC On the Island interview of two days ago).

For those of you who missed it, you can listen to what our mayor had to say today by clicking

You’re all gonna die. (Whatever).

Sometimes I wish I didn’t know the things I know (see references listed at the bottom of this article).

But even if I didn’t have a PhD in Structural Geology (study of movements in the Earth’s crust, e.g. faults), and even if I hadn’t read most every scientific paper published about the earthquake and tsunami risk here on the West Coast, I think I’d be asking someone who did know. This is life-and-death stuff.

Even more relevant now, with a new geological study published last month, saying that the likelihood of the big earthquake+tsunami is nearly 4 times as likely to happen within the next 50 years than previously thought. I sold my house on Chestermans based on the old data

Overwhelming national support for Tofino’s chains/franchises ban

Well, it’s certainly getting a lot of media attention. Councillor Stephen Ashton is up to 10 live interviews and counting.

Not sure how many of you heard Stephen on the national CBC Radio show Q today. He did a really good job of answering questions, and explaining what our community has to gain by this: retaining our uniqueness, our spirit, our identity. It’s both for ourselves, and for our tourism “brand” (oh I hate that word, but you know what I mean).

Jian Ghomeshi has posed it as his question of the day:

Should a community be able to ban retail chains and fast-food franchises?

As of nearing midnight, he has got well over 100 responses from across the nation – almost all of them strongly in support of the motion to ban the chains. There is even a refrain echoing in numerous posts of “Go Tofino!”

Check out the comments (you can add one there, too – or here): http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2010/03/should_a_community_be_able_to.html#comments

You can also listen to Stephen’s March 19th Q interview online – as of Friday night it has not yet been posted, but I am sure they will have it up shortly: http://www.cbc.ca/q/pastepisodes.html Click the March 19th podcast to listen to it now; to save the mp3 and listen later, right click (PC) or option-click (Mac).

Power should be back on by noon

Power’s been out in Tofino/Ucluelet since 3:32 am. They say the cause is “transmission circuit failure” (something to do with the wind, I guess) and that it should be back on by noon.

More info about it here: http://www.bchydro.com/outages/orsMapView.jsp?region=IslandNorth

I checked the DriveBC site – there is nothing posted about any road closure.

If anyone has any further info to add, please Comment here.

Our 310th earthquake anniversary today

I seem to be the only person who marks this anniversary. I continue to believe that it’s important. I guess it’s against human nature to try not to think about the bad things. But when those bad things are coming – 100% for sure – and there are steps that we can take now that will save people’s lives, I feel that it is our duty to think of those bad things, and make contingency plans.

What’s happening in Haiti will happen here

This is especially on my mind right now, as I watch the tragedies unfolding in Haiti. What is happening in Haiti will happen here. About the only difference is that our earthquake will be 10 to 100 times stronger.

It’s easy to think that the consequences here will not be so bad – we’re an affluent first-world society, right? But imagine the destruction after that quake – not just here in the remote communities, but in Victoria and Seattle, Vancouver and Nanaimo. Aid efforts will focus first in the major population centres. In particular, here in Tofino and Ucluelet, our road out will likely be cut off for weeks, if not months, not only by downed trees but by major landslides (you know that road – take a moment to imagine it after a magnitude 8 or 9 quake). How much food and water do you have stockpiled?

I’m not writing this to be negative or to scare people. If people do not comprehend the seriousness (and inevitability) of this quake (not to mention the tsunami following), they can’t do anything to prepare for it.

What we can learn from Haiti

I am learning a lot about how inadequate our emergency planning is as I watch what is happening in Haiti. Some of the big points that are being drummed home to me are:
1. People are afraid to enter the buildings that are still standing (damaged) after the quake due to the very real threat of aftershocks.  Not so bad in a tropical country. Sleeping on the street or in the forest is not so great here.

2. Even in a relatively small region like Haiti, there are many difficulties in distributing aid when the infrastructure is seriously damaged. In particular, remote areas with low populations (i.e., us) will be very low on the aid list.

3. Food and water shortages will be on-going for weeks, or even months. We need to have large stockpiles here – not 3 days of food and a couple of water bottles in your cupboard – large stockpiles!

What if…

This also makes me think about the What If’s.

What if the quake happens in summer, when we have 20,000 people in town? How do we have enough food in store for all of the visitors? Should accommodation-providers have some responsibility for ensuring that sufficient emergency food is stored?

What if the quake happens in winter? Where will w sleep? How will we stay warm and dry for the many months before significant help arrives, and the years until significant rebulding takes place?

What if some residents are responsible and stockpile enough food, and others don’t bother? Should those who did stockpile put their own family at risk by sharing their food? Or should they watch their neighbours suffer and starve while they contentedly munch on their stores? (Easy answer here: it is every person’s duty to stockpile food and water, so they do not put anyone else in a dangerous position because of their own lack of preparation).

What if we have no clue what is going on in the outside world? With the power out and landslides across HIghway 4, communication will be cut off. The CBC repeater here goes off when the power goes out, and the CHMZ station is located on the dock and definitely will not survive a quake or a tsunami. So even battery-powered radios will be of no use. How many people have shortwave radios?

These are just some of the things that worry me. I know that these are difficult things to talk about and think about. But ignoring it, waiting for it to happen and dealing with it then, will cost much unecessary loss of life.

What we can do to prepare

Several years ago, our local emergency planning people had come up with “solutions” that I did not feel were helpful and, in some cases, would actually put people in increased danger. (For those who don’t know me, I have a PhD in Geology, with a specialty in Structural Geology, which is the study of crustal movements (folds and faults) caused by plate tectonics – and I have read every relevant technical scientific publication about our specific earthquake risk here – so I do have some specialist knowledge of the subject).

So, three years ago, I wrote two articles, which were published both in the Westcoaster and the Westerly, as my contribution to helping people in our community understand what our earthquake and tsunami will be like, and what we can do to prepare for these events. As far as I know, there has been no response from the emergency planners, or our municipal government to these articles. But I am posting the links again, as an effort to help local residents to get informed.

Ignoring this will cost many lives – unnecessarily

So, please pause for a thought this evening – not so much to mark this centuries-old event, but to remind ourselves that it will happen again. Not “it might” – it will. It is our duty, to ourselves and our families and our neighbours, to talk about it and to prepare for it.

For some facts about our earthquake: why we are at risk, when to expect it, how do scientists know these things, have a look at today’s post on my own blog:

http://jacquelinewindh.com/2010/01/26/earthquake-anniversary/

January in Tofino: 31 types of flowers blooming!

I don’t know about you, but this makes me really happy and I wanted to share it.

Yesterday, I rode my bike around with my little point-and-shoot camera taking pictures of blooming flowers. To my amazement, I found 31 different types of flowers in bloom right now!

So, if you want some local pix to brighten up your day, head on over to my blog and have a look.

Tofino Food Initiative online survey

Submitted by Tofino Food Initiative

Have your say on the idea of community gardens in Tofino! Do our super-quick online survey and you could win one of three $50 gift certificates for groceries in Tofino!
Community Garden Survey
The Tofino Community Food Initiative is working hard to facilitate access to local, high quality, fairly-priced, organic, sustainable and healthy food for our community. Planned projects include the Edible Garden Tour, workshops in gardening, composting and cooking, special movie nights, and the creation of community gardens. In order to plan for a garden this summer, we must apply for funding and start preparing now. Please take a moment to help guide us by filling in our survey!
Thank you for your help,
The Tofino Community Food Initiative
tofinolocalfood@yahoo.ca
http://www.tofinofood.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=113935945907