Page 16B The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, February 1, 1995 , storage to the long, L-shaped kitchen. Two skylights brightening the wall behind a wood stove plus wide windows on the outer wall make the family room a cheery gathering place for entertaining as well as family activities. ¢ The master bedroom has ample storage space and a private bath with twin sinks. The hall bathroom serves the two front bedrooms. Bedroom number three can be built with an alternate comer door to serve as a den. A stairway along the front hall leads, from the 1,793-squarefoot main floor to the lower level, which has 1,820 square feex, 1,077. of them occupied by the over Sized garage and large shop/storage area. The fourth bedroom has twin closets and a wide window overlooking a patio partially covered by the raised wood deck. The patio is accessible from the recre- ‘ation room and the garage. Intluding the laundry room, there are 743 square feet of habitable space on the lower level. A DRIVE-UNDER CONTEMPORARY fr" suited for a narrow, side-sloping lot, this cedarclad contemporary house Plan Ordering Information: Address inquiries about PLAN 1067-LA.AP (with daylight basement) to KENNETH E. GEPHART, AIBD; 9630 S.W. Eagle Lane; Beaverton, Oregon 97005. Phone (503) 641-7584; Fax (503) 644-7261. Visa/MC available. A set of five professionally drawn plans, for financing, permit filing and construction, is $225. Extra sets are $25 each. A material list is $30. Add $8 for postage and handling: A study plan (4 exterior elevations and floor plan) is available for $15 postage included. A plan book with 70 designs is available for $10 postage included. has spacious entertaining and family IMng areas, four comfortable bedrooms and a generous bonus of storage spaces. Steps lead to the wide covered porch and entry hail. A few steps to the right is the long, vaultedcelling Iiving room, brightened at. the front by tall windows and warmed by a comer fireplace The adjoining dining room has a bumpout window seat and sliding doors to a lange, partially covered and raised deck, also accessible from the family room. ‘An angled breakfast counter and roomy pantry add mealtime convenience and i The Eduquest program The Castlegar Sun “The weekly newspaper with a dally commitment’ -A Saturday troll in the park WEDNESDAY February 8, 1995 SUNNY Weather 3A Vol. 5 - No. #2 75 Cents + G.S.T. GARAGE DOORS » WINDOWS ENTRY DOO irene ee GRAHAM READ» 365-3461 raids rainy day funds KAREN KERKHOFF Sun Staff PLAN 1067-10 AP Other factors in the hospital's deficit include $32,000 for equipment, and $14,000 for : Paint Wallcoverings On | LOWER LEVEL 743 0a ft PAINTING & DECORATING CO. 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Administrator Ken Talarico told board members at a meeting last Thursday that the hospital had to cash in a $150,000 term deposit to cover a $145,000 shortfall at the end of 1994. Board treasurer Nick Oglow commented that while Castlegar hospital has had to use its “rainy day fund” to help keep the hospi- tal operating, others have been bailed out by the Ministry of Health. That isn’t fair, he said. “Other hospitals operate with a deficit time and time again. Then they cry tears and are bailed out It seems a shame we're pushed into the position.” A large portion of the deficit, explained Talarico, was due to increased wages. “We've had a lot of overage in overtime and adding additien- al staff.” ~ Specifically, Talarico pointed out that an increasingly heavy patient load at Mountain View Lodge and in acute care has required more nursing staff and overtime. increasing costs for medical and surgical supplies. But Talarico said there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Duncan Dodds, continuing care administrator for the West Koote- nay, indicated at a recent meeting that there is a possibility the Min- istry of Health will reinstate funding for differences in long- term care levels. Talarico, who was commended by Oglow for his astute financial management, told of many. cost- cutting measures recently under- taken to balance the budget. However, he expressed con- cern that despite the moves the hospital was still forced to resort to cashing in some of its savings. “We do these things and infla- tion eats it away.” Talarico is hoping that other cost-cutting measures, such as group buying, will help balance the budget When asked by board mem- bers how much money is left in he didn’t specifical- ly reply, but his answer was grim nonetheless. “It might last about another year.” B.C. Tel rescues stranded passengers KAREN KERKHOFF Sun Staff B.C. Tel last week lived up to its slogan “reach out and touch someone” when it rescued six Air B.C. passengers stranded in Castlegar for three days due to It all began the morning of Jan. 31°when, after being marooned in Castlegar for sev- eral days by inclement weather, the passengers awoke to find another day of fog and drizzle. The outlook for the rest of the week was grim at best and it began to look as if another flight would be grounded, thanks to Mother Nature. But sometimes you can fool Mother Nature—or at least thumb your nose at her as you fly out of town, despite what she had planned for you. Although commercial air- lines were again grounded for the day, private aircraft aren’t governed as tightly. B.C. Tel’s plane, piloted by Mike Brown, was one of those able to fly into Castlegar. * Rhonda LeRose, Castlegar station supervisor for Air B.C. , counts Brown as a friend. So when LeRose realized that Brown was returning to Van- couver without any p Whoa, don't get trolled under! The annual Trol ed with a mass start this year to boost participat | Loppet held at Paulson Trails just north of Castlegar experiment- ion. But all this jackrabbit needed was a boost. Story, photos AQ. SUN STAFF PHOTO / Jeff Gebert Council to begin airport talks RON NORMAN Sun Editor Castlegar council has decided to begin negotiations with Trans- port Canada over the possible ownership and operation of the Castlegar Airport. But the move has riled the regional director in whose area the airport is located. Ken Wyllie, director for the Lower Arrow-Columbia, says the two