BREAKERS – timely tidbits and follow-ups to previously published stories:
- Mayor Wiese misleads public about Buller Road clean-up
- Rotary Club bottle drive-thru a big hit for Food Bank
- RDN increases protection of Coats Marsh wetlands
- Classic QB street banners are reappearing!
Mayor Wiese misleads public about Buller Road clean-up
The saga of 263 Buller Road continues, despite what Mayor Brian Wiese recently stated. We reported previously about the five-year-long, and still on-going, construction nightmare at this QB waterfront lot that the Town has declared unsafe on multiple occasions, but which the owner, Kurt Miller, has consistently and continually ignored — to the despair of neighbours, taxpayers and visitors alike.
During the Oct 7, 2020 Council Meeting, Mayor Wiese proclaimed that “the Buller Road clean-up is done.” [Seen at 28:19 of the video.] Not so. A visit to the site on October 17, 2020 revealed construction equipment on site, a retaining wall still standing, piles of cement blocks and sundry other garbage still on site. However, what really caught our attention was a large, freshly-dug hole in the centre of the property, containing demolished construction materials — large chunks of broken concrete with rebar sticking out. Should this property be sold, imagine the reaction of the new owner, if/when they discover this “buried treasure” on their land.
Rotary Club bottle drive-thru a big hit for Food Bank
The Rotary Club of Qualicum Beach Sunrise held a bottle drive-thru at the Rotary House on Saturday, October 17, 2020. The Rotary members and youth volunteers were kept hopping with the volume of bottles being dropped off. The property’s two entrances were used to good effect, allowing vehicles to enter at one end and exit at the other. By noon, one of the volunteers said he had already taken three truckloads of bottles to the depot. The bottle drive-thru was a fundraiser for the Salvation Army Food Bank. Three cheers for the Rotary Club and for the Food Bank! They can do that again, anytime.
RDN increases protection of Coats Marsh wetlands
The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN), together with the Gabriola Land and Trails Trust who provided a generous donation, recently purchased an additional 9 acres (3.64 hectares) of forested land on Gabriola Island. This additional parkland, added to the 707 Community Park officially on October 9, 2020, will provide increased ecological protection to Coats Marsh, a rare, ecologically sensitive Gulf Island freshwater wetland.
Classic QB street banners are reappearing!
As we previously reported, many of QB’s classy and classic street banners seemed to have disappeared, replaced by banners of questionable artistic merit and dubious production quality.
Imagine our delight when we were informed that some of the missing street banners are beginning to reappear on the streets of the Village core.
Seen here is one of QB’s classic street banners on upper Second Avenue West, this one depicting our town’s view of Mount Arrowsmith.
Now, if only the large mural of swimming salmon that used to grace the wall of the Bus Barns building in the Qualicum Commons would turn up. It had been removed prior to the demolition of that building a couple years ago, and was hung on the wall of the Public Works yard on Fern Road. However, it seems to have disappeared from that site too. Many people in the town would love to see that mural displayed again.