Wednesday, April 13, 1994 The Castlegar Sun Underground tanks removed downtown Pages Low turnout for for council's first budget Meeting to discuss city’s financial state fasts 45 minutes a etrertemeecancents i & on gf Exe ‘The Castlegar Library is hit- ting back at inflation! After twenty years of keeping our over- ig HABE Local library-hits-back at-inflation gave us tax support for this year, the free ip to je’ Marken r told council that if the tion of the depot should be to change; eopacillors d d a place the region has our staff and volunteers but they keep We regularly register three or four new members per day and heaiat beraiie new gar and Kinnaird amalgamated in 1974, so watch for our birthday from skating on the Rideau Canal to suntanning on a caribbean cruise; from the cold of winter in Saskatchewan to the warmth of the sun in Disneyland and Arizona; and from the neon lights of Reno-and Las Vegas to the Christmas light displays in Surrey, this past winter the residents of Castlegar, took The Sun’ with them wherever they travelled. « ‘On page B-1of this week's paper you'll find a colourful collage of the photos that Dieams contest. Many of you wrote wonderful and witty stories and poems about your yaca r where the photos were taken. We wish we could print 3 t6 the Reno ‘winriers' and to Brian and Connie Hawaii ar ioe with everything they had to fet only remem their Castlegar Sun, they sent n thei wedding 1 ke The Castlegar Sun with you on your vacation £31) and send us your photos. All entries in both the ne tions of the contest will be eligible for the Grand Prize of a Canadian Regional Airlines trip for 2 anywhere Canadian Regional flies. ‘Through snow, slect, ice, and sweltering heat, it's great.co know that the people of exceeds 980, beating last year’s total for the whole year. This Since its start in October 1993, the amount of recyclables ~ dropped off at the depot has increased substantially cach month, wit tecorded in March, when more than 376 thousand tonnes of recyclables were dropped of at the depot. “In one weekend, there were more than 600 cars visiting the depot. It’s convenient and it's popular. People are coming fibrary taxation-in the region. ‘Cigculation last. month was an all- time high, record breaking 12,186. 334 people joined the library during the month. the many services we offer as well as books, videos, audios, magazines and clippings files, are three Polaroid cameras for loan; we stage several author presentations per year, for adults and children; hold two weekly pre-school story hours; run a summer reading program for filled with daycare children enjoying our gorgeous picture book collection. , 80 they just head ‘to the depot first,” said Marken. ' This, reminded Meyer, is : tonnage that is being diverted from the landfill in Ootische- nia, at a cost that is cheaper than recommended by consul- tants earlier. The one-year con- tract, awarded to the Trail Eco Centre, carries a price tag of $75,000. This, said Meyer, is much less expensive than the By March, that figure had decreased to $114 per tonne. 4 LET'S DO L day April 25, 1994 12 noon Sandman Inn Cost: $10.00 GUEST SPEAKERS Dean Cooper President of B.C. Chamber of Commerce TOPIC: B.C. Business CumaTE Anp Wuat THe CuampBer Can Do RSVP 365-6313 by Castlegar Ch of Commerce . landfill site. = Marken responded vans that any new location, would have to be convenient in for the depot's continued i The Recycling Advisory Group represents Castlegar, Areas I, J and a portion on. Castle man gets four years for sexual assault SUN STAFF —_—____— A Castlegar man has been sentenced to four years in prison after he was found Castlegar was charged by ide ti Minch 1993 for’ tici- dents ’of sexual assault that took place between January 1985 and July 1992. purpose a person under the age of 14; to invite; counsel or Crown Counsel requested that, due to the sevefity of Woodard’s crime, he not be allowed until he has served one-half of his sen- Castlegar Co-op Gas Station removed underground gasoline storage tanks this week, a requirement under the B.C. Fire Code. no longer in use, or tanks that have been out of service for two years, must be removed from the ground. Another require- The Castlegar Co-op Transportation Society removed, in total, seven under- ground gas tanks that had not been in service for some time. All such ag tanks not in use must be removed as a requirement under the B.C. Fire Code. ment is that soil, if found to be i d, must be d from the site. Castlegar Fire Chief Gerry Rempel is now requesting Under the code, storage