By Steve Hubrecht
A storm of public opinion swirled in Canal Flats recently after large rocks were placed along the western edge of the Canal Flats Frontage Road, blocking vehicle access to the Kootenay River.
The rocks were placed along private land owned by Black Sheep Camp Kootenay River, at a spot where a short dirt track leaves the frontage road and heads down to the shore of river. The cobbled rocky area along the shoreline — fairly close to where the Highway 93/95 bridge spans the Kootenay — is popular with local swimmers, boaters, and anglers and is known locally as the ‘river beach’.
The operators of Black Sheep Camp posted a sign outlining why the rocks were placed there, saying it was done in opposition to discussions between the Village of Canal Flats and CertainTeed Canada Inc (which operates the Kootenay West gypsum mine about 12 kilometres northeast of the village) to purportedly reroute mining trucks under the Highway 93/95 bridge and along the frontage road, instead of the mining trucks accessing the highway through the old sawmill site as they do now.
The sign also indicates that Black Sheep Camp “made a formal offer to the Village of Canal Flats to donate this corner of our private property for public use” but added “the village never responded to or accepted this generous offer.”
Black Sheep Camp states on the sign that rerouting mining trucks along the frontage road would mean trucks “passing every four minutes in both directions between 4 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday —through what is currently a recreational corridor,” going on to highlight safety concerns for the general public as well as impacts on their campground operation and on waterfront access.
“We have no choice but to close this access until all stakeholders — including the public — are heard and permanent solutions with a clear future plan are found,” reads the sign.
Canal Flats interim chief administrative officer Sylvie Hoobanoff sent a report on the issue to Canal Flats council, received during its Monday, April 14 meeting (and reposted on social media several times by Canal Flats residents).
In the report Hoobanoff outlined that village staff contacted the provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) about the blocked access and were advised there is a statutory right of way within the property for access to the river and “therefore the property owner can not legally block access to the river.”
On rerouting mining trucks along the frontage road, Hoobanoff wrote that village staff met with the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Transit (MOTT) and CertainTeed on Thursday, April 10, and that “there is no proposal to use the cut-off road and go under the bridge.” The plan from CertainTeed is to use the newly created road on the former sawmill site onto Grainger Road, turn right onto Highway 93/95, and then turn left at Thunderhill Road, read the report.
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In terms of Black Sheep Camp donating the land used to access the river, the report said, “staff is unaware of any formal proposal received from the property owners of the campground regarding the donation of the access.”
Several Black Sheep representatives were at the April 14 meeting and had plenty of questions for council.
Cathy Butler said Black Sheep has talked with lawyers and that there is a BC Hydro right of way on the property title, but not a public access right of way. “We’re happy to pursue this later and have lawyers weigh in and discuss it with the village, but that (a public right of way) is not a fact,” said Butler.
“There is a right of way for BC Hydro, that’s a fact,” replied Hoobanoff.
“Which does not create public access, it’s for BC Hydro,” added another Black Sheep representative.
Butler also took issue with the line in the village report about municipal staff being unaware of a formal proposal for the campground to donate part of its land.
“I know you made a presentation to council in 2023, but that is not a formal presentation,” answered Hoobanoff, later adding “we receive a lot of presentations from developers and community members that want to do things that never come to pass. So that’s not an official request.”
Butler said she made several follow-ups with former Canal Flats chief administrative officer Richard Wayken, “all of which have got no reply or no answer.”
Hoobanoff outlined that she has no record of any of those, and that whatever may have happened in 2023 between Black Sheep owners and former village staff did not get passed on to her.
“Would you say that using the word ‘formal’ in there (the report), which is fair enough, maybe gave the public a little bit of an inaccurate picture, in the sense that it sounds like we have not done anything?” asked another Black Sheep representative. “That basically what we put on the sign was a lie. That’s sort of how it seemed to be positioned to me.”
On mining trucks going under the bridge, Hoobanoff said that CertainTeed had discussions with the village and with MOTT about it, but “that is not being pursued, and in the meantime CertainTeed built their road (on the former sawmill site) and now they’re going to use that road because there was a lot of money spent on that road.” Hoobanoff later emphasized that mining trucks going under the bridge “is not going to happen now.”
Butler said Black Sheep was told that CertainTeed intends to revisit the issue and try to have its trucks go under the bridge in the future.
“That’s not what I’ve been told,” replied Hoobanoff, later adding that in any event the village doesn’t have much say on what happens on the highway, which is the jurisdiction of MOTT. “Whether we (Canal Flats) like it or not, they’ll (MOTT) do what they want to do,” she said.
Hoobanoff was unsure of Butler’s estimate of mining trucks driving by every four minutes. She said she’d been told there will be 35 trucks loaded and unloaded (70 trips in total) every 12 hours. “If you do the math, it’s every 18 minutes,” said Hoobanoff.
Butler also asked about measures to slow down the trucks, such as reduced speed limits and turning lanes.
Hoobanoff said this is also outside the village’s jurisdiction, and is a matter between CertainTeed and MOTT. But she added the village’s position is that “we would love to see the speed (limit) lowered.”
Councillor Patricia Reed said the village has been asking MOTT to lower speed limits along Highway 93/95 as it passed through Canal Flats since at least 2022, without success.
At the end of the meeting, councillor Andrew Weitzel said that he knows there’s no plan for mining trucks to go under the bridge and along the frontage road, but he understands why the mere mention of such a situation rankles residents. “There’s a very viable business that’s operating underneath there. There’s dust. There’s pedestrians,” Weitzel pointed out. “Even the idea of trucks going by there at 4 o’clock in the morning is crazy for a campground, when people are staying in trailers and tents and all other kinds of things.”
Weitzel also said that although he appreciates there was no formal proposal from Black Sheep, the village should “acknowledge that there was a presentation made … I think that should have been in there (the report) because it’s misleading for anybody else that does read it.”
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