WKP rate hike hearing opens

By CHERYL CALDERBANK
_ Lawyers representing a variety of citizens’ groups,

and

West Kootena:

Power officials Tuesday in the first day of what could be a
lengthy hearing before the B.C. Utilities Commission inte
the utility company’s application for a 6.7 per cent rate in-

crease.

Lawyers Dick jathercole and

focused on West--Kootenay’s earnings during their
questioning of WKP’s senior vice-president of operations
Stu McKay and vice-president of finance Jim Brqok at the

opening day of the hearing in Rossland.

jathercole represents the B.C. Branch of the Con
sumers Association of Canada, the B.C. Old Age Pen
of Senior Citizens,

sioners, Council

Association and the Federated Anti-Poverty Group.
Bauman represents the municipalities of Kelowna, Suni-
merland, Penticton, O)
Celgar Pulp Co. and Westar Timber in Castlegar and a
group of lumber manufacturers.

During questioning, Bauman pointed out that the

ind Forks and Nelson as well as

requested 6,7 per cent increase is higher than the present in

Robert Bauman
last few years.

flation rate which he said has been below five per cent in the

Brook agreed with Bauman the’ West Kootenay’s net
earnings have increased steadily since 1981. In 1988, net

earnings increaseti by about $800,000 to about $7.6 million,

Senior Citizens

Vol. 41, No. 18

60 Cents

an 1 1.7-per-cent increase over the previous year.
But Brook added that the increase in net earnings is
almost identical to the company’s increase in investment

ys

“You were able to keep youself whole in 1988,"
You are facing similar in
creases forecast in 1989, but now you think you need an in

Bauman told the WKP official. **

crease in rates to keep yourself whole.

Bauman said he suspects the reason why WKP didn’t
apply for a rate increase last year is that.the company also
had an increase in sales valume and revenue: Sales volumes
increased by almost 200,000 megawatt hours and. sales

revenue increased by about $5 million
increase in sales revenue over 1987

Brook said the extra volume provided WKP with gross

profits, but added it wasn’t very much

**It really didn’t help that much but it was some advan

he said

a

Baum.

Bauman

an eight-per-cent

n noted that the company’s forecast increase in
sales volume for 1989 is **
Brook replied that sales in 1988 were “extraordinary.”
0 pointed out that ip 1988 WKP’s expenses
were a lot less than forecast
Brook responded that in 1987 when forecasts were
made, volumes were lower in general

very modest.""

He added that one of the major impacts on the com-
pany’s Costs Was @ reduction of income tax rates = @

significant contfibutor to the company’s ability to avoid a
rate increase last year

said

Castlegar News

CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1

, 1989

Bauman said the company has been criticized in the
past for overestimating expigases. In the past five years
WKP has underspent its forecast by about 20 per cent, he

WEATHERCAST

Tonight: Clear skies. Lows -10° to
Sunny with @ few
lee of the lakes.

Outlook for

Friday: remaining cool and dry

4 Sections (A, B, C&D)

Castlegar's Tim Pretty accepts a

son over the id. The

after

SITTING PRETTY

the Nelson

y team beat V

ae gold.

CasNews photo by Dov

1d Dose

entry toe gold medal in Speciol © Olympics Floor Hockey at the B.C. Winter Games in
‘,

Island 5-3 to capture

Local athletes
bring home medals

By NIELS PETERSEN
Staff Writer
They heaved weights and skied miles
for medals last weekend, bringing two
gold, one silver and three bronze home

to Castlegar. This week, local athletes
reflected on their performance at the
B.C. Winter Games in Nelson and
some are anticipatiagsmore glory three
weeks from now in New Westminster
@ “You walk out there and there's
nothing said Suzanne
Powell of ¢
how she wona gold me
weightlifting with a 55-kilogram clean
and jerk lift

Powell said she’s been training for
just five months and had never lifted

round you,"

astlegar, 16, describing

dal for women’s

competitively before. Now she’s being
1991 Canada games
Weightlifting

courted for the
and is going to the B.C
Championships, which will take place
at New Westminster’s Douglas College
March 19. She said she thinks she'll be
adding a few more plates to the bar to
strain her muscles and take home
another award.

“im
kilograms on the clean and jerk — 65 il
I'm lucky,”
Stanley Humphries secondary scfool,

going to do at least 60

said Powell, who attends

Trevor Seville of Robson also said it
He lifted an
impressive 95 kilograms in the clean

feels good to wear gold

and jerk and 82 in his snatch lift to give
him top spot in the 67.5 kilogram class
Still, he said he hopes to do better in
New Westminster

“I screwed up. I didn't do my best,”
said Seville, at SHSS,
adding that he missed two attempts at
100 kilograms because he leaned too
far forward 105
kilograms, and adds he has his eyes on
the 1991 Canada Games

Ron Ashby,
medal in the 90 kilogram class, said he
disappointed with his 77.5
kilogram clean and jerk lift

I messed up on each of my lifts,”

Ashby said

Ashby, a SHSS student
silver medal by eight kilograms

He gave some insight into how the
weightlifting coach helps get his lifters
psyched for competition by rubbing

17, also a student

He said he’s lifted

who took a bronze

was

missed a

the lifters shoulder muscles, slapping
him inthe face, and forcing the lifter te
look into his trainer's eyes.
Ashby, 17, s
However,
slapped too many times,”

sit works.
you don't want to get
“he said

Rick Young also took a bronze wit!
an 85 kilogram clean and jerk

“‘Lwas really nervous. It was my first
said the 1
old SHSS student, who has been lifting
for five months.

Young said he'll also be going to the
B.C Dougla
College, but said he wants to improve
his technique before then.

