Great Western Malting
goes along with energy savings

Jim Anderson, CEO of United Malt Holding LP, Vancouver, which owns both Great Western & Canada Malting finds a the new Bonnybrook Energy Centre project “representing a unique opportunity for both Canada Malting Co. Limited and ENMAX to create a true synergy that benefits the environment and our customers.”

This is one of those “win-win” projects for both companies and the environment. We, Anderson continues,  are redeveloping land currently occupied by a wastewater lagoon into the site for ENMAX’s power plant, building a new water reclaim plant to reclaim the malting process water into high quality water to be used at the ENMAX plant and recover waste heat at the ENMAX plant to offset Canada Malting’s energy use and carbon footprint of their operations.

This project is similar to Great Western’s project at their Pocatello Idaho plant with Hoku Materials, Inc., which is a collaborative agreement regarding the use and distribution of waste heat in the form of process water from Hoku's planned polysilicon manufacturing plant. In that agreement Hoku will supply Great Western with heated process water, a byproduct of polysilicon manufacturing

Rural Lands Task Force sets meetings

The next three 6 p.m. meetings of the Clark County Rural Lands Task Force are on June 30, July 14, and Tuesday, July 28.

The June 30 and July 14 meetings will be at the Dollars Corner fire station, 21609 N.E. 72nd Ave. The July 28 meeting will be at the Public Safety Complex, 505 NW 179th Street, near the fairgrounds.

Convened by the Board of Clark County Commissioners, the task force is charged with creating recommendations to the Board on the following specific issues: rural center economic development opportunities, maintenance of farming and forestry operations, rural economic development opportunities, rural areas that are next to develop; and  rural areas where natural landscapes dominate over the built environment.

The task force members are Ginger Burr, Sharon Bussler, Ingrid Dankmeyer, Dan Dupuis, Russ Grattan, Doug Hagedorn, David Halme, Rocque Merritt, Monty Multanen, Mike Posey, Danny Walsh, Byron Woltersdorf, Bill Zimmerman and Robert Zumstein.

Covington Neighborhood
Park gets airing July 7

The Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation and Clark County Public Works will host a public meeting about the Covington Neighborhood Park development project at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, at the Covington Commons Apartments community building, 9703 NE Covington Road, Vancouver.

Covington Neighborhood Park is located at 6916 NE 94th Ave., on the south side of 71st Street in the Maple Tree neighborhood. The 4.2-acre park is currently undeveloped and features open fields with a few trees. Preliminary planning and design work began earlier this spring. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2010 if funding becomes available.

Utility customer growth
nearly disappearing

When it put together its electrical sales projection for 2009, Clsrk Public Utilities it called for an anemic .8 percent growth rate. But even that low economic forecast looks like a dream, according to Rick Dyer, director of finance.

During the first five months of this year, the utility acquired 158 new customers, for a growth rate of .less than .25 percent.

People

The Loo Wit group of the local Sierra Club has endorsed mayor Royce Pollard’s candidacy for relection as Vancouver’s mayor. 

Community Calendar Links

• Southwest Washington Center for the Arts

• Greater Vancouver Chamber

• City of Vancouver Calendar