Wednesday, April 15, 1992 @ Scott David Harrison EDITOR Castlegar homeowners may be facing tax in- creases after all. Despite a promised two per cent break from Castlegar, the recent provincial budget has thrown a wrench in the tax-cutting system. The loss of the provincial Homeowner Grant has city council wonder Castlega r facing tax hike? /C “We have seen their budgets, so we can’t re- ally say what they are going to do,” Duff said. “Our tax rate has been set and it will stay there,” Coun. Doreen Smecher said. “Any increase wouldn’t be because of the city. Duff said the city is prepared to do what it can to ease any tax ing. what to do: To make matters worse, the city is still awaiting the taxing word from the local school district and the Regional Dis- ‘We said we would give a two per cent cut and we will.’ burden. “We're going to make an attempt at offsetting overall taxes, — Councillor Kirk Duff pt we can’t promise trict of Central Koote- nay before it can make a move. “The municipal portion will be exactly what we said it would,” councillor Kirk Duff said Tuesday. “We said we would give a two per cent cut and we will. That will be clearly spelled out on tax forms.” A two per cent cut would see the municipal tax rate dip to 7.95 per cent from 1991. Castle- gar has cut municipal taxes by 4.68 per cent since 1990. What has council worried is just what piece of the economic pie School District No. 9 and the RDCK will be requesting. that we will be able to,” he said. “We haven't seen their final budgets, so 1992 rates. May. we can’t say right now what we can and can’t Duff said the school board and RDCK should be supplying Castlegar with budgets soon. Once the two budgets are submitted, Duff said the city would immediately begin to finalize its He said the budget would be placed before council for three readings the first session in All municipal budgets must be submitted to the province by May 15. Student wins prestigious scholarship Bi Local embraces chance to study culture of Taiwan Glen Freeman NEWS REPORTER Lorraine Paszty is going to have to learn to eat with chop- sticks. Paszty, an 18-year-old Stan- ley Humphries Secondary School student, has just wona $20,000 Pacific Rim scholar- “I’m going to have a great e. Paszty will be living with a sponsor-family in the nation’s capital Taipei while she studies at both the YMCA and a Taipei uni- versity. T » D 0 i ship. . She will be leaving Castle- gar in August and flying to the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, where she will study Mandarin and the Chinese culture for 10 months. “My scholarship covers ac- commodations, food, studies, airfare and travel allowance while ’'m in Taiwan,” said Paszty. Lorraine Paszty government awarded Paszty with the scholarship not only because of her perfect grade point average, but be- cause she has demonstrated interest in pacific rim. activi- ties. “In the summer of 1990 I attended an one-month Chi- nese bilingual summer school in Victoria,” said Paszty, “but - CITY OF CASTLEGAR the little bit of Mandarin I know is rusty now.” Paszty has also been to Japan, has met with the Sister City delegation from China, and has participating in a number of various community projects. SHSS Principal David Hogg says that while $20,000 is “an extremely unusual amount” for a scholarship, P is worth it. > Glen Freeman NEWS REPORTER Castlegar teachers can breath a temporarily sigh of relief. According to School Dis- trict No. 9 Superintendent Terry Wayling, 2.3 teachers must be cut from current staffing, but layoffs are not inevitable. “At this time I don’t think we are facing layoffs,” said Wayling, adding that he ex- pected attrition to take care of the concern. “We will have the same number of staff at the begin- ning of next year as we had at the beginning of last year.” Originally the board was concerned that cuts would be necessary as government funding was not as high as expected. According té MLA Ed Con- roy, the Trail school district is “looking at losing up to 30 teachers,” but Castlegar is fairing better because of the board’s fiscal responsibility in the past. In a related matter, Edu- cation Minister Anita Hagen announced that $582 million would be allocated for con- ~ struction and upgrading of B.C. schools. “We certainly hope to get some planning money for the Twin Rivers school,” said | Wayling. “It’s our goal to either fix it up or rebuild it completely.” “There is no question in my mind that she has earned it,” Hogg said. “She’s extremely keen and definitely worthy.” Paszty will be accompanied by two other B.C. students who have also earned the scholarship. Taiwan, the size of Vancou- ver Island, has