OPINION ebruary 8, 1995 6A Serving the 10,000 people of the Castlegar Area, The Castlegar Sun is published every Wednesday by Sterling Newspapers Ltd. at 465 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, B.C. V1N 1G8. The Castlegar Sun is politi cally independent and a member of the Sterling News Service, Canadian Ci BC. C Newspagers Assocation, and the B.C. Press Council. Established 28, 1990. Mail Regi 10420. PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG CHRISTINE MOYER PRODUCTION MANAGER. TRICIA LAKTIN PRODUCTION ASSISTANT CATHERINE ROSS REP. KAREN KERKHOFF REPORTER JEFF GABERT SPORTS MARGE LALONDE OF ATION AD’ NICOLE BEETSTRA REP. FRED JACK ADVERTISING REP. Direct Department Phones editorial comment Parental discretion You can't blame the Castlegar and District Hospi- tal board for being a bit chagrined. The board was forced to dip into its rainy day fund in order to cover a $145,000 deficit. : Now, granted, a rainy day fund is meant to be used on rainy days, And it doesn't get any wetter than $145,000 in the hole. ‘ Still, Castlegar Hospital has been running a lean operation for years, emerging in the black and wisely putting aside money for emergencies. Contrast that with other hospitals in the area (and around the province) which have been incurring deficits year after year. And year after year the provincial government has been bailing them out. This kind of syndrome will be familiar to any par- ent with a teenager. And those same parents know how to deal with the situation: they let the teens pay their own debts. It's a tough lesson to learn, but the teens are better off for it. The same holds true for government. By not tak- ing a hard stand, the government, while perhaps not actually encouraging overspending, is certainly not penalizing it either. And it is definitely not rewarding those who are careful with their funds. The way the system works now, if a government ministry or a hospital doesn't spend all the money it receives one year, the following year it is cut back to what it did spend. Conversely, if a ministry spends more than it receives, it is assumed it needs that much money and has a good chance of getting more funding the fol- lowing year. It is precisely this kind of budgeting hocus-pocus that has put governments in the predicament they are in. It is time Victoria started acting like a typical Canadian parent and rewarded efficiency and cost- saving and penalized those who spend more than they are allotted. Perhaps an incentive could be that the money saved would be made available for use elsewhere For instance, if Castlegar Hospital manages to be efficient and save money one year, it would be per- mitted the discretionary use of that money the fol- lowing year. In any case, there has to be some incentives for cost-saving built into the system or the system will collapse under its own debt. Ron Norman Have a ball! The first annual Castlegar winter camival goes this weekend and it should be a load of hilarious fun Take in the chili cookoff, or a shmockey game, or the teen dance, or a host of other events and activi- ties. It's a time to shake off the snow and have a ball. Ron Norman ERRORS: The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of errors in any advertisement beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred, whether such error is due to the negligence of its servants or otherwise... and there shall be no liability for non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such advertisement. ‘All aiivertising subject to publisher's approval. Contracts must be completed within one year from contract date. No contingent orders accepted ID CANCEL OUR EXPENSINE CABLEVISION SERVICE BUT WED MISS A _ FEW DECENT PROGRAMS... THE OS. SIMPSON TRIAL... City garbage bill a real shock But even bigger issue is shift in tax burden If you were like me, when you opened your city utility bill last week, you got a real shock. Residential fees for water, sewer and garbage had, in my case because I live in the south end, jumped by one-third: from $268 last year to $357, That’s an $89 increase! Homeowners in the north end got an even bigger jolt: Their fees were hiked by $109 or 44 per cent. But, believe it or not, it could have been worse. That's right. Worse The city actually reduced the fees for recycling and the Ootis- chenia dump by $9, from the pro- posed $17.50 each per household, to $13 each. That's because the costs for recycling and the dump came in lower than what the city first estimated. . Even with the lower recycling and dump costs, the new fees have been drawing a lot of criti- cism on the street. Residents are unhappy with them. I have news. There may be an even bigger reason to be unhappy. The city is charging