_— Saturday, August 22, 1992 @ | TheFARSIDE By Gary Larson WYN YA Va 43 Alert, but far from p: died d, the herb! the suddenzarrival of two cheetah speedwatkers. CORRECTION ‘City has yet to receive Castlegar considers pay hike @ Committee will be struck to oversee city council in Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER. 2g City council is leolin The oom covering the paid to ‘councillors:and the mayor has come up for review. But instead of approving the increaseat Tuesday’s session, council de- cided to strike up a review committee to ex- amine the amount of money being paid to elected mem- long as‘everyone knows what is involved and understand the work council does that ‘ )doesn’t see.” ot in this for the money,” Duff said. impossible to put a dollar figure on “The committee will examine the job and see what it’s worth.” The indemnity bylaw which came before council stated the increase would be effective Jan. 1, 1992, but Duff doesn’t see that hap- pening. : : “If it is retroactive then that’s more money from the bud- e — hours council puts in. bers. Councillor Kirk Duff asked for a. review committee. “It’s always better if we re- view (the in- demnities),” pumping gas. Coun. ‘Ifa guy’s in it for money you might as well forget it. You can make more > get,” Duff said. “Once 1992 is over that’s the end of it and we start fresh.” As it stands, the mayor re- ceives $11,888 every year Bob Pakula Duff said. “It comes out cleaner and more objective.” Duff says the committee will be made up of a broad representation from the local commu- nity. “We want to get someone-from business, someone from industry, a council member and an individual from the community.” Duff says it won’t be a present councillor who will sit on the committee but rather a for- mer council member. Coun. Bob Pakula was an advisor on the last board that was struck. while council- lors get $5,942. If an increase is approved, the mayor would receive $12,552 and councillors $6,274. Council will not be bound by the commit- tee’s decision. “We want to allow some leeway,” Duff said. “We won’t give ourselves more than what is recommended but we may want to take less.” “If a guy’s in it for money you might as well forget it. You can make more pumping gas,” Mathieson resignation NEWS STAFF ‘An editorial in the Wednesday, Aug. 19 edition of The News incorrectly stated that Councillor Marilyn Math- ieson submitted her resignation at Tuesday’s Castlegar city council session. : : a In fact, Mathieson did not submit her resignation in preparation for her relocation to the Lower Mainland. Instead, the councillor said she isn’t sure when she will officially handed in her papers. “IJ would expect that it will happen real soon, but rm not really sure when it will be submitted,” Mathieson said Thursday. : “Pm looking at the first meeting in September, but I still have to talk about it with the other council mem- bers.” The News regrets the error and apologizes to Math- ieson and our readers for the inconvenience. Fireside Dining Room BUFFALO] | COUNTRY |{ BABY | STEAKS | |SAUSAGES| | SALMON 10 0z. Buffalo Loin 2 smoked chicken ; Steak flame broiled to apple sausages Pan fried baby perfection and served with a blue salmon servd with a lemon dill sauce served with sauteed / cheese sauce. $4 495 $45 % $4995 IF 365-2128 4810-8th Avenue, Castlegar “It worked pretty good .” Pakula said. “As Pakula said. a (Price Waterhouse study ready for release @ Rankin job complete as report shipped back to Castlegar city council Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER It’s finished. A report examining a con- fidential study of Castlegar city hall’s efficiency is ready for public release. Victoria lawyer Murray Rankin has spent the last two weeks sifting through a two- year-old Price Waterhouse study that council had previ- ously refused to make public. The city claimed its $24,000 study dealt too much with personalities. After a request by Council- lor Kirk Duff, the city finally decided to hand the study over to Rankin and be bound by any recommendations he saw fit to make. Rankin was a key advisor to the province for its new Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. Rankin. was in Ottawa Thursday, but he had his of- fice contact The News to say that the report was en route to Castlegar. Rankin’s office added that the lawyer had no further comments, other than the re- port will speak for itself. A number of councillors and the mayor had earlier maintained that material dealing only with the city’s operations could not be pub- lished. They had claimed it would not be possible to separate the operations from the per- sonalities, thus violating a persons tight to privacy. The 35-page document is said not to have pulled any | Basket Sale. f SUMMER BASKET SALE Come on down the Price is right, for our summer 18 pleces of Golden Delicious Don't forget to pick up some crisp French fries or our tasty JoJo's. Throw in a couple homemade salads, _ some buns and you have a meal that is sure to please the whole family. At a very affordable price. Only at Chicken Time "Anytime is Chicken Time" 2816 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, B.C. 365-5304 \ @ Saturday, August 22, 1992 2 i CALL THE NEWS @®General Inquiries 365-7266 OUR HOURS The News is located at 197 Columbia Ave. Our office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m Closed on weekends and statutory holidays. SUB RATES The News is published by Castle News Ltd. for Canwest Publishers Ltd. Mail subscription rate to The News is $37.50 per year. The price on ._ newsstands is 75¢ for each edition. The price delivered by newspaper carrier for both editions is only 90¢ a week (collected