an az__Castlegar News Moy 15, 1989 8 City changes garbage By RON NORMAN Editor For the first time in nearly 18 years Geronazzo Holding Co. won't be picking up garbage from Castlegar homes. The Castlegar firm was beaten out by Ace Septic Tank Service of Robson for the city garbage collection contract. Ace submitted a low tender of $78,960 for the first year and $80,370 for the ‘second year of a five-year contract. Geronazzo tendered a bid of $97,800 for each of the first two years of the contract FERRY PROTEST . addresses about 200 people earlier this week on the FERRY WORKERS continued from front poge ferry closure and added she feels the ferry is the responsibility of the pro vincial government “Our principle at council is that the highways department should continue to operate this ferr part of the integral communications, road network of this whole area. Council held a special meeting Thursday to discuss the ferry closure and agreed unanimously to appeal “di rectly” to Premier Bill Vander Zalm. It also decided to seek a meeting with There were a total of nine bids, ranging from Ace's low bid to a high of $126,477. The Ace bid will save the city nearly $35,000 on garbage collection. The city paid Geronazzo $111,391 this year. However, Castlegar council only awarded the contract. to the Robson firm after it was completely satisfied the company can carry out the work. The bid. was \initially put before council Tuesday evening, but a decision was postponed after Ald. Len Embree caised some concerns about the Robson Embree said he is “always con. cerned"™-when there is a difference of some $35,000 between the current cost and a new bid. He also noted the city has had “good service” from Geronazzo for 18 years and wanted assurances Ace could provide the same level of service, Ald. Albert Calderbank said Ace was able to submit a substantially lower bid because its owner will work on the garbage trucks, helping keep costs down. Calderbank said the owner of Geronazzo Holdings doesn't actually work on the trucks, Calderbank added that city eng ineer Kevin Lagan investigated Ace and was confident the Robson company had the equipment and the financial resources to handle the job. Council met behind ¢losed doors in committee of the whole Thursday to further discuss Ace's bid. Embree \re- quested council go into committee because he had questions to do with finances and personality that were not proper to ask in public. When council returned to its public sessions, Embree noted that all his concerns had been addressed. “Council’s primary concern . . . is to offer a reputable, reliable garbage “$y ae collection system service in the com- munity,” Embree said, adding later: “I find it impossible to justify to the unity why we should not go with } particular . tender. Ald. Terry Rogers pointed out earlier that the contract is for five years, with the price in the last three years tied to the consumer price index and the percentage increase awarded city workers. The contract also requires the successful bidder to pay a “fair wage.” Calderbank noted that the switch to Ace will mean the city will now have three garbage collection services, because Geronazzo also collects from a number of commercial customers. not included under the city contract. He said Geronazzo will likely continue with that service. As well, there is a third company collecting commercial gar- bage. Mayor Audrey Moore questioned what will happen with some of the commercial bins presently in use under the city agreement. Calderbank suggested some sort of agreement will probably have to be reached between Geronazzo and Ace. firm's ability to do the job. Rossland-Trail NDP Chris D'Arcy Castlegar-Robson cable ferry. Residents of both com- munities are trying to get the service back on track Rita Johnston, Minister of State for the Kootenay Development Region, when she is in the area on Tuesday Letters were prepared and sent immediately to Johnston and High. ways Minister Stephen Rogers. Ald. Len Embree said he noticed the decision came from the ministry in Victoria and was removed from the de centralization process. “It's interesting to notice that the whole concept of decentralization seems to be getting an end-run on this particular topic,” Embree said at the special meeting, adding later: “It's a political decision that’s going to be made, I have no doubts at all that that's what it’s going to take is political will to maintain that ferry operation.” BCGEU president John Shields has also accused the government of “playing politics” with vital public services “If you don't agree with the premier he fires you or takes away a vital! service,” Shields said. “He's playing petty politics with the vital services and punishing a whole com munity just because they disagree with him.” Pool vote may be in fall By CasNews Staff Castlegar area residents could be voting on a new $2.4 