“Oo The Castlegar Sun: Name: Vicki ‘Where you work: Dalry Queen What you do there: Cashier Cacti likes: ge pit ‘Castlegar dislikes: HI Arrow bar Best kept Castlegar secret: Lions Head Pub Pet: Dog (Suzy) Vehicle: Dad's Topaz ‘What would you rather be doing? Golng to algebra ‘By BARBARA TANDORY Sun staff writer The Columbia Childcare Soci-’ ety received:more funding last week for its unique proposal to expand Castlegar’s Hobbit Hill into an integrated daycare: centre, the first’ such’ centre in’ the Province, “We're two-thirds way there,” said society administrator Katrine Conroy after i : Combined : services will make facility unique in n British Columbia t provide licensed daycare services, for children under three: years old. It will include‘ housing physiother-«" apy, specch therapy for children with special needs and a support program for teen and young moth- ers, The centre is currently licensed —through the government's Com- around the province but ‘didn’t find a daycare centre: that iwould serve as a model,” “We looked for'a place with all three services (integrated), and we- haven't found any,” said Conroy. “We're looking at a unique concept,” she Noted, Citing an example of a unique service feature, Conroy said a munity Care Facilities Li Act — to operate daycare services for 46 child: t the ages tion last week of a $109,000 fund- ing award from the Variety Club . of B.C. A week carlicr, the Col: i of 3 and 5,’ No licensed care for the under- three bracket exists in Castlegar. Society received an $88,806 award from the GO B.C. lottery fund. Conroy said some $300,000 in funding is needed for the comple- » the i ion of services will make it a unique day- care centre in all B.C. Conroy said that while preparing the proposal, a group of the society’s members Campus daycare proposal formally submitted to board By BARBARA TANDORY_ Sun staff writer: | ‘The Selkirk College 25th Anniversary Committee for Day- care retumed to the college-board to formally present its campus _ daycare proposal. Student Society Vices ~president Chris Sedgewiss and administra. tive employee Arlene Dow made the presentation at the board’s reg- ular monthly meeting Dec. 18, reiterating an urgent need for the service as presented to the board at the November meeting. “We mist with the ‘Regional * Daycare Advisory Board in order that they may be aware of our pro-' posal,” said Daycare Subcommit- tee Chairman Dow in an opening » Statement of the 25-page proposal paper.);) 3: ~ Dow said she met with Katrine Conroy of the Kootenay Columbia Childcare Society in Castlegar and Bonnie McEwen of the West Kootenay Family and Childcare Services in Nelson to discuss the proposal. ‘ “They have voiced interest in * our-project and may be willing to join’ our committee,” Dow said. iss gave details of a sur- S “Don't forget — > CounterAttack | vey to gauge campus support for the daycare facility, proposed as an initiative to celebrate the col- lege’s silver anniversary. “I’m hoping that it goes ahead,” Dow said. The college board will consider the proposal before deciding whether to supportit. © be intro- duced will consist of a “play "group" of parents who will partici- pate in play and learning sessions with their handicapped toddlers, ‘Other‘urban centres in B.C, offer similar specialized services, but not’under one roof anywhere, she pointed out. Conroy said the childcare soci- ‘ ety is pleased to be able to provide i d program of this sén: ina mural community, The society is looking at buying the old Pentecostal church nex\ door as part of the expansion. » , “We'd like to open in Sept. 1991,” Conroy said. The work on the proposal began in the spring of 1989 and conducted a feasibility study before formulating the pro- Posal and appealing for funding. The Columbia Childcare Soci- ety employs six teachers — certi- fied early childhood educators — at Hobbit Hill Centre. The centre has recently hired a new therapist and will be using development consultants, Conroy said the soci- ety would be appealing for’assis- tance to the local community, start- ing in January. Merry Christmas Deer: SUN STAFF PHOTO / YHOMAL SOI G Thursday, December 27, 1990 The Castlegar,Sun Bussed children In danger BARBARA TANDORY Sun staff writer . "Bad driving practices of Castle- , 8% motorists are a problem for ' *'School District No. 9, which is . “worried about the safety of chil- , dren riding school buses’ and an “Ynadequate Police enforcement of ‘those blatant traffic violators who pass school buses without due “care. Castlegar School District Main- low down for the school bus, let 7 bllone come toa stop. “Our bus drivers are frustrated y the bad driving habits boing hit by. these vohicles,” Boolinoff said. Board chairman Gordon Tumer sald he was in sympathy with par- ents who are concemed about their children's safety and frustrated with the problems of ‘enforcement by the police, “It's even difficult now to get the police