each household $45. But Ace Dispos- al, the company that has the con- tract to collect garbage in Castlegar, charges the city only $28.75 per household. So where does the other $16.25 go? i That's the question I asked city administrator Jim Gustafson. He says the $45 fee was an esti- mate and the city won't know the actual charge until it has a chance to operate the new fee system for a year. “Because this is our first year, we're not absolutely sure whether we're going to be plus or minus.” he says. e: Meaning the city’s not sure if come the end of the year it will have collected too little or too as having Ace Disposal collect its own fees, a common practice in other municipalities. Castlegar is not alone in its struggle with garbage collection costs. Nelson, Trail, Grand Forks and every other community in much money to cover the The view from here cost of garbage collection. If it's too much, the city will reduce the Ron fee next year. Ne orman If it’s too little B.C. is going through the same thing as they try to meet stricter provin- cial government waste manage- ment standards. Nelson has . . well you don’t want to know. “We're pretty sure that we're relatively close,” says Mr Gustafson. The city came up with figure of $45 by dividing the solid waste management costs by the number of households in Castlegar. But how do you pay $28.75 per household to your garbage contractor and come up with $45 per household as the city fee? “The contractor’s costs aren’t the only costs associated with garbage,” Mr. Gustafson says. There are additional costs — things like billing and administra- tion— the same as there are for water and sewer. “The city’s intention is not to make any profit out of this But $16.75 per household? That’s almost 40 per cent of the collection charge. Since when does billing, administration, etc. eat up 40 per cent of any fee? And if it does, perhaps the city should look at alternatives, such adopted a slight- ly different system—a system, by the way, that is taking no less heat from its residents than Castlegar’s. Nelson has gone to a strict “tag-a-bag” system where resi- dents purchase tags for $1 and place them on each container or” bag they set out for collection. It doesn’t take a rocket scien- tist to figure out that at one bag a week, residents in the Queen City are paying $52 a year for garbage collection. That’s $52 for one bag. Castle- gar homeowners are paying $45 for three bags. But only for this year. Castlegar intends to bring in a similar tag-a- bag system for additional bags. It also plans to reduce the number of bags for pickup. Next year households will be allowed just two bags, and the year after that only one. There is another side to this whole issue that is just as impor- tant and that is the shift in tax burden away from business and industry and. onto homeowners. The city has promised no increase in municipal taxes. That’s a welcome announcement But it will affect every type of city taxpayer: residential, com- mercial and industrial. However, by introducing a fee for garbage collection the city is making only one type of taxpayer pay: homeowners. Make no mis- take, homeowners will be paying a greater share of municipal taxes in 1995 than in other years. And if more fees for service are introduced down the road, the residential taxpayers’ share will grow, while the share paid by industrial and commercial tax- payers will shrink. Is that what we want? Margin notes: My column last week commented on the $35,000 the Green, Streets Canada program gave the City of Nelson to plant 600 trees along its streets. I suggested Castlegar apply for some of that money, having in mind the revitalizati Wednesday, February 8, 1995 The Castlegar Sun Letters to the Editor The loudest voices aren’t always right Dear Editor: Since the West Kootenay CORE Report was released there has been what can only be described as a multi-media blitz.of very sophisticated and costly advertising put out by a group that calls itself the “Committee for Sustainability Coalition” chaired by Castlegar's Renee Read. What I understand this group to be proclaiming is: 1) that we need a “made in the Kootenays land- use plan; 2) that there has been no local input into the CORE report; 3) that those big bad people in Victoria are going to destroy our jobs, our communities and our futures if we don't watch out; and 4) that this “coalition” represents the interests of the majority of people in the Kootenay-Boundary area. Well, certainly no one in their right mind will challenge the need for a “made in the Kootenays” land-use plam.,.that’s a motherhood issue, and it's exactly what the CORE process was set up to cre- ate. This fact Ms. Read well knows, since she was one of the sector