hurting after ferry closure By BRENDAN NAGLE Staff Writer Downtown Castlegar businesses are already feeling the effects of the ferry closure and store owners are worried the closure will force some of them out of business. Joy Jenner, president of the Downtown Business Association, said that since the ferry ceased operating late last month, some stores in the downtown core have noted 10- to 25-per-cent drops in retail business. The DBA held a special meeting Friday and agreed to support Castlegar council's motion that the city do all it Local merchants businesses affected in this way they'd be howling too, Bosse said. But downtown Castlegar businesses aren't the only ones suffering because of the ferry closure. The owner of the Lion's Head pub in Robson is crying in his beer over the closure. Elmer Pellerine is also upset with the Social Credit government and said he's been lied to. Pellerine — who says the pub was built at the Robson ferry to attract more business — said the confusion surrounding the service over the last few weeks was a deliberate attempt by the government to cover up its intention to shut down the ferry all along. Pellerine said the Ministry of Highways first closed the service because of low water levels, a reason Rossland-Trail NDP MLA Chris D'Arcy said was valid. Following the rise in water levels, the ferry remained closed because of a recent discovery by the Highways Ministry that the ferry has a small leak. During the down time, Pellerine said he'd been assured by the Ministry of Labor that the ferry would resume operation. Then it was can to convince the provincial government to conti operating the ferry. . “There will be a businessmen's petition to support council's move,” Jenner told the Castlegar News. “The ferry is important to downtown merchants.” The DBA represents about 40-45 businesses in the downtown and outer areas of the city centre. Jenner stressed the ferry a key to the success of the retail merchants because it draws residents to Castlegar from Robson, Pass Creek, Raspberry and other communities across the river. She said with the ferry closed, those day the Ministry of Highways was no longer operating the ferry. “I was outright lied to by the Ministry of Labor,” Pellerine said. “I was told the ferry would run again and 10 days later they shut it down.” Pellerine said the closure of the ferry in the first two weeks reduced his gross business receipts by 30 per cent. He said it will be extremely hard to stay afloat now that the ferry is not running. “Naturally, the location was chosen because of the ferry,” Pellerine said. “A big piece of my lunchtime i came from C: ferry users.” shoppers will not shop in the downtown core. “Because they are already at the junction — they decide to go for a drive to Trail or Nelson. Or they stop at the plaza at the south end of town,” she said. At a special council meeting Thursday afternoon, Mayor Audrey Moore expressed the same concerns. “If everybody starts to come around (via the inter- change), everybody could end up shopping at the plaza,” Moore said. “We would be (irresponsible) if we didn't take a position that would protect the viability of our businesses in the downtown area. Moore also said the ferry the Jast.75 years. has governed the settlement patterns “in this whole valley”, and to take it out would affect the downtown core. Local businessman Leo Bosse told the Castlegar News that the loss of the ferry will make it difficult on local downtown merchants. Bosse, who has just spent upwards of a quarter of a million dollars re-finishing the old Bob's Pay ‘N Takit on the corner of Columbia Ave. and 3rd St., said the ferry is definitely important to downtown merchants. “Of course we need the ferry,” Bosse told the Castlegar News. “The ferry needs to stay on.” Bosse also suggested Premier Bill Vander Zalm and Highways Minister Stephen Rogers might not be so quick to close the service if they knew the real importance of the ferry. “If Bill Vander Zalm or Stephen Rogers had their “taxes.” Pellerine said he is also upset over the fact that the cost of his provincial liquor licence increased more than 600 per cent to $1,000 from $150 in 1987. He said the government also increased the retail price of draft beer by 10 per cent and his property taxes are going to go up 28 per cent. He said he accepted all the increases without any complaint, but now his ability to pay those taxes and increases is affected by the ferry closure. “I never complained about the hikes because the business was doing good,” Pellerine said. “But now the goveroment is taking away my. ability to pay those Pellerine said he supports the move by the local , residents to keep the ferry a responsibility of the Ministry of Highways and funded through provincial taxes. But he added the protesters should refrain from any confrontation. “It has to be a political issue,” Pelleriz€é