to accept a licence report,” said Tumer, in reference to an RCMP puticy which allows them to pursue a traffic violator only after a citizen reporting it files a charge with the police in person. “T talked to the police about it and they have no recourse unless a *, by some of our Castlegar and dis- a Het drivers,” he told the school “district board meeting Monday. He said drivers ignore the flashing lights of an unloading school bus and drive Past the bus, in most cases without’ reducing “We have had several very close calls with children almost By BARBARA TANDORY Sun staff writer person p »” said Tumer, adding that RCMP's sug- gestion was to have the law changed. * During a discussion at the board table, some trustees won- dered whether video-recorded evi- .dence. would be acceptable to police, noting that many parents have video-recorders to record incidents involving school buses. School Board relinquishes control over parents’ groups Wayling agreed, noting the board has caught on to the fact that it Admitting it acted beyond its powers in the past, the Castlegar school board decided to make amends and rescind its past reso- lutions conceming the adoption of bylaws of parent advisory coun- cils at individual school in the dis- trict. “We have no business review- ing anybody’s bylaws,” said trustee Mickey Kinakin when an application from Stanley Humphries Secondary School’ Parent Advisory came up for dis- cussion at the board’s meeting Dec. 17. Schools Superintendent Terry By BARBARA TANDORY._ Sun'staff writer had improp been approving Parent groups’ constitutions. “Mickey is quite correct,” said Wayling. “It’s none of our busi- wn the future, the board will no longer vote to adopt a parents’ group bylaws, and Wayling said such approval was not necessary in the past. The school board will, however, continue its policy to grant acceptance to parent adviso-”' ry councils applying for such recognition to the board. In the past, the board ap; But the discussion of the prob-’. Jem was not enough for one parent who attended the board meeting. Thrums resident Peter Popoff — whose three children attend Popoff said be was troubled by the situation where “cars go by the school bus without Stopping and police are supposed to be enforc- ing the law but can’t do anything” about the bad drivers, He said he was disappointed. with the position taken by the school board. and prepared a motion for the annual Trustees ‘ conference to request the Attomey- General's to increase I to motorists on school bus related traffic violations.” ‘Trustee Mickey Kinakin, who “made the motion, said one of the reasons he'd like to see a province-wide lobby on the issue by trustees is the absence of pro- hibitive penalties, “The present penalty (for school bus related violations) is a $70 fine, which is absolutely noth- ing,” said Kinakin, , but offering no solution,” he said “They're discussing the problem ; 2, halide, the, weather report was not avallable. We did, however, talk:to the weatherman and the word is that we can ex- pect the S to be be- ~ low, normal for’a while longer. : Remember to bundle ‘up over the holldays when anioe ing: the outdoors. Apparently all the ski. hills are in good shape and looking forward to the next week. At ‘this time we'd like to wish the staff at the weather office the best over the holidays: and to say how much we appreciate the information sent to'us each week. Drive safely and have a Happy New Year. Enjoy 19911 after the m “They're not ‘giving us parents any advice.” Earlier in the meeting, howev- Two decades of service er, the board passed a motion to take the matter of school bus safe- ty to the provincial school trustees association, By passing the motion, the board has ‘authorized its Trans- i to rently it has application from Kin- naird Junior Secondary School and Tarrys Primary. , The news that the board has relinquished control over parents groups’ constitution was wel- comed by Peter Popoff, the only parent representative present at the meeting. “We can make our own bylaws,” he said. “I am pleased with that.” A motion to rescind .the past motion received unanimous approval, but Wayling advised the trustees to wait a while.before constitutional bylaws for ‘parent councils at Twin Rivers and Castlegar Primary schools. Cur- position, as soon as ads appear _later this month in, both the = Game over Continued from 1A sewer clarifier was installed in the recaust area to collect any mud and spilled chemical; and a pro- ject to get solids out of the sewer. - to Level B standards was initiated. - “Even so, it would be much cleaner if we could get on with it,” said Sweeney. “The whole project is designed to get it.as clean as possible. Criginally, start. -up of the mod- ernized mill was scheduled for June of 1992. “Now the soonest it could be is the end of April 1993, and only then if we push like hell,” said Sweeney. ing hard to rush it, because there's a lot of