Wednesday, April 12, 1995 y The Castlegar Sun Page 7A

Letters to the Editor

WEDNES 12, 1995

. OPINION

Way to go, Nicolle!

Wy,
The Ga stl Gar Sun

need to work together

Dear Editor:

The executive and members of
CUPE Local 1298 (School Dis-
trict No. 9) would like to take

dent at Stanley Humphries Sec
ondary School while putting a
great deal of effort into her
extracurricular interests.

"4s school hanging out dowatown. The real kick- Teens most start showing the public
¢r in all of this is: where can teens be tecns? respectable jor. In return, I feel the adults
mean, familics have the theatre, bingo, the _ should set a more positive example forteens.

ic centre, etc. Bot what do teens have? Instead of us teens bending, or you adults
bending, let's bend together and form a cir-

She is described by her coach
es as a “superb ‘athlete” both in
track and field and in field hock
ey, as well as showing such tal-
ent in the debating club.

Good luck, Nicolle

this opportunity to extend our
very best wishes to Nicolle Bin-
nie as she represents our high
school and our community at the
Canadian Junior National Debat-
ing Competition in Halifax.
Nicolle deserves our admira-
tion. She works hard to maintain
her status as an honor roll stu-

<
“TS

Serving the 10,000 people of the Castlegar Area, The Castlegar Sun

is every by Sterling Lid. at 465

Columbia Ave. Castlegar, B.C. V1N 1G8, The Castlegar Sun is politi

Canadian Communty N me denen: Be, Conon cle; one of unity and hope for a safe future in

<= oy | | peed esgic sge begin ng

? J é y th i ‘You see, you can build all the

stores and houses, and fix up the town all

pretty miserable. you want, but that won't make Castlegar a
I'm not saying it’s the adults' fault. We better place. When teens and adults can see

teens are to blame, too. A lot of teens are eye to eye, that's when Castlegar will be a

ign and di d respect. I have to say better place. Bese 3 #

that three-quarters of the teens deserve the

Norm Wolfe
President, CUPE 1298

pre:
parents and society, make a day

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editorial comment

Our problem is
too much water

Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink

Things aren’t quite that bad in the West Koote-
nay. But they’re not very good, either

Mike Harnadek, the chief environmental health
inspector at the Central Kootenay Health Unit,
issued a wake-up call recently with his notice that
86 communities are on boil restrictions. That’s the
most of any health unit in the province.

Who would imagine that with all the creeks and
rivers and lakes in the Kootenays, pure water would
be a problem? But it is. And those creeks and rivers
are the very reason for the boil restrictions.

“We have an overabundance of water,” explains
Mr. Hamadek.

Because we have hundreds of creeks and Tivers,
every cluster of houses from Grand Forks to Cre-
ston has its own independent water supply. They
simply run a pipe from the nearest creek and
“voila”—running water.

fhe problem is the that the water is surface water
and prone to all sorts of contamination:

It’s no surprise, then, that the communities on
the boil advisory are those like the South Brilliant
Community Well and the two Thrums Creek
water systems.

It is true that larger water systems like the ones
in Slocan, Fruitvale and Christina Lake are also on
the offenders’ list.

However, those larger communities are, for the
most part, moving to upgrade their systems to
ensure that the water meets the new Health Act
standards. (Thanks in no small part to prodding
from the health unit over the last three years)

The dilemma will be the unorganized systems
like the Brilliant, Thrums and Tarrys Creek water
systems. Those systems are not eligible for provin-
cial grants to upgrade their water supply

And trying to bring the water systems into line
without government aid will be too expensive for
the small number of residents on the system.

The obvious solution is for these systems to join
together to form larger systems and then be placed
under the umbrella of the various regional districts.
The regional districts would in tum be eligible for
grants to upgrade the systems.

That’s how it is done elsewhere in the province.

And that is why other areas in the Province have
many fewer communities on boil advisories

If residents on unorganized water systems don’t
move to a regional system, they will continue to
have plenty of water.

It just won't be potable

There's no reason for that in this day and age

Ron Norman

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date. No contingent orders accepted

Council has fence-mending to do

The ball field will still need community consensus.to go ahead

Castlegar council has some big-
time fence-mending to do in the
wake of its decision to proceed
with the fourth ball field at Kin-
naird Park.

In one swoop council has man-
aged to alienate a whole segment
of residents. More than 1.800 to
be exact.