said. “I support the Robson people 100 per cent and‘they should take care to take a factual approach, not an emotional approach.” Despite his suggestions for a low-key protest, Pel- lerine did not mince his words when he described the way the government handled the closure. “I'm discouraged with the way things were done,” he said. “I resent being lied to and certainly that's been the case. Madison Magique Hair Studio is pleased to announce that Sandy Danchella has been awarded first place in the men’s visual haircut- ting and second place in ladies visual at the 1988 WEST KOOTENAY ly due to an error in calculation of points. o second place t ced in the ladies competition Madison Magiqu of second place in the ladies visual hoir cutting Sandy (left) would like to thank Jennifer Peterson and Al Brown for being excellent models and to Star Mengede for all her help and support. The place to be is Madison Magique where Sandy, Stor and Barb are eager to million indoor aquatic centre this fall. The Castlegar and District Project Society asked the Regional District of Central Kootenay Saturday for ap proval to go to referendum on the new facility, which would be buiilt adjacent to the Castlegar Community Complex “It's the desire of our Society to have a referendum on Saturday, Oct. 15 where. by we seek approval to spend $2.4 million to construct the facility,” Society president Ron Ross said in a letter to the regional district The regional board on Sat urday referred the request to the regional directors for Castlegar and Areas I and J Ross says the referendum would include all of areas I and J and the City of Castle gar and be based on a majority vote. Soviet troops withdraw MOSCOW (AP) — The Soviet army begins pulling out of Afghanistan today amid threats of guerrilla harassment and doubts about the future of the Marxist government it leaves behind. On the eve of the withdrawal, the Soviet commander in Afghanistan denied his men had been defeated in the brutal war that U.S. intelligence says has claimed an estimated 10,000 Soviet lives. But politically, the fruits of the 8'/-year Soviet armed intervention seem meager. Militarily, the Soviet presence has proved far from decisive. On Saturday, in the Afghan capital of Kabul, a bomb exploded inside. a truck near reviewing stands built for a ceremony honoring the departing Soviet troops. Reports from Kabul said 11 Afghans were killed. Meanwhile, three rockets slammed into the village of Baraki Chahrara on the outskirts of Kabul on Saturday. Witnesses said one rocket hit a mud-briek house, collapsing the walls and killing two children inside. An elderly man and another child were killed by flying debris nearby, they said. Since Dec. 27, 1979, when the Kremlin sent tanks and troops into Afghanistan, Soviet soldiers have been fighting to prop up the People’s Democratic party of Afghanistan, but they have failed to break the back of a country-wide anti-Marxist insurgency AGREES TO PU LLOUT A ing Moscow's to keep bearing the military and diplomatic costs of the intervention, Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze signed UN-broker- ed accords in Geneva on April 14 that commit the Soviets to a nine-month pullout, beginning today. As the first of an estimated 115,000 Soviet troops prepare to go home, one major question is how — or if — President Najibullah’s government, which claims just 40,000 regular soldiers of its own, can survive. Some of the first Soviet bases turned over to his troops are already reported to have been overrun by well-armed insurgents. - «ree first Soviets to leave will be from a motor-rifle jion garrisoned at Jalalabad, a dusty provincial town 30 pometres from the Pakistan border. Lt..Gen. Boris V. Gromov, Soviet commander in Afghanistan, said Saturday that more than 1,000 soldiers would jeave Jalalabad today and that a quarter of the entire Soviet contingent would be home by the time President’ Ronald Reagan visits Moscow on May 29-June 2. In recent days, Soviet media have issued alarming reports about increasing guerrilla activity, perhaps to ready public opinion for losses during the withdrawal. Or maybe it wants to underline that the pullout will heighten the likeli hood of bloodshed in Afghanistan's 10-year-old civil war. Soviet television took its viewers Thursday to the Kabul-Kandahar-Herat road, a 1,000-kilometre crescent- shaped track that links three of Afghanistan's major cities, for a taped interview with a Red Army officer assigned to screen the pullout. WARNS OF CLASHES “The activity of armed opposition bands has been sharply increasing,” said Lt.