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The McBarge proposal in Mission has cleared one more hurdle.
Last night Mission Council gave third reading to the zoning application that would allow the old Expo barge to be converted into a space for a restaurant, tap house, and float plane marina.
Developer Howard Meakin says it’s terrific to move forward after all the time he’s spent on it.

“It had taken 3 and a half years, but it’s taken this council that was put in place in December no longer than 2 months to get everything together and now the work begins.  I’m looking forward to seeing this project actually happen.”

Mayor Ted Adlem says the district had spent a lot of time on this without anything actually happening.

“I personally think that Howard Meakin is a developer who wants to put his money where his mouth is, and I think we should give him the opportunity to do that.”

Now Meakin has to either acquire or get access to the Uplands to build parking in order for the zoning bylaw to get final adoption.
Close to a hundred people came out to the public hearing, with about a quarter getting up to speak.
Most were in favour of the development but many wanted some kind of assurance that if things didn’t pan out Mission wouldn’t be stuck with an empty barge.

Abbotsford Police had to deal with a suspect yesterday who just wouldn’t cooperate.
Constable Ian McDonald says a woman was trapped in her home by a neighbor’s goat…

“It essentially had made it’s way onto her porch, was head-butting her BBQ, and was preventing her from exiting her home.  Despite her attempt to rid the goat by lobbing some beer cans and beer bottles at it, the goat remained until one of our officers arrived, collared the goat and tied it to a post there.”

Police had a  subsequent chat with the neighbor and animal control.  McDonald says the goat was obviously enticed by the BBQ, and as long as it stays on its own property from now on will probably lead a long and interesting life.

Abbotsford police are once again frustrated by the lack of witness information on a weekend incident that put two men in hospital.

Two men were stabbed in a fight early Sunday in front of a building in the 31600 block of Old Yale road.

Oone will be in the hospital for several days with a stab wound to the abdomen.

Police say despite speaking to several witnesses they don’t have a full picture of what happened.

A fire broke out in Yarrow earlier this afternoon on Number 3 road near Yarrow Central.

According to reports it started around 3:20 in the afternoon.

A nearby resident says she heard a loud bang and when she went outside she saw flames shooting out of a quonset building.

Fire crews and paramedics were called down, but so far no reports of any injuries.

Yarrow Central and Number 3 road are closed down until further notice, so you’re advised to avoid the area.

There’s still lots of smoke coming out of the building so it’s recommended to stay indoors if you live nearby

According to the annual GM’s report submitted to Abbotsford Council the AESC has 8 shows booked for the next few months, including Cirque Du Soleil and the TransSiberian Orchestra.

They’re also in negotiations for at least half a dozen more, ranging from country to classic rock to even broadway productions.

The report also shows the sales numbers on things like suites and advertising.

While club seat and suite sales are at or near their goal, hockey ticket and advertising sales are at 75% or less of the annual goal and sales overall are only at 80% of target.

Naming rights for the building are also still up for grabs, valued at 250 thousand dollars per year.

The failed Stave Lake P3 proposal comes with a price tag of 3.55 million dollars according to a City of Abbotsford staff report.

The report was to have been presented at Council yesterday afternoon but was rescheduled to February 6th due to time constraints.

Of that money 1.1 million was from the Abbotsford Mission Water and Sewer Commission, spent before Mission pulled out of the process, while the rest falls on Abbotsford.

The cost includes 2.5 million dollars in project development costs, which won’t have to be spent again if the City decides to build Stave Lake without a P3 model.

There’s also over 600 thousand dollars to apply for P3 funding.

And finally 326 thousand dollars for the City’s campaign to persuade people to vote yes, a campaign that was originally budgeted at 200 thousand.

When the report comes to council in February city staff will ask council for future direction regarding a water supply.

Kinder Morgan claims it’s not a huge deal, but local environmental groups say this is exactly why oil pipelines are dangerous.  The company says it plans to have an oil spill in Abbotsford cleaned up at some point today.
The spill took place yesterday in the Upper Sumas area at a tank farm that’s part of the Trans Mountain pipeline system.
That pipeline moves crude from the Alberta tar sands to the West Coast for shipment on tankers.
Kinder Morgan says the incident is not significant, but Ben West with the Wilderness Committee says residents in the area were complaining of headaches and nausea from the smell and a nearby elementary school kept the kids inside yesterday. 

Not good timing, considering Enbridge is trying to build a massive pipeline across BC to the coast…thats in the public consultation phase right now.  West says we’re in the middle of this massive consultation, yet Kinder Morgan is allowed to proceed with expansion of the Trans Mountain system without consultation.

Abbotsford Police are reporting an oil spill on the Kinder Morgan property on Upper Sumas road.

The spill is in a contained area according to Kinder Morgan and cleanup is under way.

Police have received several complaints about the smell, but Kinder Morgan says there is no health risk to residents.

Old Navy is the latest big name tenant announced by the developers of the HIgh Street shopping complex, under construction just off Mount Lehman road.

The fashion store joins Wal-Mart, London Drugs, and Cineplex as anchors for the outdoor mall.

Shape properties say they’ve leased out about 80 percent of the space at the outdoor shopping complex

The High Street construction is on schedule and is set to be finished some time in Spring of next year according to Shape Properties.

The public won’t be getting any public hearing on adding more slot machines.

Abbotsford Council voted 5-4 against going forward with a zoning application to up the limit on how many machines Chances can have.

The application would have increased the slot limit from 125 to 300, although Playtime Gaming was only looking to add fifty or so machines.

Councillor Simon Gibson was one of the main opponents, saying money that goes into a casino comes out of a family’s pocket.

Mayor Bruce Banman opposed the decision to not proceed to public hearing, saying the public deserved to have their say.

Playtime Gaming part owner Jacee  Schaefer says she’s disappointed at Council’s decision.

Schaefer says both the city and local charities lose out on gaming revenue because of the numbers of people that leave to go to gaming centres in other towns because of the lack of machines.