monthly). GST extra. Second class * mail registration number 0019. SecondFRONT @ Local businessman says allegations against his renovation and siding company are ‘bloody ridiculous’ Scott David Harrison EDITOR Bill Prentice says his company’s been given a bad rap. The owner of Diamond Exteriors says allegations about his siding and renovation company are completely false, and he’s planning to do something about it. “Believe me, I’ve been talking to my lawyer,” said Prentice, referring to one Castlegar media report. “The facts — if you can call them facts — of that story were so blown out of proportion, it’s bloody ridiculous.” . Diamond Exteriors has captured attention in recent weeks after allegations surfaced that it was collecting large deposits from clients for renovation! work only to never complete the work. ; “Sure, we’ve taken some time on projects, too damn much“time as far as I’m concerned, but the bottom line is the work is being done,” Prentice said. Since obtaining a business licence with the City of Castlegar in January, Prentice said he has been contracted for 33 jobs throughout the West Kootenay. He said he is still working on five of those jobs. Prentice said to the best of his knowledge only two clients expressed concern over the work he performed. “Needless to Say, (these stories) are having an impact on my business,” said Prentice, adding that he has been doing renovation work for 23 years. Prentice said he has been requesting large deposits because he simply can’t Diamond Exteriors says its been wronged afford to finance the materials costs for the projects he has been working on. “Right now, I have over $17,000 (of unpaid materials costs) in my books,” he claimed. “I can’t keep paying for materials and then hope that I'll get the money back as soon as (the materials are) delivered.” Prentice said he will continue to work in the West Kooteriay in the hopes that his company’s name can be cleared of allegations he labeled “unfair.” He went as far as to welcome an RCMP investigation of Diamond Exteriors. “If that’s what it takes, of course,” he said. “If it means that (the allegations) will stop, I’d welcome the police.” The Castlegar RCMP confirmed Tuesday that they have received some complaints against Diamond Exteriors, but Cpl. Al Hudema said the local police do not “have an active file.” VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD News photo by Neil Rachynski Canadian Pacific rail workers were out at the ferry crossing Thursday in a classic case of out with the old and in with the new as they were removing and replacing railway ties. Unwanted guests hit local links w Black bears making daily appearances at golf course Scott David Harrison EDITOR They’re not exactly the clientele the Castlegar Golf Course is used to, but a family of black bears is making the most out of its summer on the links. A mother and two cubs have taken up residence at the local course, giving golf enthusiasts more things to worry about than the dreaded left-to-right slice. The bears have been making almost daily appearances at the local course, strolling down from the mountainside before hanging BCMA starts poster campaign W@ Ed Conroy unhappy with latest campaign by British Columbia Medical Association tired of. Scott David Harrison ° EDITOR calling Ed Conroy a health risk. Known Health Risk in Your Area. riding and the people of British Columbia.” elected in. The British Columbia Medical Association is The Rossland-Trail MLA has come under attack by the BCMA, which launched a province- wide poster campaign this week. Conroy’s face affixes a poster issued by the BCMA which reads: “That’s just BS,” Conroy said Thurgday. “I’m not a health risk. What I am is one man that is trying to do what is best for the people of this The poster campaign is being used by the BCMA in an effort to have Bill 71 re-examined. That bill capped medical expenditures at $1.27 billion in 1992. The BCMA has produced posters for each of the 51 ridings a New Democrat was Conroy said the poster campaign is just the “I agree with the doctors that we didn’t get enough consultation, I'll give them that,” Conroy said. “But why can’t we just get on with it.” He said the BCMA should live with the arrangement they have in 1992 and work on a better deal under the next budget. doctors must accept. willing to take them off.” comment. latest misinformation campaign being waged by B.C. doctors. He said it’s a campaign he’s getting “I’m a collective bargainer from way back,” Conroy said. “And as.a collective bargainer, you have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. Why can’t we fold them and go on.” Conroy said the government isn’t prepared to change its mind on Bill 71 — something the “Hey, if they want to fight, I don’t mind. I like to fight,” he said. “I just wish we didn’t have to, but if they want to,take the gloves, I’m more than Neither BCMA president Steve Hardwicke or local rep Jon Van Vliet were abt 9 for around the seventh, 12th and 14th holes of the local 18-hole course. “They’re not really doing much,” assistant pro Kevin Biln said. “They just seem to be hanging around.” Biln said the bears have been nothing more than curious observers during their visits, causing no dilemmas for the putting public. “The bears stay away from the public and the public stays away from them,” he said. “It’s not really a nuisance. We’re just going to go about our business and the bears can go about theirs.” Biln said it’s not the first time bears have taken to the local course. He said one summer as many as.11 bears were routinely spotted at the Castlegar Golf Course. The Castlegar Conservation Office says it will investigate the matter. t