-Col. N.V. Ivanov, who spoke as a truck convoy crawled along the hilly road in back of him. DISTRICT continued from front page “Obviously, we can’t take it over until we know something about it.” if it is a viable operation or not. We don't know anything now.” said. the minister to come up here,” Cady give you the look you want. For expert cuts and perms CALL 365-5841 Make Your Place .. . MADISON MAGIQUE 365-5841 © 617 Columbia Ave., Castlegar The referendum will state the maximum funding re quired “even though we will be seeking assistance from the provincial government,” Ross said. If approved, the centre would be owned by the regional district and oper. ated by the Castlegar and District Community Complex and Recreation Commission. He added later: “We're going to look at all the various options that are open, certainly. One thing that scares us, of course, is that if you open it up for one ferry you may have to take on others.” Cady said the inland ferries are a provincial respons: ity. “But our main concern is the continued operation of the ferry until we can have a detailed look at it to see The regional board has also estab- lished a special committee to meet with Rogers and Highways Ministry offi- cials. The committee consists of Cady, Area J director Martin Vanderpol, a City of Castlegar representative, Area I director John Voykin, regional dis triet administrator Reid Henderson, and city administrator Dave Gairns. “We'll try to arrange a meeting as soon as possible. Hopefully, we can get At a special Castlegar council meeting Thursday, Ald. Len Embree bristled atthe suggestion that Castle- gar or the regional district assume re sponsibility for the ferry service. “I object-to any employees having to buy their jobs under the whole privatization program,” Embree told the council meeting. “I'm not prepared to accept the political respensibility for the provincial government. No bloody Briefly Speech gagged OTTAWA (CP) — The president of a customs and excise union local said Friday his government depart- ment “gagged” him just one hour before he was to give @ speech on free trade. Mike Clough, president of the district branch in London, Ont., said he was dining at a restaurant in nearby Sarnia when he was called outside by a customs and excisé area manager who gave him an ‘addressed but unsigned letter. Driver jailed DUNCAN, B.C. (CP) — A Vancouver Island man has been given a six year jail sentence and a 15 year driving suspension for drunken driving. Thirty-eight-year-old Wilfred Dersch was sen- tenced after being found gnilty of impaired driving and criminal negligence in ‘the death of a 48-year-old woman last October. A Nanaimo, B.C., court was told Dersch had a blood alcohol reading of over twice the legal limit at the time of the accident. Cash discovered NEW YORK (AP) — Two New York sanitation workers who found cash in a barrel of trash turned in the $48,900 US and were rewarded with a thank-you. Nothing else. The garbage collectors are not entitled to a nickel of the loot — 410 $100 bills and 158 $50 neatly bound with rubber bands, which they found during regular rounds Thursday in analley in the Borough of Queens. Inmates riot STRINGTOWN, Okla. (AP) — Inmates rioted at an overcrowded state prison yesterday, taking five guards hostage and setting four dormitories on fire, authorities said. One guard was treated for a stab wound. The convicts, believed to be armed with crude knives, had threatened to kill their hostages if authorities attempted a rescue, said Jerry Massie, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections. Soviets angry KIEV (Reuter) — Soviet officials accused a U.S. scientist Friday of inciting fear by predicting that thousands of cancer deaths from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. At a news conference after a three-day inter- national meeting of scientists on the medical effects of Chernobyl, several Soviet officials criticized the predictions of Robert Gale and took the Soviet and foreign media to task for publishing them. Union formed BUDAPEST (AP) — Scientists, teachers and other academic workers formed Communist Hun- gary's first independent trade union on Saturday. Government radio made clear that the Demo- cratic Union of Scientific Workers, the first new union in 40 years, would not be part of the official union structure. Surgery done OTTAWA (CP) — A 60-year-old local man has become the third Canadian to undergo experimental brain surgery to con.rol Parkinson's disease, Ottawa Civic Hospital officials said today. The name of the patient, listed in critical but stable condition, has not been released. Search continues AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico (AP) — Rescuers cleared crumbled concrete on the fading hope that someone might still be alive under the rubble of an unfinished four-storey building that collapsed 1'/ days ago, killing at least 13 people. Officials said Friday that at least 53 people were injured when the structure came crashing down as workers were about to pour the last concrete at a furniture factory that occupied the ground floor and part of the basement. Marcos makes promise MANILA (AP) — Ferdinand Marcos