OPINION WEDNESDAY, Apr Wednesday, April 19, 1995 The Castlegar Sun Letters to the Editor WZ The Ga stl dar Sun iis pope’ heed 108 “aud people of the Castlegar Area, The Castlegar Sun by Sterling Lid. at 465 pare Ave io. Cactloger. B.C. VIN 1G8. The Castlegar Sun is polit cally independent and a member of the Sterling News Service, Canadian C. B.C. C Newspapers Assocation, and the B.C. Press Council. Established 28, 1990 Mail Reg) 10420 PUBLISHER MARILYN STRONG CHRISTINE MOYER PRODUCTION MANAGER: bs HOFF TRICIA LAKTIN wn eal PRODUCTION ASSHSTANE— oar GABERT CATHERINE ROSS SPORTS REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER = ADVERTISING REP. MARGE LALONDE NICOLE BEETSTRA OFFICE/CIRCULATION MANAGER = ADVERTISING REP. CARI ROHN FRED JACK CLASSIFIED ADS ADVERTISING REP. RON NORMAN ACTING EDITOR Direct Department Phones General Office 365-5266 Circulation 365-5266 Classified Ads 365-7848 Display Advertising 365-2278 Newsroom .--365-5579 365-7762 editorial comment Honoring our past With changes occurring so rapidly in Castlegar it’s easy to think about the future—and just as easy to forget about the past Many people who remember what Castlegar was really like 50 years ago are now dead, thus relegat- ing Castlegar’s past to history books. And yet, the past and the future will always be inextricably bound together, for without one there wouldn’t be the other. The passing of Castlegar pioneers like former mayor Murray Little might mean little or nothing to those who didn’t know them. But the future of Castlegar has been wrought in part by those very pio- neers and visionaries who care deeply about our city. Castlegar has a bright future—one of the brightest in the province—but we must not forget that it was the Murray Littles, Ed Mosbys, Audrey Moores— and now Mike O’Connors—who are a very real part of both our past and future In a way, Castlegar’s pioneers can be likened to stars which have long since burmed out but which still, through a quirk of nature, continue to twinkle brightly. As we look towards Castlegar’s luminous horizon we mustn’t forget the stars who light the way, for it is through honoring our past that we become guardians of our future Karen Kerkhoff Ball field fallout The fallout from Castlegar council’s recent deci- sion to proceed with the proposed fourth ball field for Kinnaird Park is being felt farther than many residents may realize. A major feature of council’s plan for the fourth field is that Kinnaird Park will get all of the money the city intends to spend on parks in the 1995-96 budget year. A figure was never mentioned during the council debate, so it is unclear just how much money will be spent at Kinnaird Park in the coming year. (The city’s proposed budget shows that the maintenance of city parks, equipment, grounds and improve- ments will cost $304,7000 in 1995-96. Presumably, this all won’t be spent at Kinnaird Park.) What was clear is that other city parks will not get any money. Councillor Ron Armbruster and Mayor Mike O’Connor voted against the plan, saying there are other parks in the city that will need work this year However, the other four councillors voted in favor of the plan. Councillor Jim Makortoff expressed their feelings best when he said that it is better to work on one park at a time, bringing each in tum into “decent shape”. The problem with that is, in the meantime, the other parks fall into disrepair. Residents in those areas can't be blamed for being unhappy. After all, they pay taxes, too. What is clearly needed is either a lony to upgrade all parks, or a return to the where all city parks are upgraded equally range plan old system Ron Norman ERRORS. The advertiser agrees that the publisher shall not be liable tor damages arising out of errors in any advertisement beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by that portion of the advertisement in which the error ocourred, whether such error is due to the negligence of its servants or otherwise and there shall be no liability for non-insertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such advertisement. All advertising subject to publisher's approval. Contracts must be completed within one year from contract date. No contingent orders accepted THe PRemieRS OFFICE TO waSHiNGTON DC: Growing pains: Castlegar is booming But we're beginning to look like Cranbrook Mayor Mike O'Connor made an interesting comment at the last Castlegar council meeting when he said: “Castlegar is looked on as the fastest-growing area in B.C. right now.” It was u casual remark, and one that is heard in one form or anoth- er around the community every day: in coffee shops, in offices, in stores and in living rooms. And judging from proposed developments, Castlegar is one of the “hot” areas in the province— heck, in Canada. How many com munities of this size have three or four major subdivisions on the drawing board, along