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Briefly: March 9, 2012

Area B tops list Members of the Powell River Regional District’s planning committee have approved a 2012 work plan for official community plan (OCP) projects with Area B being top priority. The plan prioritizes OCPs for Electoral Areas B, C and A.

Area B tops list

Members of the Powell River Regional District’s planning committee have approved a 2012 work plan for official community plan (OCP) projects with Area B being top priority.

The plan prioritizes OCPs for Electoral Areas B, C and A. Previously, Areas B and C were included in one OCP but after three years of work, adoption of the final version of the document eluded the regional board.

Mac Fraser, the regional district’s chief administrative officer, speaking at a recent planning meeting, said staff will not be starting from a blank canvas for the Area B OCP. “We’re drawing from all the work that’s been done to date and ending up with two documents because, essentially, a single, combined document is no longer sensible.”

Planner Laura Roddan agreed, adding it “would be impossible with the timelines that are projected as well. It’s going to be a matter of separating out what’s applicable to B, what’s applicable to C, what’s applicable to both, setting up two documents.”

Data from Statistics Canada also supports two documents, she said, as Area B is the only electoral area in the regional district that has increased in population over the last 20 years and it also has the highest population density. “The pressures are somewhat greater, so that would substantiate prioritizing Area B,” Roddan added.

Fraser pointed out that in the future, a decision that affects one area doesn’t have to necessarily be applied to the other area.

Patrick Brabazon, Electoral Area A director, said he saw nothing “that’s actually going to address some of the controversy that’s existed, especially in Area B, just by splitting the OCP into two different documents.”

According to the work plan, public consultation on the OCP for Area B would start in April. Roddan said there would probably be two open houses and possibly a working group that would meet more times than that. “The public process is going to be key in making sure that the plan reflects the community and the vision for residents,” she said.


Traffic safety

RCMP will be working to make intersections around town safer this month.

Efforts to decrease the number of collisions at intersections in Powell River will target drivers who commit offences under the Motor Vehicle Act. These offences include failing to yield to vehicles with right-of-way, failing to come to a complete stop and running red lights.

Constable Chris Bakker of the Powell River detachment said the RCMP wants to make drivers more aware of mistakes that can be made behind the wheel.

“The purpose of this initiative is to decrease the number of collisions in intersections and to raise awareness for drivers,” he said. “The majority of collisions at intersections are due to human error and we want to decrease those numbers.”

According to ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia), there are about 203 collisions every day at intersections throughout the province. The top five reasons for collisions at intersections include: failing to yield the right-of-way, ignoring a traffic control device, speeding, inattentive driving and driver error or confusion.


Limited measures

While whooping cough seems to be diminishing in the Fraser Valley, preventive measures are being taken in Powell River.

Also known as pertussis, whooping cough is a bacterial infection affecting the lining of the respiratory tract.

Cases of whooping cough are making the rounds in the Fraser Valley, east of Chilliwack and in the Hope region. It seems the breakout is dying down, but Dr. Paul Martiquet, medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, said doctors still want to prevent it from spreading.

“There is concern it could spread,” he said.

Vaccinations are currently being offered to Powell River physicians and their staff, along with the first nations community. There are no vaccines being offered to the general public at this time.

Whooping cough is highly contagious. Initial symptoms mimic a common cold but persist into a worsening cough that makes a “whooping” sound, according to the Fraser Health website www.fraserhealth.ca.

The website also said that there have been at least 140 cases of whooping cough during the recent breakout in the Fraser Valley area.