@ Castlegar councillors
split on whether city hall
renovations are worth
the time and money

Neil Rachynski
NEWS REPORTER

Jim Chapman isn’t pulling
any punches.

The city councillor says
plans to rebuild city hall are a
complete waste of time and
money.

“I think we need a new city
hall but we shouldn't be re-
building the one we've got,”
Chapman said.

“It’s a waste of taxpayers
money,” he adds.

“It doesn’t fit the architec-
ture of the street, it’s old and

it’s more expensive.”

What Chapman would like
to see is an entirely new build-
ing, even if that means tearing

- oa down the old

should

torn down
and built on
the same
spot or ina
new __ loca-
tion,” Chap-

Jim Chapman

man said.

“If there’s a market for it,
sell it.”

But Chapman is not with-
out opposition on the issue.

Coun. Lawrence Chernoff,
the council’s representative on

city hall’s renovating steering
committee, disagrees with
Chapman.

“We found that the building
is solid,” Chernoff said.

One city project is already
going to referendum on Oct.
17. The city is looking to build
a $1.7 million RCMP building.

Chernoff says, “we don’t

‘We’ve put enough money into city hall. It’s too
late to turn back now.’

— Coun. Bob Pakula

He adds that by rebuilding
city hall, council does not need
the approval of the voting pub-
lic to acquire the necessary

“The other side of the coin is
if you go to referendum. And if
you do, the new building
wouldn’t happen,” Chernoff
said.

want to create a conflict with
the two buildings.”

Coun. Doreen Smecher
sides with Chernoff.

“It’s a concrete building,
and what can go wrong with a
concrete building,” Smecher
asked.

“We had a report done...
and it’s structurally sound. It’s

worth renovating.”

“We've put enough money
into city hall. It’s too late to
turn back now,” Coun. Bob
Pakula said.

“If we wanted to build a
new one we should have done
it long ago.”

Chernoff was not able to
give the precise cost of reno-
vating city hall, but according
to Castlegar’s own five-year
capital project plan the price
tag will be $903,000.

“The people who work for
you are your bread and but-
ter,” Chernoff said. “We want
to create a better environment
for our staff.

“It’s not elaborate. We'll just
make it. a functional build-
ing.”

Seniors’ council calling
for Castlegar comments

@ Province-wide tour
rolls into Fireside Inn

Corinne Jackson
NEWS REPORTER

The provincial Seniors’ Ad-
visory Council is meeting in
Castlegar this week and
wants the public to give their
input.

A public forum will take
place at the Fireside Inn’s ban-
quet room on Thursday at 1:30
p.m.

“Any person worried about
their parents, any one work-
ing with seniors, are invited
and asked to make presenta-
tions,” the council’s chair said.

cerns all the time to govern-
ment and they take this into
account all the time,” he said.

Petch expects that some of
the concerns that have been
discussed in other areas of the
province, such as transporta-
tion, will be echoed by Castle-
gar seniors.

“Many seniors can’t afford a
car, or don’t feel safe driving so
rely on neighbors and friends
and family to help them get
around,” Petch said.

The council has found that
many seniors want to be inde-
pendent for as long as possi-
ble.

A public transit system

‘It? s easy for (MLAs) to become
isolated from their constituency.
Pulbic meetings give us direct
input on the local needs

of seniors.

— Howard Petch

Seven people from the
Kootenays have been invited
to present briefs, Howard
Petch said.

Three of the presenters in-
clude Castlegar’s Mayor Au-
drey Moore, Elma Maund (co-
ordinator for the Senior Citi-
zen’s Action Committee) and
Lovette Nickvolodoff (admin-
istrator for Castlegar and Dis-
trict Home Support Services
Association).

per year in different areas of

geared to seniors would help
them with this goal.

As well, the council has
found that more affordable
and supportive housing is
needed. Supportive housing
would allow seniors to live in-
dependently and only receive
help when needed.

Citing the need for afford-
able housing, Petch said that a
lot of seniors pay 50 per cent of
their income on housing.