He credits his weightlifting coach,
Travis Ready of tor
psyching him up and helping him foct

competition ever,”” year

Championships at

Castlegar

on form.
skii Darret
medal in the

In cross-county
a silver
jumior 10-kilometre
fellow Castlegar resident Eric Sather
took medal
men’s 10-kilometre circuit

“I wasn’t in the greatest. shape,
said Sather, 19, a Selkirk College
commerce student. “But | did OK. I
was happy with my time

Sather
made the course difficult

““It_was really tricky waxing — I
* Sather
said, citing ice-glazed and packed snow
under the trees and
fine powder on the open stretches.

Tamelin took

boy's race and

a bronze in the junior

said variable condition

didn't have the right stuffon,

“totally different

Nu-Tech gets
ommittee OK

Final
decision
by RDCK
Saturday

By CasNews Staff

The aquatic centre building commit
tee. voted Monday to
recommend Nu-Tech Construction of
Castlegar be awarded the contract to
build the new indoor swimming pool

The
now goes to the Regional District of
Central Kootenay board of directors
which is expected to make the final

unanimously

committee's recommendation

decision on the awarding of the con
tract Saturd

The nine-member building commit

y at its meeting in Nelson

tee met for 2!

mending Nu-Tech’s

hours before recom
bid of
$1,998,875, said Castlegar and District
Project Society president Ron Ross,
who is also chairman of the building
committee

low

“We hag a fairly long discussion,"’
Ross said

Nu-Tech’s bid is $47,333 lower than
2,046,198 by
Marbella Pacific Construction West of
Delta

Paul Semenoff, owner of Nu-Tech
Construction, was out of town and
unavailable the
building committee's recommen
datior

The bid figures represent a
price for the basic pool facility as well

the next lowest bid of

for comment on

final

as 11 separate prices each company bid
on such things as flooring, underwater
lighting and a public address system
Add to that figure some $300,000 in
non-contract costs such as engineering

Valhalla Society
aims blast
at ministry

By SIMON BIRCH
Editor
The Valhalla Wilderness Society is
calling for the resignation of Forests
Minister Dave Parker saying
by his ministry to convert

the
proposals
forest licences to tree farm licences is
the biggest public land giveaway in the
province’s history

“Dave Parker should immediately
resign,”’ Colleen McCrory, chairman
of the New Denver-based society; sai
today. ‘‘The guy should be out. He’s
only in there . to multi

represent

national interests.”

The
wilderness and resource issues, wants a
comprehensive analysis of B.C
practices “in the form of a judicial
inquiry with full public participation,
subpoena powers —and

examination Of witnesses

society, which focuses on

forest

eFoss
to deter
actual sustainable annual

mine the

allowable cut,"” @ news’ felease from
the Society says
“The inquiry must include a detailed

study of the remaining old growth

forests in B.C J a comprehensive
mismanagement
in existing TFLs,” the release says
The the inquiry,
Crory told the Castlegar News,
“get all the facts on the table.”
McCrory said the provincial gover

evaluation of forest

Mc

purpose of

nment has not kept an inventory of

timber one tree farm licences

They don't have ‘a clue what's
going on,"’ she said: In 1987, the
Ferests—Ministry—announced the
© increase the

nment’s intentior
sted ui TFLs. in the
from the

province to 67 per cent

present 29 per cent
The ministry said sucti a move would
stimulate investment, improve forest

management, increase jobs in the
ovide more oppor
tunities for small business operators.
But McCrory said the move will put
in the con

corporations

forest sector and

most of the forests in B.C
multi-nationa
as Fletch allenge which she

such

continued on poge A2

Stone announces
expensive plans

TORONTO (CP)

based company

A Chicago:
invest $1
billion Cdn over the next five years in
Consolidated-Bathurst if the federal
government approves its takeover of
the pulp and paper giant, the company
president said today

The money
production
capacity, Roger Stone,
Stone Container Corp., said in an in
terview from Chicago. The company is
the world’s largest producer of un:
bleached board
packaging material_known as kraft
paper

plans to

would go to improve
and
president of

facilities increase

container and

Stone announced in
January it Montreal
based Consotidated- Bathurst part
owner of Celgar Pulp Co. in Castlegar
for $2.6 billion Cdn.
Stone’s offer of $25 a share is set to

Container

wants to buy

expire Thursday. Consolidated’s three
major shareholders have agreed to the
deal, but the proposal must still get ap-
proval from Investment Canada, the
federal agency that reviews foreign in
vestment
Stone said Canada is
his_ billion-dollar
but he wouldn't say whether the move
continued on poge A:

Investment

aware of promise,

and inspection fees, the cost of fur-
nishings and paving of the aquatic cen-
tre parking lot, and the tentative final
cost of the pool at this as is slightly
under $2.3 million, Ross said.

Five other companies bid on the
pool contract:

* Willaim Berg Construction of
Castlegar — $2,356,913

* Vic Van Isle Construction of
Revelstoke — $2,360,080

© Fame Construction of Trail —
$2,409,297

* Advance Building Systems of
Kelowna — $2,500,018

* Actes Construction Engineering of
Vancouver — $2,585,364

All bids reflect the bid on the basic
pool facility as well as the 11 separate
prices.

In addition tp Ross, building com-
mittee members are Castlegar Mayor
Audrey Moore, Area J director Mar-
tin Vanderpol, Area I director John
Voykin, Marilyn Gauthier, Alexia
Turner, Ed Chernoff, Gus Young and
Pat Metge.

INSIDE

Opening
delayed

page A2

Lottery
numbers

The winning numbers drawn
Tuesday in | The Pick lottery
were 10, 18, 33, 34, 36, 37,
44 and 3.

a. fl

Canucks
win

page B1

Vant
apologizes

page AS