with a $13 million commercial/residential complex? That's not to mention an indus trial park where all the remaining lots were recently sold, and many of which are being built upon as I write this. Nor does that take into account the new $5 million Twin Rivers Elementary School, nor the $1.3 million Downtown Revitalization Program. Ahd I still haven’t touched on the biggest development of all: the three dam projects that are part of the recently formed Columbia Basin Trust agreement The first of those projects— installation of generators in Keen leyside dam—is in the works right now and is expected to be before the B.C. Utilitiés“Commission for an energy certificate by mid-June. Rossland-Trail MLA Ed Con- roy is hoping that project will be under way by the fall, when water levels in the Arrow Lakes reservoir are at their lowest Those three dam projects will provide economic stability for the area for the next 15 years. They will also provide continued and steady growth for the Castle- gar area. The question is, how are we going to handle all this growth? Do we, meaning we as a commu- nity, have an idea of what we want to be in five or 10 or 15 years? Mayor O'Connor thinks so. At that last meeting he said Castlegar is getting a reputation for setting it own rules for development He cited one prospective devel- oper who complained that the city guidelines are too stringent. “We're trying to protect what we have,” Mr. O’Connor said, while at the same time working with developers who want to come to our community. That's great. But are we really getting the community we want? To try to get a different perspec- Letters to the Editor tive, I asked one teen from Stanley Humphries Secondary School what she thought about growth in Castle gar. You know her answer? “We're beginning to THE VIEW tor ike Cranbrook.” FROM It wasn't HERE meant as a compliment I don’t RON mean to criti- NoRMAN . because it has nice areas—in particular some of its dential sections, But anyone who drives the main street there knows that that city has a “strip” look. It dominates the commercial business community. Castlegar, stretched as it is between the Columbia River and the mountains and serviced by one main traffic route, has the same strip look, though it is perhaps not as pronounced as Cranbrook’s (and, interestingly, we have the same attractive residential areas) With explosive growth—or even slow, steady growth—it will only get worse. Do we want to look like Cran- brook? If I had a choice, I would say no. But sometimes it seems that when it comes to development we have no choice. It just happens. I would suggest that rather than simply let it happen, we decide what we want our community to look like and then work to encour- age that I agree with Mr. O’Connor when he s we should protect what we have. I live in Castlegar because I like.what it has to offer. If we have rampant development which alters what makes the com- munity appealing, what will it have gained us? Nothing’ Mr. O'Connor says the city is protecting us by “setting its own rules”, some of which haven't pleas~ ' >otential developers. Guvu. That's the way it should Development that doesn’t improve what we already have really isn’t worth it. We need to remember that as we get caught up in the excitement of growth and development. Other- wise, we could end up turning into something we don't want. If you don’t believe that can happen, just look at Kelowna. I’m sure that city's view of develop- ment isn't the same today as it was 10 years ago when it welcomed “progress” with open arms. It’s up to us not to make sure what happened to Kelowna doesn't happen here. Weather office provi Dear Editor: I am writing in reference to the closure of the Castlegar Weather Office, slated for April 1, 1996. The weather office has provided ser vices to the public and specialized business users for the past 23 years, 10 hours per day, 365 days per year (yes, even Christmas Day). Its three employees, designated as essential services during the pub- lic service strikes, were not allowed to strike and continued to provide weather services to the public My husband has been employed by the weather office for the past seven years, and so I do have a biased reason for not wanting the office closed. Obviously, this clo. sure will greatly affect our lives here in the Kootenays However, I strongly believe that the three employees at the weather office provide a very valuable public service, one that will be missed and could affect the public safety of both the general public and businesses. Public and business pressure can affect changes to government policies, but only if the govern ment is aware of how the public feels. Are you a hang glider, sail boarder or boater who has called the weather office for wind infor- mation in the past? Have you ever called the office to find out weath- er over the Salmo-Creston