representatives during the long months of the CORE negotiations. However, table representatives were also warned that if the sectors refused to come to an 2 then C i Stephen Owen would go ahead with making decisions on out- standing issues. As the end Of the time allotted to the CORE negotiations, consensus was not reached on some. issues and certainly the CORE report as it now stands is far from perfect, but the recommenda- tions are not so far away from the majority of the sectors” positions to warrant the outrage pouring forth from Ms. Read's group. Infact, I would like to ask Ms. Read to outline, specifically, just what, in her group's opinion is so contrary to what would, to quote from her recently published letter, “protect the long-term stability of our communities” and “the unique environmental values of our land”. Anyone who has flown out of Castlegar airport knows that the landscape, and with it, the ecology, has undergone a radical change in the past few years, In many areas there seems to be as many clearcuts as there is forest, and each month new cut blocks appear. We know we are cutting far above sustainable levels and we know that there is too much mill capacity for the wood supply. It's certainly not CORE 's fault that this has happened. The CORE-report goes to great lengths to pro- pose transition strategies that would protect jobs and communities.as needed changes take place. In fact, Ms. Read chaired that sub-committee of CORE and from what I heard, there was general agreement re: the recommendations of that sub-committee. (See What’s so just about murder? Air quality concems us all upcoming Summer Games where bad air quality will inter- fere with athletes and Dear Editor: The brutal killing of Melanie Carpenter prompts this letter. This cannot happen again. We have a violent sex offender in custody, labelled to “probably re- offend” and we release him under our “just” law of di the fast issue of The Casilegar Sun, I would like to expand on what actually occurred at our November meeting of the Union Board of Health. If Mr. Norman had been at that meeting, he would not have quoted our union board il out of Tis ry.release. He then kills Melanie. Dear God, is this a just Cana- da? Our daughters and the daughters of others must be pro- tected against these predators. All of-us, for we elect our law makers, owe Mr. Carpenter and his family-an abject apology. impossible to receive the full feeling of the discussion by just Ms, Binnie’s concern was not for ballplayers, but for all users of Haley Park, particularly the children on the track that day. Her major concern is for the spectators. The Central Kootenay Union Board of Health is the voice and protector of public health in the West Kootenay. Our'con- cems are for everyone. Please know that we encour- age the press to attend our meet- ings. Our next schedoled meeting is March 9 at the Castle~ gar Health Unit at 6:30 p.m. Arlene Parkinson Chair Central Kootenay Union Board of Health Councillor Village of Warfield Our laws must change. A per- son likely to re-offend must not be released. If this abrogates the rights of those who would not re-offend, then so be it. They have lost their rights after the first offence. We will support any political party endeavoring to tighten and improve the Criminal Code of Canada in this regard. Diane and Barrie Garrett Castlegar Selkirk Lions Club present WINTER CARNIVAL '95 Friday, February 10 TEEN DANCE featuring GROOVE CANNON 8-12 pm e 14- 18 yrs. Castlegar Rec. Centre Saturday, February 11 PANCAKE BREAKFAST 8-11am BC Hydro Parking Lot CHILI COOK-OFF 11 pm-1pm * 1st Prize: 1/2 hr. program and the trees that are part of that. Guess what? The city already had the idea. It applied for $100,000, but was turned down because it didn't quite meet all the pro- gram’s criteria, which include community participation in the tree-planting and an ional component. The city indicates it will try again next year. But time and federal Finance Minister Paul Martin may be against it: the program is to be under the-knife in the feder- al budget slated to come down later this month. Home run turns into crucial error Do you remember back when baseball was a game of balls and strikes? If you do, you must have a good memory because lately baseball in Castlegar has been more about proposals and peti. tions than bats and gloves. Back at the end of summer city council was faced with a large group of angry ballplayers who demanded action. They didn’t have enough fields to playgon and the fields they were playing on sometimes weren't the fields they should play on. . The result was a damaged field at Kinnaird Park, a militant group of angry baseball parents and a lot of confusion. Since democracy-fed