has promised to support the government of President Corazon Aquino if she lets him return to the Phil- ippines for his mother's funeral. About 5,000 people rallied to demand that the former president, overthrown in a coup that originally brought Aquino to power, be allowed to attend the funeral of his mother, Josefa Edralin-Marcos. Bomb explodes KABUL (Reuter) — A bomb exploded early today near reviewing stands being prepared for farewell ceremonies for Soviet troops, and police say about eight people were killed and 20 injured. The bomb, which appeared to be planted in a large, mangled truck, went off in a residential area on the banks of the Kabul River. Election announced PARIS (AP) — President Francois Mitterrand dissolved the National Assembly on Saturday and announced that France will hold parliamentary elections June 5 and June’ 12. Mitterrand, in a national television address, said he made the decision after his new premier, Michel Rocard, informed him “he could bring together a solid and stable majority that all governments need to carry out their programs well.” Thief executed PEKING (Reuter) — China executed a bicycle thief. Xiao Guogi, 29, was ‘convicted of stealing 74 bicycles on his‘own and 37 with an accomplice, the official New China News Agency said. Xiao was executed after a court fn Guangdong province, southern China, turned down his appeal saying he had “violated the legitimate property of others and had jeopardized social order.” His accomplice was sentenced to 13‘ years in jail. L) moy 15,1980 Castlegar News a3 Only a few get tax break By RON NORMAN Editor Kootenay West taxpayers who are not eligible for the federal tax allowance for northern and isolated areas are out of luck for 1987. Frances Cuppella, special assistant to Kootenay West MP Bob Brisco, confirmed this week that the earliest local taxpayers will be eligible for the tax break will be the 1988 taxation year, But Cuppella said Brisco will be working to have all of Kootenay West included in the tax deduction. “Bob will still be fighting for the constituents .as a whole,” Cuppella told the Castlegar News in a telephone interview from her Ottawa office. However, she added that if Brisco is successful in having all of the riding made eligible for the tax deduction, it VisiToRs waco é Mayor Audrey Moore joins in welcoming visitors to p gal et as ae Siticialty declares May 16 will not ke retroactive to 1987. The deduction is intended to compensate northern and isolated residents for extra living costs, but created a furore across the country because some communities near large centres and within 25 kilometres of the U.S. border qualify while other more isolated communities north of the 55th parallel do not. As well, under the complicated eligibility formula some residents qualify, but their immediate neighbors do not New Democrat MP Nelson Riis (Kamloops-Shuswap) raised that issue in the Commons earlier this month, pointing out that a suburb of Nelson is designated to receive the benefits, but not the city itself. Riis asked Finance Minister Michael Wilson to “explain the fairness of this approach where someone on one side of a road is eligible but on the other side is not.” to 22 National Tourism Awareness Week. (From left) Bev Kennedy, Mayor Audrey Moore, Leo Bosse, Madelaine Plant and Jack Parkin. Penner elected to board to the Alberta border. He said he has worked in Cran- brook and Invermere and has By CasNews Staff Wally Penner, a director on the Regional District of Lake District Hospital board for the last 12 years. He is anxious to get involved in the new decen- Wilson pointed out that former Ontario cabinet minister Rene Brunelle will chair a task force established to investigate the “conditions whieh have led to this kind of inequity.” “We recognize there is a problem,” Wilson said, “but it must be dealt with in a global way. We cannot just deal with one community or another, or a group of communities we have to review the whole matter on a nation-wide basis. Riis pressed Wilson further, asking him to explain how a resident living only 25 minutes from the U.S. border became eligible for the tax allowances. Wilson blamed the situation on the Treasury Board “going back well before we took office.” “We adopted the desigriations they had im place and have since found there -have been difficulties.” A total of 45 West Kootenay communities have been declared eligible for a deduction of up to $5,400 — which could translate into a tax saving of as much as. $2,500. The three-member task force will meet with residents in the affected regions and submit a report with recommendations by Oct. 31, 1989. Cuppella said the task force will be in Kootenay West to hear submissions and residents will be given advance warning of the visit Central Kootenay board, has been named regional devel opment liaison officer for the Kootenay Development Reg ion. Penner, 