Hi Everyone,

I just want to update you on the important events of the past week, with regards to our fight.  As you know, 2 weeks ago, Minister Neufeld made an announcement that they were proceeding with the construction of overhead lines through our community.  We were shocked as we really felt the tides had turned and we had garnered significant support by several ministers.  Unfortunately in the end, Neufeld wielded considerable clout and he stood fast behind his corporation BCTC.  Bloody unfortunate!

Even before the announcement was made, ROW owners with poles in their yards had received couriered letters from BCTC requesting meetings about construction arrangements.  A few of us were invited by one homeowner to come to one of these private meetings.  BCTC’s PR person and a representative of Hydro met and gave vague information plus a package to the owners.  However when asked hard questions of “how” and “when”, had very few answers.  One fact we all became quickly aware of, is that it is very possible that they may be coming through several yards down the ROW to actually get the machinery and poles to their planned locations – so be warned.  Many of us other than those with poles may be contacted regarding this.

At this meeting, the homeowner in question and all of the rest of us demanded a letter from BCTC stating that the new towers and lines were “safe” – signed by BCTC, BC Hydro and the government.  Don’t hold your breath waiting for this!  However, it’s a good idea if we all ask for it.  We also demanded that BCTC arrange a larger meeting for the community at large to explain what was going on – again, don’t hold your breath!

Since the announcement, TRAHVOL has submitted a formal Reconsideration request to the BCUC, regarding HDD.  This was rejected in a lightening fast 4 days (see the attachment).  However, the rejection of this does open a door for legal action in the way of an appeal.  We are waiting for more advice on this.  We are also exhausting any other possible legal avenue that may be open to us to avert this disaster.  We will try and keep you updated.

Regarding the so called "BUYOUT" :

TRAHVOL also wrote Val Roddick, the Premier and Neufeld asking several pointed questions about the so called “possible buyout”.  Unfortunately this applies only to those of us with encumbrances on our land – which does nothing for the rest of the community, the school or the parks.  Val has sent the attached letter back, which gives us absolutely no clarification, only requesting we contact her personally. 

Neufeld told Cec it "isn't confirmed" and Roddick stated that residents would have to initiate interest to the government. This supposed offer has nothing to do with BCTC and they are not involved in it directly.

Please note that the government is telling us that if anyone is interested in the so called "buyout", they must notify the government. They have indicated that the government will do NOTHING to initiate this action.

As this is obviously a very difficult personal and heart wrenching decision, each homeowner must decide whether or not to take action on it. We think it is very important that we approach the government cohesively as they will try the divide and conquer bit if they get the opportunity. To that end, TRAHVOL is suggesting that anyone who may be interested let us know, so that we can get an initial list to the government and then see what happens. If they are serious about it, we will need to have legal help to set up the procedures and parameters. The information will be kept in complete confidence. If you wish to proceed individually, that’s fine too.

We have not given up the fight on this, but the solution may now be retroactive rather than proactive. Sad,but true.  We have no illusions that someone will pull a rabbit out of a hat for us. Further, we need to have the entire community behind us, and unfortunately this has yet to happen.

Bernadette
TRAHVOL