That is how many of, the 2,500
people (77 per cent) who signed a
petition opposing the ball field
live in Castlegar.

All of them are over the age of
18. That makes them voters. And
likely unhappy voters at that. -

Whew! Considering that there
are only some 4,422 people on the
Castlegar voters’ list, that's a
heckuva lot.

Any politician interested in get-
ting re-elected should be con-
cemed by those numbers.

Don't get me wrong: I think
politicians should stand up for
what they believe. We have too
many politicians who see which
way the crowd is headed and then
Tun to get in front of it.

You can’t say that of Castlegar
council. I think each of the coun-
cillors and the mayor sincerely
believes what they are doing is
in the best interests of the com-
munity.

Having said that, I also think
that council also has a duty to lis-
ten to what people want, even if
they think those people are wrong
And especially when those people
make up a large percentage of the
population.

That was the point Waldo Yule,
one of those leading the opposi-
tion to the fourth ball field, tried
to make at last week’s council
meeting.

“How (many people) do you
have to have to make them lis-
ten?” he asked.

It is a question
to which other
residents should
seek bh answer.

Because it could
happen to them
one day.

Whether it’s a
new ball field or a
new subdivision
or even some-
thing as basic as
new streetlights or road8, resi-
dents want to be assured that if a
large enough number of them are
opposed or in favor, then the
council of the day would take that
into consideration when making a
decision.

Politicians who don’t will find
themselves without any support
when it comes election time.

Just ask Kim Campbell. The
federal Tories ignored the con-
cerns of the vast majority of Cana-
dians and were nearly wiped from
political existence

Voters will have their day.

* * *

I have to credit Councillor
Brenda Binnie for trying to bring
together the two sides in the ball
field dispute with her motion that
the Castlegar and District Ball
Association and the Castlegar
Residents’ Committee be asked to
sit on a joint committee; and that
prior to any field being construct-
ed in Kinnaird Park, the issues
surrounding parking, park mainte-
nance, playground equipment and

h facilities be addi

This is a good idea and goes

Letters to the Editor

some way to healing the wounds
that were opened over the ball field
But I have to agree with Mayor
Mike O'Con-

nor when he

1 THE VIEW Proposed

holding off on
any decision
about the ball

FROM
HE os field until the
jomt commit-

Ron tee could

NORMAN come back
with its rec-
ommenda-

tions.

He’s right. Council has put the
cart before the horse by agreeing
to the field and then forming a
committee to look at all the issues.

But it could all be academic
anyway if the joint committee
doesn’t support it.

That's because there is no way
the BC 21 people will approve a
$40,000 grant if it isn’t satisfied
that the community as a whole
supports the project.

So what happens if the joint
committee agrees that a fourth
field shouldn’t proceed and coun-
cil is already on record as to agree-
ing to the fourth field?

It doesn’t make sense.

But then there are a lot of things
about the ball field issue that don’t
make sense.

Such as why council had to rush
to a vote on the field less than a
week after the public information
meeting. Yet it waited three
months from the time it
announced the field proposal to
hold the public meeting.

It is my hope that the joint com-
mittee will get up and running and
that it can come to a consensus on

the ball field; that the community
can pull together instead of apart
over the issue; and that this will be
the last ball field column I write
for a long, long time.

* + *
T like council's new_bylaw tick-
eting system. I have just one ques-
tion: When you are charged for
skinny dipping in a public park,
where do you put the ticket?

* * *

Castlegar is booming. There's
just no two ways about it

The announcement that Cana-
dian Tire plans to build a huge
50,000-square-foot store in the
south end is only the latest in a
spate of major development pro-
jects that include the 130-lot
Emerald Green subdivision and
the $13 million commercial/resi-
dential complex across from city
hall.

Of course, new development
doesn’t come without some grow-
ing pains. And one of the biggest
pains will be Columbia Avenue
traffic.

It is clear that something needs
to be done about the city’s main
traffic artery, especially in the
area of the planned Canadian
Tire store.

Councillor Binnie is right when
she says that area is a “disaster”
now.

Just wait until there’s a Canadi-
an Tire store there.

City council would be wise not
to wait for the Ministry of High-
ways to move on the long-awaited
interchange, but instead address
the traffic problems in the area on
its own.

How about fixing up Zinio Park?