tankijpeathm, all undergeaund.tanks not in use be removed. Aside from the Co-op, Rempel says three different sites have already removed under- SUN STAFF PHOTO JJohn Ven Putten SHARLENE IMHOFF Sun Editor ~ Castlegar residents either have @ strong sense of faith and com- plete trust in the Mike O'Connor administration at City Hall, or they just don't care, Whatever the feason, Only 22 people (including some councillor’s wives) were meeting, held April 4 at the Fire- side Inn. Chaired by Finance and Administration Councillor Ron Armbruster, the entire meeting from start to finish lasted 45 min- utes and few contentious issues relating to the actual budget itself were raised. Speaking to his small, attentive audience; Armbruster read from the citizen's guide to the budget, ground tanks, and he knows of one site, located on city property, that must have tanks removed. Plans are in the budget, said Rempel, to remoye_the tanks this year. The legislation also applies to residential underground stor- age tanks, said Rempel. Emcon service contract extended for one year Earlier, company was denied extension SHARLENE IMHOFF A Castlegar man was sent to hospital with minor injuries after Police have not ‘stated if will be laid. f, liant. Sun Editor —_ and three companies submitted bids. The lowest of these, After receiving tenders for highway and bridge mainte- nance, Highways minister Jackie Pement re-opened con- tract negotiations with those companies that already held contracts. As a result, Emcon Services Inc., has extended its with the gov to provide such services for one year. Late last year, Emcon asked for the extension but was denied it by the government. Instead, the job was tendered Police seek two young m Emcon, Ned $11,142,000. But the agreement signed between Emcon and the provin- cial government has a negotiat- ed price of $10,068,000. According to Jeff Knight from the Public Affairs Branch of the Ministry of Transporta- tion and Highways, contract talks were re-opened in a num- ber of service areas, including Kootenay Boundary, when bids received were too expensive. The one-year extension also ensures continued road mainte- nance service while allowing SUN STAFF Police are looking for two young males who might have been involved in a recent break, enter and theft in Bril- The incident occurred March at app: ly 1:15 p.m. A residence in the 800 Block on Cultural Road was entered by breaking a window. A small amount of cash and two rings were stolen. The two young men were observed in the area at the time of the incident. In other police news, RCMP time for a review of private sector contractors taking on such work is finalized. The Kootenay Boundary ser- vice area covers 3,038 lane- kilometres of highway and encompasses 82 bridges: The service aréa runs north from Rock Creek to encompass most of the Lower Arrow Lake in the south Emcon Services Inc. has car- ried out road and bridge main- tenance in the Kootenay Boundary service area since October 21, 1991. The compa- ny’s current contract expired April 1, 1994 ales in Brilliant-based theft are investigating the break, enter and theft in a manufac- tured home in the Cedar Creek Trailer Park, sometime between April 2-5 Potice say entry was gained through a back window. A stereo receiver, tape deck, VCR and microwave were stolen. plaining who collects taxes from C: i and throughout the community in the form of new houses, apart- ment blocks and commercial In 1994, i $25 million was added to the rolls as increased assessment to exist- ing properties, but city taxes have been adjusted downward to pro- tect taxpayers. ‘The city’s taxing rate for major industry is more than five times higher than the residential rate, while the rate for businesses if three time higher than fesidential, The result of this is that home owners pay about 25 per cent of the city’s taxes, while major’ industry -pays. 50 \per cent and i pay about '!5S per cept. Danger looms at 24th Street intersection Former councillor adamant that priorities be made for safety SHARLENE IMHOFF Sun Editor While local residents had little to say about this years budget, d by city council Mon- and where they are spent. ‘The guide explained to resi- dents that residential properties make up almost 60 per cent of the assessed value in Castlegar, while major industry (Celgar and Pope & Talbot) make up just under 29 day evening, there was one con- tentious issues raised—that of the 2Ath Street intersection. For residents new to Castlegar, the 24th Street intersection, locat- ed across from Kinnaird Hall on