area regional districts are she asked him for a favor. “I asked if he'd do us a favor and take the six and he said he would. We tried our best and we succeeded.” Ed Clark, B.C. Tel’s com- munications manager for the Interior, said it's not unusual for B.C. Tel aircraft to fly into an ared white commercial flights can't. “Let's put it this way: if ours can’t get in, no one else gets in.” prop to neg ownership of the airport with Transport Canada themselves. Transport Canada will cease operating regional airports like Castlegar’s by the year 2000. It initially offered to tum the airports over to the provinces, but the B.C. government rejected that proposal. Municipalities and regional districts are next in line for own- ership. If they don’t want to take over the airports, Transport Cana- da will look to the private sector. Castlegar council says it will sign a letter of intent which will allow the city to evaluate in detail the airport ownership. “It's more an investigation than anything,” explained city administrator Jim Gustafson. He said the process will take “years as opposed to weeks.” Gustafson added that the city move to begin negotiations doesn't preclude the regional dis- tricts from taking part. “The regional districts are included in this process,” he said. However, he added that it is “critical” that the city know what is going on. ’ “The Castlegar airport is a crucial component of the regional economy and the long- term sustainability of the air- port is a regional and local concern,” council said in a pre- pared release. However, Wyllie said the Regional District of Central Kootenay and the Kootenay Boundary Regional District have already indicated they are i d in ing the air- even contacted the regional dis- trict to discuss its plans. _ “I can’t imagine Castlegar contemplating initiating any pro- posal without entering into a con- sultative process with the regional district and its resi- dents,” Wyllie said. He suggested it would be like the regional districts initiating discussions about the takeover of the Castlegar post office without port’s ownership as a joint regional facility. “It should be operated as a it with the city. In addition, Wyllie said there are a number of issues that need to be resolved such use of the regional airport, preferrably in conjunction with Kootenay Boundary.” Wyllie pointed out that the air- port lies within the Lower Arrow- Columbia and not in the city. He added that the city hasn't land thew airport. The city’s negotiating team will include Mayor Mike O’Con- nor, Councillor Ron Armbruster, John Hall, who is the chair of council's airport advisory com- mittee, and Gustafson. City utility bills jump 3 RON NORMAN Sun Editor Castlegar homeowners opened their 1995 municipal utility bills this week to find the charges had jumped a w hopping 33 10 44 per cent. The main reason for the hike is the new fees for garbage collec- tion, recycling and landfill main- tenance. Those fees total $71 $45 for garbage collection, and $13 each for recycling and land- Have some fun this weekend at the first annua per cent fill maintenance Residential water rates also climbed this year—to $133 from $124 in 1994. And sewer rates in the north and south ends are now the same—$153 per household. Last year the sewer rate was $124 in the north end and $144 in the south end North-end homeowners saw their total city utility bill climb See UTILITY 2a Report not good news for Castlegar KAREN KERKHOFF Sun Staff A $26,000 report on how medical specialist services should be provided in the West Kootenay has little good news for Castlegar. The report, commissioned by West Koote- nay Hospital Planning Couneil{WKHPC) and prepared by Kit I that the medical specialist services remain pretty much as they are now: mainly provided by Trail and Nelson. The report, which took almost six months to complete, provides a blueprint on how and where medical specialist services should be delivered in the West Kootenay. Ken Talarico, administrator for Castlegar and District Hospital, said that the report arose out of the_need for an adequate assessment of specialist needs in the area “He [Kit Henderson] was to look at how spe- cialists services should be staffed and provided.” explained Talarico, tstked with medical authorities throughout the region to come to his final recommendations. But Talarico believes that the recommendations, which indicate that most specialist services should be provided from Trail and Nelson, and basically remain status quo, will ultimate- ly fail as Ministry of Health funding becomes increasing lean. “The times have changed. The funding is no longer available and it's going to be more diffi- cult to continue with the status quo. Especially when you consider that Trail, Nelson and other hospitals are in a serious financial position.” The 30-page report virtually ignores Castle- gar Hospital. One of the few times Castlegar is mentioned is in the report's summary which ‘No change in location of any medical pecialist services is recommended, except for increased availability of specialty ambutatory and day-care service at Castlegar and other outlying hospitals.” Talarico believes that anothey report, called the Rowland Report, which recommended that such services be provided out of one hos- pital, will ultimately have more merit and be accepted out of financial need. “We've [West Kootenay hospital members] been unable to look at the distribution of sec- ondary-level services in the West Kootenay. There's been a lot of turf protection.” But Talarico is convinced that members will eventually be swayed in thinking region- ally once it becomes clear that it is financial- ly essential to do do. He believes that Rowland's report will again be considered once that has happened “When we first got it, we [West Kootenay hospitals] weren't ready for the report. Money was still flowing and we could continue to operate as we always have.” One positive thing that did come. out of the Henderson report, said Talarico, is the knowledge that ultrasound services in Castle- gar is essential “It has Support of the radiologist who thought it would improve service to the hospital.” | Winter Carnival