A resort on South Pender Island says it’s teetering on the edge of closing, which would mean the loss of jobs and housing for some employees, because of a weight restriction on the only road in and out of the area.
Vehicles weighing more than 5,000 kilograms are prohibited from driving on a portion of Canal Road, after November’s heavy rains caused movement under the already deteriorating road. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has also limited vehicles to a single lane of alternating traffic while crews determine the scope of repairs needed.
The weight restriction means trucks delivering propane — essential for heating, hot water, kitchen operations, laundry and guest fireplaces at Poets Cove Resort and Spa — can’t get to the resort.
“We’ve been running on fumes for a few weeks now,” said acting general manager and accountant Kyle Holdom.
The resort has been getting by on “Band-Aid fixes” so far, such as a one-time exemption to the weight limit that allowed a propane delivery of 5,000 litres to the resort and smaller deliveries of 2,000 litres on a “baby tanker” at three times the typical cost, but it’s not sustainable, Holdom said.
The capacity of the resort’s tank is 30,000 litres, which typically lasts about a month, he said.
Over the winter holidays, the resort managed to stay open and avoid kicking out about 400 guests by purchasing propane reserves from a lumber yard on North Pender.
If the resort is forced to close, about 40 to 50 people will lose full-time employment and 15 to 20 employees who live on site “will become homeless on a rural island with no homeless support,” Holdom said.
The resort is also the only food establishment open on South Pender and it operates during power outages, which are frequent on the island, sometimes serving residents who don’t have generators or a wood stove and can’t cook during an outage, he said. “A lot of people rely on our restaurant.”
The Transportation Ministry said in a statement last week it closed the inside lane of the road, built next to a steep slope, on the recommendation of geotechnical engineers in case of further slipping following flooding in November.
The ministry hopes to complete repairs by next October.
Residents say the road has been deteriorating for years, and South Pender Island trustee Steve Wright notified the ministry when he saw cracks opening and empty space forming under the tarmac about a year and a half ago.
About 120 homes are on South Pender, some of which run on propane for heating, and residents are worried about having to ration their heat with an uncertain timeline for the road repair.