pass in thie winter? Have you called the airport to find out if your plane is going to land or take off? Have you called to find out if it isa good time to harvest? Did you ever need to know the weather for a certain date or for a certain event? Have you ever heard the forecast on your local radio station or read it in the local paper? All these services and many others will no longer be available to you locally, free of charge. You may re limited information by dialing a 1-900 number in Kelowna for a per/minute fee However, the information will not be provided by someone who is as familiar with local terrain and weather conditions in the Koote- nays as the existing staff at the Castlegar office Let me conclude by saying that I believe the government needs to control its debt.But by only elimi- nating services T® the public—and not eliminating the corresponding upper levels of management—the only ones affected are the taxpay- ing public who will no longer have access to these services. If you have had occasion to use these services in the past and feel that the Kootenays will suffer a loss by their departure, please con- des valuable service tact Sheila Copps, Minister of Environment at the House of Commons on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ont., or Jim Gouk, Koote- nay West-Revelstoke MP. Susan Lakeman Crescent Valley How about lights? Dear Editor: One answer to the need for more ball field time is to upgrade the field by the Community Com- plex with the installation of lights. This would result in the equiva- lent of 1 1/2 to two more ball fields. Lights would also have the same benefit in the Kinnaird Park main field or the Inland Gas field Seating could be installed at the complex ball field for fund-raising games or other events. It could even be portable seating to start with, and then used in the arena in the off-season. The development of a new field at Kinnaird Park does nothing for neighborhood activity. Another field in a neighborhood location could still be scheduled into any tournament and provide benefit for the neighborhood children. The parking facilities at the complex field is better than at Kinnaird Park and solves parking problems for tournaments. We agree this letter should have been written previously, but the announcement that all of the 1996 maintenance budget for all the parks will be going to the destruc- tion of Kinnaird Park is ridicu- lous. Council is so far off base—it doesn't know how to play ball and has struck out— it should stick to collecting its $4.5 million in taxes from Celgar to balance the books. Bobby Knowler (local player, coach and umpire for at least 20 years) Mel McMullen (building chair for both Kinsmen parks) Dear Editor: To those of us who are over 40 there is an old phrase “cheap thrill”, Well, T haven't had so much fun since pop and candy bars were a nickel, As you may know, Salmo has started the “Penny Power" campaign, and let me tell you I never thought that a kilogram of pennies could be such a time, This is an opportunity to participate in something that is not expensive or terribly time consuming. A person can dump that jar of copper that is a real nuisance to roll into 50- cent units. Plus, this may be your fast chance to really enjoy doing something with the lowly one- ‘Penny Power' more fun than cheap candy cent coin, The way our econo- my is going, the penny will soon be obsolete (as it is it costs 1.5 cents to mint a one- cent coin), so we should enjoy them while we can . Another nice thing about pennies is they aren't con- cerned about your political affiliations, of if you live in the East or West. Plus, we have to. think about our pennies. Some of them haven't had any activity in years. Maybe the green tinge of old age is afflicting some of them. So do yourself and your pen- nies a favor and take them for a walk to your local depot. Ron Lee Salmo Logging to blame for water problems Dear Editor: Re: the April 12 editorial, “Our Problem is Too Much Water.” Apparently, you view the prob- lem of surface contamination of community water supplies (as does Mr. Harnadek) as being a problem of smaller systems which lack the necessary funding for expensive treatment systems However, the approximately 2,000 residents of Robson-Rasp- berry, who possess one such expensive system were not men- tioned in. your article, even though we, too, are currently under boiling restrictions, once again, as a result of siltation from private land logging. So, when a community such as ours, which has invested hun- dreds of thousands of dollars and years of volunteer labor in forg- ing a portable water system, can have its efforts jeopardized at the whim of a single private land-log- ger, let’s be real about where the “problem” lies So long as we turn our back on unregulated private land (or pub- lic land, for that matter) logging in watersheds, we will continue to