Finally the justice system works…

Great to see the justice system work, but too bad the preventative system of rules and regulations did not work. And keep in mind that the town of Sicamous was also reckless in allowing the development in the first place…..

Sicamous Eagle Valley News
Court fines Old Town Bay developers
By Lachlan Labere

Published: April 13, 2010 5:00 PM

Developers of Old Town Bay in Sicamous have pleaded guilty to destruction of fish habitat.

Judge Edmond De Walle accepted a guilty plea Monday morning in Salmon Arm court from the legal counsel of Clint Caisin and Stan Pappus, representing numbered company 0702905 B.C. Ltd. The company, along with developers Jack Irwin, and Greg and Todd Kyllo, was facing charges under the federal Fisheries Act for Harmful Alteration of Fish Habitat. Charges against Irwin and the Kyllos were stayed, with the company accepting responsibility for the damage caused by land clearing at the mouth of the Eagle River and on Shuswap Lake. As per a joint submission with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to the court, the company agreed to pay a sum of $375,000. Five thousand of that is a fine; $70,000 will be paid to the Fraser Basin Council for use in such projects as the Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process; and $300,000 will go towards remediation of the damaged site.

Federal Crown prosecutor Todd Gerhardt said the $375,000 penalty should serve as a deterrent to other foreshore developers.

The charges relate to the clearing of seven hectares of land recognized by the DFO as important fish habitat. The Eagle River delta itself was described as rare and important to salmonid.

Gerhardt said the developer made no application to DFO to clear the land, and received no permission. He called the developers ‘reckless,’ but lauded the company for its co-operation with DFO, and for entering an early guilty plea, saving significant court time and expenses.

Brad Armstrong, the company’s legal representative, was agreeable to everything but the term ‘reckless.’ He said all parties involved gave consideration to fish habitat. He said the company had retained many experts and were advised that a 15-metre setback for one section of the development would provide sufficient protection of riparian habitat. He added local investors made an extrapolation of that, and increased the setback to 20 metres. But this proved to be insufficient by DFO.

‘They were not reckless in terms of being oblivious to the needs of fish habitat,’ said Armstrong.

A $300,000 bond will be kept in Armstrong’s trust until the remediation is completed over a five-year period. Thirty-thousand of this will not be returned to the company until the end of that period to assure the company has provided the prescribed remediation that includes replanting, irrigation, fencing off sensitive habitat from the upland development, and ongoing monitoring.

After the hearing, Caisin and Pappus told the Eagle Valley News that they were deeply sorry, that some mistakes were made and they were there to fix them.