bureau- cracy is still alive and well in Castlegar, a committee was forthed to solve the problems of the baseball world, and turn everyone's ball nightmares into fields of | _ Mutterings dreams. The committee met awd a few times . and they stum- Musings bled upon a revelation that Jeff Castlegar needed a new Gabert ball-diamond. Eureka!And wouldn't it be great if it could be added to the other fields up at Kinnaird. Eureka again! All we have to do is clear cut that useless lump of forestation and Kinnaird would soon be transformed into a utopia of baseball. It would be a veritable slo- pitch Shangri-la within our own little community. And a great Eureka was shared by all. That was until 1,200 names showed up ona petition at city hall last week. Uh-oh! Now everyone is wondering why the ball commission couldn't see the forest for the trees. After all, this is B.C , Didn't they read the CORE report You can almost see the big wigs at MacMillian Bloedel sit- ting up in their high office towers talking about this one. “So listen to this one, eh These city guys in Castlegar want to clear cut some trees to build a ball field. We get flack for cutting trees in order to support the income of thousands of people, not to mention the government tax system, and these guys in Castlegar think everyone is just going to let them clear~ .. a park for fun. What did they think was going to happen?” Indeed, what were they think~ ing? Their home run has suddenly turned out to be a critical error and their quest for the easy answer has Icft them lost in a for- est of discontent One thing is for.sure: they bet- ter find a better solution quick. Because if they go ahead with this one they will soon be in a very hot seat during an extremely hot summer and there won't be a Patch of shade in sight After alt, in B.C., if a tree falls in the forest, everybody hears. Custom Uniforms & Jackets Sunday, February 12 PANCAKE BREAKFAST 8-11 am ¢ Robson Fire Hall SCHMOCKEY 9 am- 1pm ¢ Rec. Centre Reg. hockey rules, 1 ft. x 4" foam puck TEAMS NEEDED MUCH, MUCH MORE helicopter ride donated by Highland Helicopters VEGAS NIGHT Cash Casino 6 pm - 1 pm, Sandman Inn ADULT DANCE 9 pm - 1 pm,.Sandman Inn Featuring John Cresswell For more information call CASTLEGAR CHAMBER OF commence * 365-6313 Appendix 3 2 W.K. CORE Report) Despite its claims, I.do not believe that this so- called coalition represents the majority opinion-of people in this region. Only a few sectors that were represented at the CORE table are part of this coali- tion - including the corporate, tourism and motor- ized recreation. Noticeably absent are environment, watershed, fish and wildlife and independent small- scale forest group (woodlot owners, etc.), Another question I think needs to be asked of this group is who is providing the money, staff and other resources to mount its campaign. Certainly, some funds are coming from individuals, but I'd like to know the extent of the ‘contributions from the mining and forest corporations and their asso- ciations. Clearly, the interests of those particular sectors have much more to do with profits than “commu- nity” or “jobs”. Otherwise we would see some changes in their plans to replace people with high-tech equipment, and we would have seen an equally strong cam- paign re: the thousands of jobs that are lost each year to “modernization” efforts in mills and offices. The group claims it is presently in the process of developing its own alternative to the CORE pro- posals. I'd like to know who has been hired to do this work and who is paying for it. I know in the Slocan Valley, Slocan Forest Products paid a con- sultant to produce a similar alternative to the val- ley CORE proposal i Is the same kind of thing happening with the regional plan? How can such a proposal help the decision-making process anyway, when, as I' have said, not even half the sectors represented at the CORE table are part of this “coalition” Finally, I would urge anyone interested in and concerned about the future use of our land in the West Kootenay to get a copy of the CORE report and then let the government know about your interests, concerns and reaction to the proposals. Don't leave the impression that this coalition is speaking for you if that’s not the case, and don’t hesitate to ask Ms. Read some specific questions about its position vis-a-vis land use, especially regarding usage guidelines re: our forest land. Land-use decisions regarding the future of our region are too important to be controlled by who has the loudest voice and the most money. Our land, water, forests, animals and the delicate bal- ances that sustain life have neither. CORE was an attempt to redress this imbalance. 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