a population of Canada living in it’s borders. Open Tuesday to Sunday 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 @ Wednesday, April 15, 1992 Scott David Harrison EDITOR The Coalition Unaccept- ing Rash Bureaucracy may be down but it’s far from out. Castlegar’s upstart citi- zens group will hold a gener- al meeting Thursday to help redefine its directives. CURB prepared to kickstart engine adding that the group’s mem- bership has grown to 150. “City council just doesn’t lis- ten.” O’Connor pointed to a re- cent debate over the reloca- tion of the city works yards. He said, despite opposition to the $850,000 project, the city ‘I wouldn’t say that we have been breaking any new ground, but then again, we’re not breaking any old ground either’ — CURB’s Michael O’Connor “We just want to find out exactly what our members think,” CURB president Michael O’Connor said Tues- day. “We want to find out if there are any new gripes and what the members want us to do about it.” Surprisingly quiet in re- cent weeks, O’Connor said the group is prepared “to keep plugging away.” “I wouldn’t say that we have been breaking any new ground, but then again, we're not breaking any old ground either,” he said. O’Connor said CURB is still being thwarted by Castlegar city council. He said attempts to get accept- able answers out of city hall has been impossible. “We're being ignored by the city,” O’Connor said, approved a plan that will see the works yard relocated to the Castlegar Industrial Park. Councillor Doreen Smech- er disagreed. She said the city has answered every question put before it. In fact, Smecher said she’d like to see more questions. “I really enjoyed the win- ter,” she said, referring to several fiery meetings, high- lighted by exchanges be- tween CURB and various councillors. “I want people to ask tough questions.” Asked if she thought CURB had become too quiet in recent weeks, Smecher lamented that it had. “I would really hate to see CURB become inactive.” CURB’s meeting starts at | the Fireside Inn at 7 p.m. Your Hosts: Ron & Deb Matthews 2629 Broadwater Road, Robson - 365-01 81 Separate Dining Room Entrance Behind the Pub NEWS STAFF The Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce re- ceived a letter from Transport Minister Art Charbonneau Monday, but it wasn’t some- thing they wanted to read. Chamber manager Steve Pelton had written Charbon- neau and accused him of a breach of trust, saying that the government was commit- ted to building the shelved Castlegar-Robson bridge and highway upgrades as a pre- condition to the Celgar Pulp Co.’s expansion. But in his letter to chamber Special there’s no money manager Renee Read, Char- bonneau pleaded poor because ofa slash in this year’s Trans- portation budget. Because of that, Pelton said the bridge will have to wait. “(Charbonneau) reiterated you can’t spend what you don’t have.” Purchase e Air Conditioning e Cassette 1991 PONTIAC e 2.0 Lt. OHC 4 Cylinder Engine e Automatic Transmission SUNBIRD e Balance of GM 3 Year Bumper to Bumper Warranty See SS. Ted Allen's Jewellery Gemologist and Watchmaker GPISes Since 1962 Greg Allen, Proprietor of Ted Allen's Jewellery, is pleased to announce that his company has secured the exlusive services of talented goldsmith and jewellery designer, E.J. Duncan. e Air Conditioning e 3.1 Lt. Fuel Injected V6 Engine e Automatic Transmission 1991 PONTIAC 6000 LE $13,989 ADOPT A FLOWER BOX The City of Castlegar invites interested residences and Commercial Businesses along Columbia Avenue to participate in our 1992 “Adopt a Flower Box" program. The City will provide the flower box (approximately 3 feet x 5 feet) complete with plants and soil. Participants will be required to provide pliant maintenance and care. The Flower Box will be placed in the location of choice but must be visible from the street. for this program will be available at City Hall (460 ia Avenue) from April 13th through April 24th. As | Flower Boxes are limited. in number we encourage ‘part to apply early. e Cassette Stereo System. E.J. Duncan Mr. Duncan brings to ss Ted Allen's. a wealth of training and experience in-his field. He worked for the last 12 years with a prominent and respected Victoria jewellery company, specializing in the design and creation of handcrafted gold and silver jewellery. . This new association with E.J. Duncan is part of Ted Allen's Jewellery ongoing commitment to "making your dreams come true". : 431 Baker Street - 352-5033 e Balance of GM 3 Year Bumper to Bumper Warranty IKALAWSKY | PONTIAC BUICK GMC (1989) LTD. —THE KING OF — 1700 Columbia Ave.. Castl 365-2155 Collect TRAIL, FRUITVALE, ROSSLAND CUSTOMERS CALL 364-0213