Dear Editor:

I attended the Kinnaird Park
ball field meeting last week and
one thing I learned was that the
public is not happy with the way
Kinnaird Park is maintained

For the past two years | have
tried to suggest ideas on how to
improve part of Lorne Zinio Park
in the area between the two ten-
nis courts

To explain more for those who
are unfamiliar with the area

1. Half of this area is old broken
blacktop remaining from the old
courts. It is rough, uneven, partial-
ly eroded and its only use is for
very young children playing in
puddles; leaving behind old toys
and an odd shoe

2. The other half of this area has
been covered with sand where two
poles have been placed for a vol-

leyball court. The only trouble
with this idea is that city will not
put up nets because “they will be
stolen” (quote).

The nets are locked up in the
shed and no one has the key
except the city workers. The vol-
leyball court, therefore, is never
used except by the local dogs.

It was ironic to see that up to
five city workers were put to
weed the sand last summer for a
whole day!

I have taken several city coun.
cillors to view this place and have
written letters to the city. All agree
that something should be done,
then they take it back to council
and contact me to tell me, “There
is no money for this in the budget”

My original suggestion was, to
convert the area to grass with a
bench or two for families for pic-

nics, and put in a small flower
bed. This should not be too expen-
sive. Maybe volunteers, including
“Friends of the Parks and Trails”,
school children, seniors or clubs
could help.

Hopefully, this would cause a

growing initiative and interest in

our city workers. We all just need

more imagination and enthusiasm

to make our fast-growing city
more beautiful.

Margaret Pryce

Castlegar

Protest march set

Dear Editor:

CUPE Local 3116 members
are now into the third week of.
our strike. To date, there has been
no movement to resume bargain-
ing talks.

We would like to invite our
community supporters to partici-
pate in a protest march taking
place at noon on Thursday. We
will be starting the march at the
K.S.C.L building located at 903-

4th St. in Castlegar.

We have seriously considered
the consequences of our actions
and the impact on the lives of
those we serve. Our ‘issues must
be dealt with as quickly and as
equitably as possible.

Please come and join us in our
protest march

Lynda Carter and CUPE
Local 3116 members

flack they get,

a

Dear Editor:

There have been many
requests from various organiza-
tions and people at large to
review and revise the present
Young Offenders Act. There
seems to be an increase in van-
dalism by our young generation.

Under the present Act, the
identities of the offenders are
concealed until they reach the age
of 18, It appears the problem
Starts in the primary grades when
small children start stealing from
one another at school.

The teachers’ hands are tied
under the existing Act and they
are restricted to reveal the identi-
ty of the children involved, which
seems to imply that it is all right
to steal.

If this is allowed to continue,
the kids will start stealing from
cars then later start stealing cars
and trying, and getting hooked. on
drugs. When they reach this stage
they are compelled to steal in
order to support their drug habit

Unfortunately, their lives could
be totally ruined and beyond the
point of no retum. It’s a very sad
state of affairs, but does it have to
be that way?

It wasn’t
the blues!

Dear Editor;

i read in your paper a
reply to my fecent letter that
you: printed, I seem to have
hit @ sore spot with some-
one, I donot have the “win-
ter blocs”.

Zhave had people seck me
out to fell me that they
: .

‘wrote.

Zt have the City of
Castlegar in mind, not a
bank balance. “

‘End of saga.

John Gibson
Cc

ign Copying
Graphic Design & Typesetting
511 Front Street, Nelson

(604) 354-1700
FAX (604) 354-1666

1 often wonder if the Young
Offenders Act is designed to pro-
tect the identity of the young
offender or to protect the identity
of the parents of these children
who happen to be distinguished
VIP's in their communities?

It is truly sad to see the increase
in vandalism and crime in this
land of milk and honey, where
there is supposed to be no poverty
and no need to steal for a living

Consideration should be given
to removing the secrecy and
revealing the identity of the chil-
dren involved, and then have
them make restitution for the
damages. The. parents should be
responsible for the acts of their
children.

This by itself could be the
biggest deterrent to petty theft
and crime, and if a child did it

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once you can almost bet he would
not do it again if the parents had
to foot the bill for the damages. I
believe we owe it to our children
give them proper direction and
prevent them from destroying
their lives.

Bad habits are like a cancer
and grow. If not checked and
Stopped in the bud, they will
grow out of control to a point of
no return.

We must act now and not just
talk if we are to save our children

Paul Markoff

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