42, will assume the post June 1. “I feel real positive about it,” Penner told the Castlegar News in an interview Sat- urday. He pointed out that he is familiar with the Kootenay Region, which stretches east travelled extensively throughout the region in his job as regional engineering technician with the provincial forest ministry's regional office in Nelson. However, he plans to quit his job with the forests min. istry’ by the end of this month. Penner represents elect. oral area E (Balfour-Blewett) on the regional board. He has also headed the Kootenay Robertson passes away Charles Dickens (Chuck) Robertson born Feb. 7,-1912 in Whitney Bay North Cum- berland, England _ passed away May 12, 1988 in Nelson following a short illness. He is survived by his wife, Helen of Nelson; son Alan of Nelson; daughters and sons inlaw Charlene and Bob Panek; and Ann and Don Dunlop of Trail; three grand daughters; three great-great- grandchildren; and brother Dr. Cyril Robertson of Van couver. Upon is retirement as a theatre projectionist he en. joyed his favorite hobbies, gardening, fishing and trav elling. At the families request, there will be no service. Cremation has taken place. Thompson Funeral Home of Nelson is in care of the arrangements. Donations to the B.C. Can cer Fund are gratefully ac cepted. The family will be at home to friends from 4 - 6 p.m. Tuesday at 845 Lakeview Heights, North Shore .Nel son. tralization program. “I think it’s a great grass- roots movement to get reg- ional concerns to Victoria,” he said. Penner is the second per- son named to the position, Tom Baybutt of Nelson was originally chosen for the reg- ional liaison job, but Baybutt backed out because of other commitments. As regional development liaison officer, Penner will act as coordinator for the reg- ional initiatives in the Koot- enays. Nelson government ’ WALLY PENNER - feels positive agent Peter Lee has been acting liaison officer since Baybutt resigned. Change set for Library Act VICTORIA (CP) — A task force that studied the B.C. library system recommends the 69-year-old Library Act be rewritten in plainer Eng. lish The task foree, of which Mayor Audrey Moore was a member, said the provincial Library Act, written in 1919, must be updated and rewrit ten in current language. The group, under chairman Stan act that would set out the powers and duties of public library boards. It also recommended that act include requirements for regular public meetings of the library boards. In addition, the task force said there should be a 30-per cent increase in grants for acquisition of material and that funding should be linked Pukesh, r ded a new to the price index PULP MILLS By DENNIS BUECKERT MONTREAL — The rotten-egg smell traditionally associated with kraft chemical pulp mills could become a thing of the past if a technique being tested by Repap Enterprises lives up to expectations. Repap president George Petty says the new way of making pulp, the Alcell (alcohol cellulose) Process, has the potential to challenge the kraft process, the dominant pulping technology over the past century. “This is completely revolutionary,” Petty said in an interview. “It's not an upgrading of an old process, it's an entirely new process.” Some of Repap’s competitors are skeptical about Alcell, but the federal government is taking the concept seriously, putting up half the money for a $65-million test plant at Newcastle, N.B. The process uses alcohol rather than noxious sulphur-containing chemicals to separate wood fibres from the natural glue known as lignin that binds them together. Petty says Alcell will make it possible to build small pulp mills for far less than the conventional large-scale kraft mills that cost at least $500 million. Such mini-mills could make the most of forest areas too small to support a large mill, and he suggests they would enjoy advantages similar to the mini-mills that have transformed the steel industry. One of the major attractions of the new process, says ,Petty, is that it produces valuable byproducts, including pure lignin. In the kraft process, lignin is produced in an impure Cleaner process tested form, mixed with sulphur, and burnt as fuel. No market for lignin currently exists, but Petty says there are many possible applications and Repap is financing a new chair at the University of New Brunswick to promote research in this area. He says lignin could be used as a binding agent in waferboard, as an additive to improve the combustion of diesel fuel, or even as the base for a whole new body of biodegradable plastics On top of that, he claims, the new process if much cleaner than the kraft technique, producing less effluent and gas. “The odor is very pleasant, it's almost like Kahlua,” chuckles Petty, who talks about Alcell with the passion of a perfume-maker who has discovered a new fragrance. Petty’s enthusiasm for the new process is