Petch said that public fo-
rums are important to trying
to solve these problems.

“It’ s easy for (MLAs) to be-
come isolated from their con-
stituency,” Petch said. “Public
meetings give us direct input
on the local needs of seniors.”

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@ Wednesday, September 9, 1992

i Striking unions walk
picket lines as utility
dispute drags on

Neil Rachynski

NEWS REPORTER

Negotiations remain at a
stalemate.

Neither West Kootenay
Power nor its Office and
Technical Employees Union
Local 378 report. any
progress in reaching a settle-
ment.

“Both sides need time to
see what happens next,”
OTEU communications di-
rector Paula Stromberg said.

“It’s not a game. It’s a seri-
ous situation,” she added. “If
the company would make
some movement on the pen-
sion issue then we might see
something positive happen-

But WKP’s director of
community and public affairs
says the current setup for
talks isn’t working.

Mike Bradshaw says, “if
there is a new framework for
discussion, we’d be happy to
sit down anytime.”

The OTEU asked media-
tor Don Cott to book out of
negotiations Aug. 27.

“Our position is clear,”
Bradshaw said. “If we asked
the mediator to book out we'd
be in a position to ask (Cott)

back, but that’s not the case.

“We have to wait to hear
back from (the OTEU).”

Even with Cott technical-
ly out of the picture, Brad-
shaw hopes the mediator can
get the two sides to resume
talks.

“Hopefully at some point
he'll see an opening through
his own volition to get both
sides together.”

Stromberg isn’t so opti-
mistic.

“Everything is on hold.
This looks like it’s going to be
along strike,” she said.

Stromberg says OTEU
members are bearing down
for the cold weather which
places a greater demand on
WKP’s services.

Bradshaw had earlier
questioned why the OTEU
would be concerned with sea-
sonal patterns, saying OTEU
employees are administra-
tion and not field staff.

But Stromberg says, “it’s
the kind of thing where the
company could feel the pres-
sure overall.”

Meanwhile, a strike by
West Kootenay Power's other
union also continues. Some
180 members of the Interna-
tional Brotherhood .of Elec-
tric Workers have been on
the picket lines since July 17
and no talks are scheduled.

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Slocan Forest Products
not alarmed by lost cut

Neil Rachynski
NEWS REPORTER

Slocan Forest Products Ltd.
isn't too concerned.

On Aug. 31 the company
was told to suspend its logging
on a block of land at Wensley
Creek, near Nakusp.

“It sets us back but it is
agreeable,” division manager
Steve Pelton said.

SFP, along with a number
of other mills in B.C., were
found to have been operating
outside of the forest ministry's
guidelines. At issue are guide-
lines introduced in 1989 that
require a seven week adver-
tising process, called prehar-
vest silviculture prescriptions
— or PHSPs.

A spokesperson with the
Arrow Forest District says
SFP had been granted its cut-
ting licence before the new
guidelines were introduced,
and the oversight was lost in
the paperwork. The problem
was discovered by an internal
audit ordered by the ministry.

But New Denver’s Valhalla

Society isn’t buying the forest
ministry's version of events.

“This is not an oversight, it’s
a violation of the guidelines,”
Anne Sherrod said. “We don’t
hold SFP responsible. We hold
the Ministry of Forests respon-
sible.”

Society chair Colleen Mc-
Crory says, “Slocan Forest
Products continued logging
when they knew it was illegal.

“How come only after the
fact are (SFP) going after PH-
SPs?” she asked. “It’s very clear
they’ve broken the laws. We’re
talking about logging illegally
in domestic watersheds.”

McCrory says her organiza-
tion is pursuing several op-
tions, including legal action.

In the meantime, Pelton
says the delay for submitting
the PHSPs are not causing any

said. “We think it’s the best
thing for us to do.

“It’s better than having peo-
ple screaming at us up here be-
cause we don’t have a PHSP.”

Coming Soon

~

United Way
Kick-off Day
Sept. 19

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