As much as I was enjoying the ongoing sunshine, it is a bit of a relief to finally get some rain! Gives me a good excuse to stay indoors and actually get my report in on time! There are many ongoing issues and many new issues happening at the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) table. We are very fortunate to have the Board that we have, working together to get things done for our region. We are also very fortunate to have our new Chief Administrative Officer working hard on our behalf. He is proving himself to be a dedicated and knowledgeable resource for all of us. I was fortunate enough to be selected as part of a three person "transition team" to help our CAO "acclimatize" in this new position. The transition I speak of is from the old Comox Strathcona Regional District to this new SRD. We have met twice as a group and the meetings have been very successful in keeping us on track as a Board and in keeping the bureaucracy to a minimum. I am looking forward to getting lots more done for our area in the coming years.

Granite Bay Wharf upgrade finale

Well, we did it! The Granite Bay Park wharf upgrades have been completed. After two long years of meetings, planning and revising the plans and four intensive work party days (two in Campbell River and two in Granite Bay) I was able to tighten the last bolt holding the entire structure together. Now I know how those folks felt that built the railroad.. waiting for that last spike to be driven!. This has once again been a wonderful example of what local government can do for us by working with the community and businesses to bring together incredible resources to create a lasting amenity for our entire community. I am proud to have been the "project manger" on this project and have a list of people to express my sincere thanks to. This was a group effort!

First of all I would like to thank the SRD for helping me to realize my dream of keeping our two most northerly road accesses, in the public domain, as public access points. They are now preserved for future generations so that not only the people on the outer islands will have access, but so that we on Quadra and those that visit us, will be able to have two great jumping-off points to all of the incredible places in the Area C wilderness. Both road-ends are similarly protected as Regional District Parks. The staff most involved were Beth Rees, our Manager of Parks, Brian Reardon, our CAO, and Peter Woods, Parks Technician. My thanks to all of them, especially Beth!

I would also like to thank this incredible community for all of the help that they volunteered to make this happen. I received many offers from islanders to help out at different stages. All of those offers are appreciated, even though I only had to take up a certain number on their offer. We had a full work crew for each of the days that we worked. The crews consisted of, in various combinations, the following: Allen Perkins, Robert Wood, John Schmidt, Dan MacKenzie, Frank Inrig, Hugh Inrig, Al Luoma, Ronnie Rombough and yours truly. Each of us not only volunteered our time, but also tools and equipment. John Schmidt even donned his wet suit to work in the water on the installation of the last two bolts on each float that could not be done from topsides! It was a great team effort. That makes three such projects over the past couple of years: Hoskyn Channel Landing Park wharf, the Lucky Jim Mine project and now the Granite Bay Park wharf. Three down and how many more to go???

Last but not least, I would like to thank all of the businesses that made this project possible. Without them the project would have been cost prohibitive. All of the businesses did it out of their sense of community spirit. I met with all of them over time to secure the donations that they made and I was absolutely amazed at the wonderful people that are out there willing to help with a community project. Being in the position that I am in, I get to see all sides of human behaviour and I have to say that some of it isn't the greatest. This type of project certainly renews ones faith in human nature.

First on the list has to be Marine Harvest Canada. The people that I dealt with there were so helpful and willing to take on so much in the way of soliciting other donations and in offering services and coordination. James Rogers, Ian Roberts and Owen Green were my main contacts and they were fantastic to deal with. They donated all of the actual float structures, the new flotation billets, the anchoring chains and ropes and all of the associated hardware for the anchors. They also did a great job in helping me to locate other donations such as the trucking, the metal fabricating and the location of appropriate anchors.

DKS Industries, Dennis Bellavance, did one heck of a job of rebuilding, welding, repairing and fabricating everything that needed doing on the floats. He also stored the floats in his industrial yard in Campbellton, where he allowed our work crew to do all of the bolting of the side rails and tie-up rails to the floats while on dry land. He also loaned us a generator each day and moved materials around each day for us with his fork lift. His crew must also be thanked for their part in this project.

Sea Roamer Marine Services, Lloyd Muckle and his crew, did the transportation of all of the materials from Campbell River to Granite Bay and they installed all of the anchors and lines and provided a platform for us to work from, along with lots of physical and moral support. They spent three days on this project with a huge barge and crane unit, a tug boat and the Sea Roamer landing barge. It is amazing how nicely they aligned everything up and kept it in place in a north west wind! Have a look at the photo to see what I mean!
Aztec Trucking from Campbell River provided the transport from DKS's storage yard to Campbell River Marine Terminals where the floats and all anchors and attaching supplies were stored until they could be shipped. The cross-terminal fees and the storage fees and loading fees were all donated by the Terminal through Tim Campbell of the Marine Link, a former Quadraite.

We received a generous financial contribution from Walcan Seafoods. They have always helped out in our community endeavours and they came through on this one also. My personal thanks to Bill Pirie.

Quadra Island Builders gave us a really good deal on all of the pressure treated lumber and the hot dipped galvanized bolts that hold everything together. We couldn't have done without them! Thanks Barry!

Island Ready Mix supplied the six 7-ton anchors at a reduced price and custom made them for this project.

Last but not least, Peter Heidema Engineering provided the drawings and advice on how to make this all safe and sound. Thanks Peter.

My sincerest apologies if I have missed anyone!

So now the only thing left is to plan for the celebration. We must celebrate our successes. And this was a success! We are looking at the end of the month and I will make sure that we advertise far and wide. So stay tuned and mark it on your calendars.

There is a lot more to report, but I am running out of space. So... That is it for this issue. Feel free to call me between the hours of 8:30 am and 7:00 pm, Monday through Friday (not on weekends, folks!) at 285-3355, or you can fax me at 285-3533 or you can email me anytime at abramfamoberon.ark.com , or by mail at Box 278 in the Cove, V0P 1N0... Lots of choices!

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Abram
Director, Discovery Islands - Mainland Inlets (Area C), SRD