not universal. A researcher at one major forest products company, who declined to be named, said he had never heard about Alcell, and laughed at the notion that it would revolutionize the industry. But Petty has a track record for disproving conventional wisdom, having built his company in large part by turning around plants that weren't doing well under their previous owners. He also has a reputation for bottom-line results. Montreal-based Repap bought its first plant, at Nelson, N.B., in 1974, and now has established itself as an industry leader in fine papers, with assets of $1.5 billion. In 1987, Repap earned a profit of $62.5 million, up a stunning 381 per cent from the previous year. Keenleyside. power project down the road By The Canadian Press B.C. Hydro says the Keenleyside dam generating project is one of the most attractive and lowest-cost projects. However, Hydro also says it should not have to construct more hydroelectric projects until 2000. The statements are contained in the Crown corp- oration’s latest 20-year resource plan. In it, Hydro says it will continue to stress marketing power locally and to export markets, and encourage residential, commercial and industrial customers to use electrical power more efficiently. It also is lining up alternative power sources such as the U.S. Bonneville Power Administration and coal-fired generators in Alberta. These sources, combined with increased available power from Alcan’s planned expan sion of its Kemano Dam in northwestern B.C., mean Hydro should not have to bujld more hydroelectric projects until the turn ot eden. The most attractive arid lowest-cost projects would be the Site C dam on the Peace River near Fort St. John and the Keenleyside and Murphy Creek dams. Elsewhere, the plan says the British Columbia economy will grow faster than previously predicted during the next 10 years. The economy should grow at an average of 2.9 per cent a year until 1997, and 2.8 per cent a year in the 10-year period to 2007, Hydro estimates. Last year, Hydro predicted a growth rate of 2.4 per cent annually to 1997. “The main growth areas through 1997 are projected to be paper and allied products manufacturing, non-re- source-based manufacturing, construction and com. munity business and personal services,” said the Hydro document. Demand for power from the metal mining sector is lower than originally forecast. The resource plan, the first made public in four years, says Hydro’s current surplus of power is expected to last until at least 1989. The report says export markets are difficult to predict Up to the mid-1990s, the report forecasts that utilitiesYn the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Pacific South- west, two areas that offer the best market potential, will meet their needs through spot markets and prices will be low. Meanwhile, the provincial government will set up a Crown corporation to oversee markets and megaprojects for long-term power exports to the United States, Energy-Ministry Jack Davis said this week The corporation, which will target the U.S. north west and California, is expected to be in place by the middle of the summer and should turn a profit, Davis said. “The new corporation will be our single window to long-term exports,” Davis said, “while (B.C.) Hydro will look after domestic power development.” The move represents a major departure from the current practice where B.C. Hydro has been the prime agent in negotiations with the U.S. on long-term exports. The move coincides with development of an overall B.C. power export policy, expected to be finalized sometime this.year. Davis said it also fits into the Social Credit government's objective of allowing the private sector into the power generation and marketing business, which until now has been Hydro’s domain. Davis said there is a need for a powerful central agency to coordinate entry into the U.S. power market. “Otherwise we'd be competing among ourselves for U.S. markets,” he said. “We need one big boy on the block and we must know the U.S. markets before we start contracting to supply power to them.” The corporation will determine the feasi y of potential U.S. markets, then call for tenders in B.C. t build the appropriate generating pliant. B.C. Hydro will continue to market short-term, or spot, export power as surpluses occur from time to time, Davis said. “But I don't see it in the long-term power export business,” he said. Long-term export contracts generally cover periods of 20 years or more. The power, which is surplus to domestic needs, is usually supplied by generation plants built exclusively for that purpose. Court news In Castlegar court this week, Kennéth Kinakin received a 90-day jail term and was placed on pro- bation for one year for fail. provincial ing to comply with a pro bation aioe. Last walle Dike Paetkau was fined $150 for a hit and run motor vehicle accident.