Columbia Avenue, has posed a per cent and make up. approximately 11 per cent of the assessed value. The assessed values of proper- ties within the city have increased by almost $160 million (74 per cent) since 1991, primarily because of new construction at New location for meetings will save $486 a year Castlegar City Council plans to save about $48,000 per year after it relocates to a new build- ing to hold public meetings. Mayor Mike O’Connor told a small audience during Monday's budget meeting that BC hydro has agréed to allow council to ‘hold regular meetings in its lower level boardroom—free of charge. For the past two years, the city has been paying $48,000 per year for the lease and utilities of its current location at 1402 C i dang for childre using the crosswalk as they travel to and from school each day. Because the area is considered a highway and carries a higher speed limit than Columbia Avenue north, motorists tend to drive with less caution through the intersection. After much persuasion by the previous city council, the Min- istry of Highways, who is respon- sible for the roadways, finally established a set of pedestrian lights at the crossing. The local school board was also advised that crossipg guards would also be necessary to. monitor the crosswalk. The fact that there are still no crossing guards on site, and that motorists are now ignoring the flashing pedestrian lights, has s former EOiincillof Lawrence 'Chettoff, who worked diligently to attain the lights in the first place. Cheroff atterided Monday's budget meeting, and asked Avenue, known as the Monashee Selkirk building. Once owned by ABS Holdings, the building is council to p the placing of a regular set of traffic lights over the intersection, before a child is struck. Mayor O'Connor responded by stating that council is looking at the plan and is in full agree- ment that it should be done, -but due to other changes that are planned for that area, the traffic lights are only a priority in the next five years. Chernoff said that a realign- ment of 24th Street was,-under the previous council, slated for 1995. This would include traf- fic lights. “Js there still a priority for that i ” Cheroff asked. O'Connor said council is working with the Ministry of Highways to ensure that the com- ‘street network is’ ir line S WAH theombnistiy's plans ‘for HiphWays Héak Caslegan Wich include widening to a four-lane in south Castlegar. “T can say that it is a priority to get [the intersection] done as soon as possible in the first five years,” said O"Connor. In the interim, city council is contacting the school board to request that crossing guards be placed at the intersection. Representatives from non-smoking establishments in Castlegar and area were honored last week for promoting clean air and good health by the Central Kootenay Health Unit, Union Board of Health and City Council. Back row (I-r): Terry Baugh, Selkirk College; Brenda Binnie (accepting award of behalf of Subway) representing the City of Castlegar and the Union Board of Health; Lydia Plotnikoff and Maria Lowe, both from the Central Kootenay Health Unit. Front (I-r): Donna Draper, Dairy Queen; Florence Ursulak, Tasty Delites; Debbie Mallow, Krestova Store Cafe and; Margaret Nickle from the Castlegar Hospital Board. SUN STAFF PHOTO / Sharlene Imhoft Council books travel plans for 1994 Councillors off to Rossland, Winnipeg, Whistler and Victoria , for a group photo. Front row (I-r); Ryan Ricker, Tyler Ricker, Rachael Robbie, Tamara Russell eosin Sutherland. ree LePage, Bobby Nutter, Leigha Arishenkotf, Jamie Postnikoft, and Tracy Barabonoff. Back row (I-r); Andrea Zaytsoff, Katya , Abra Baal and Coe. Missing are Micheal Podealuk and = Giesbrecht; Karen Dillion; Yuri Kinakin; and Melanie Girard. SUN STAFF PHOTO /John Van Putten "SUN STAFF $7,227.79, and plans to spend an Castlegar City Council is allot- ing itself $27,900 in travel expenses this year, and has wi attending the Associat tion of Kootenay Boundary Muni- fe that Council passed its projected travel plans during its latest regu- lar meeting, held 5 Council has ly spent except cillor Duff, have been allotted $350 for the ttip. Councillor Kirk Duff has been $2,100 om hotel acco- . and te allotted $1,760 to travel to Win- nipeg to attend the Federation of Canadian Municpalities (FCM) Conference, while O'Connor and Councillors Brenda Binnie, Doug Green, Jim Makortoff and Bob Pakula have each been alloted $1,825 to attend the Union of British Cohambia Munictpalities (UBCM) Conference, to be jheld September 20-23 in Whistler, B.C..