have contaminated water sup- plies. Happily, our regional dis- trict is aware of this and is currently considering action in this regard—not merely to dole out funding for “upgrading” (read “repairing”) water supplies through expensive treatment sys- tems, as you favor, but to actually deal with the problem at its source: by providing for specific regulation regarding private land logging in watersheds. Suggesting chlorination, or some other such band-aid solu tion, as the only answer to pro- viding for uncontaminated water supplies, is really a cover-up for our own carelessness. It also assumes. somewhat out rageously, that we can no longer claim the night to our most pre- cious natural resource: a pure, uncontaminated water supply. Richard Widdifield Sandra Groepler Robson MARGIE'S RE-NEW SHOP > In the Slocan Valley at Passmore. Watch for the sign. OPEN TUESDAY te FRIDAY 10-7 G SATURDAY 10-5 “Sarah” PORTRAIT DESIGN by Michael setting a new standard — 365-7515 — Call now for your Complimentary Grad Sitting Pool School. in pool care at our free BioGuard® Relax. Bring ‘your ps pool to BioGuard? aoa te to know to work less, spend less and enjoy your pool more. ~ Thursday, April 20 + 7:30 pm -Valkyr Aquatics Get a complete education pool owner's seminar. Well tell you all you need Recreation Complex RSVP - 365-7389 Playground will benefit community Dear Editor: I. would like to publicly thank all the people involved in the Healthy School Project at Valley Vista School. Last weekend parents, teachers, and other volunteers pul up a new adventure playground at Valley Vista School. The students of the school and the other young people in the neighborhood. now have a beau- tiful new “Big Toys” play appa- ratus to enjoy. The equipment was supplied by Rec Tec Indus- tries of Langley. This project is the result of a two-year Healthy School initia- Lalonde family deserves thanks Dear Editor: A well-deserved thank you should be given to Marge and Fred Lalonde for allowing their driveway to be used by the neighborhood children for the winter time “sledAoboggan” run. And, yes, it was slippery. It is almost a shame that we do not have some videos of the Lalonde’s trying to get to their house Jim Crawford Castlegar tive decided upon by the students, parents and staff. The success of this project is due to the hard work of many people, especially the Healthy School Project co. ordinator Julia Stockhausen and the president of our Parent Advi sory Council, Brenda Turner. It is important for me to recog- nize sponsors who made this pro- ject a reality. The BC 21 Foundation provided us with a $4,000 grant As well, there were many local businesses that helped us. Castle- gar IGA has been very supportive to our fund-raising activities, with numerous donations. West K Letters Policy Letters to the Editor are wel- come on any topic of local or general interest. Letters should be double- spaced, typewritten, or legibly handwritten, and no more than two pages if possible Letters may be edited in the interests of brevity, taste or legality All letters must be signed, with address and telephone number. Names will only be witheld from publication for an exceptional reason with the approval of the editor Send letters to: The Castlegar Sun, 465 Columbia Ave., Castlegar; B.C., VIN 1G8, or drop them off at the office. Poet ry will not be published Concrete donated two loads of fill and the concrete*for our footings. Castlegar Super- Valu and Trow elex also donated to the project Finally, | want to recognize all the people who turned up for our two work parties. Friday night we leveled the site and put up a perimeter border. Saturday, under the supervi sion of Doug Lawerance (a Grand Forks resident and a Rec Tec employee), we erected the structure and poured the concrete. The job was made easier due to the large turnout of parents. On Monday, the students put Airy Mountain Appliance Service call ONLY *20 For friendly service anytime call on the finishing touches by putting in the plastic caps into each of the many holes of the 21 logs. I feel very proud to be associ- ated with such a positive and sup- portive group of students, staff, and parents. Together, we have reached our goal. We have a new adven- ture playground at the school which will benefit the students and the community. Patrick Audet vice- Valley Vista School LOSE WEIGHT FEEL GREAT a4 With the Tennen Ill recast im ‘Diet By PHARMASAVE PEOPLES DRUG MART 1 For More Information Call 1-800-361- 3720 urchas purchases oniy starting March 3 fo or lease from only $199 per month/48 months 1995 Protegé S Teuton 7. TETEASE It’s got more interior room and torque than Civic LX, Corolla Sedan and Sentra DLX. And Protegé‘S’ is the only one with standard features like variable-assist power steering, tinted glass, 60/40 rear-seat split, and digital clock. 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