money into it. An even bigger reason is the sooner the Project gets underway and com- pleted, the sooner the polluti there's no end in sight. Costs are still going up. From a business point of view this is the wrong time to do a project. They’ re doing it for will be cleaned up.: Now it will take one year longer.to clean up than it would have if we had been allowed to carry on with the pro- ject. “It could be such a disaster, such a catastrophe for the commu- nity if they lost this project,” Sweeney went on. “A $650 mii- -lion Project is a big project by any- one’s standards and there’s no goverment money in it. The pulp market is in a real tailspin and If it was from a business point of view. the owners‘ would: have walked before this, “I think what we have is an especially good project for a goad mill. It would be a shame to lose it because of poor ion or The city of Castlegar will go the usual route to hire a deputy fire chief — advertise province- .. Wide for the position. But local firemen will also ge! “an opportunity for apply for be "News, said Williams, Meanwhile, the practice of out- of-town advertising for adminis- trative city positions has generated a rumor that the city will look for its deputy chief out of town and out of the area.” “lly of of the action. Letters to the g the parent ils for- various PACs will be written in February. Volunteer firefighters Ed Isakson, left, and Jack Nichvalodoff, right, display the plaques honoring 20 years of service presented te them by Alderman Lawrence Cheroff, centre, representing the City. Gerry Remple,- rat shown, earlier pre- sented the pair with 20-year service.awards on behalf of the Government of Canada. The awards were made at the Firefighters Ball, Saturday, Dec. 15. ‘SUN STAFF PHOTO! Nancy Ungisy City of yori searching for deputy fire chief In a letter to the Casth Sun, a local resident wrote: “Our city is . growing rapidly and I do not ques- tion the need for hiring a second paid person. My ion sur- for i for the job. sy 6 question why our city Tepre- sentatives figure they can get of advertising province-wide for soe ~Only-the chief, and now his higher-level administrative posi- “Our objective is to look for person,” Williams said, rounds the rumor as to where we will get this new person from.” The resident, Elsie Miller, sug- gests that city council “should start looking in their own back yard” more if that person ‘is not’ from our communi- ” But Williams says all the city is doing is advertising on both levels, putting in ads also in two provin- cial firemen’s publications — Information and Chieftain — in accordance with council’s policy “It may be a local person, but per- haps it may not.” Williams added: “I anticipate that there will be folks (1 who'll consider it.” ‘There are 42 local “on call fire-" men,” as the volunteer firemen are called, in Castlegar, é deputy, are paid positions. t >2"'Williams explained the city decided to hire a paid deputy, strictly to relieve the work load of the chief, Bob Mann. “The amount of work the fire chief bas to getting to be unman- ageable,” said Williams, listing > an increase in fire inspections that have to be performed in the city, as.a result of changed Proviceial legislation. FEEDBACK = ‘By NANCY LINGLEY from an point of view. We want our air and our "Sun Editor something that's going on here. Somebody has got.to say ‘we've got to save this.” It's not lost, not yet. But it’s like trying to get hold of a handful of air You just can’t really getit.”.. Prior to the req for a review, Celgar had already begun site preparation and a number of contracts had been written and signed for supplies. “The project was actually underway, a number of families had moved to town to start site Preparation,” said Sweeney. “Now ’ all the supply contracts have been suspended. Because it was already Started, that why we've been push- Preliminary site studies for the new bridge have been completed _and “the construction phase will following public meet- ings.in Castlegar to , determine the . best location for the‘ new bridge,” " said Dirks, ~ “We at Celgar are ven) pleased i bankers.” “Local MLA for Rossland-Trail Chris D'Arcy expressed disap- : that federal principle had not yet been granted and that the final report of the Panel x was not yet available. “But I am encouraged for the “with this id. Cel- iu ager Jim ‘Browne in : iP to Dirks. “It's one more hurdle passed. We have a . number ‘of other hurdles to satisfy now. Mainly federal ‘approval-in- principle. As I'm sure everyone in _ the room ‘is aware, approval-in- traf- . principle travels with a number of conditions and we neéd to review. the i which of course:Mr. Dirks has'not outlined yet. Once swe have done that we will. proba-. bly be ‘making a statement. as to schedules and economic feasibility” “S Now we have to go back and review the ‘conditions and ‘make. ° y of our region and the economy of our province and very. much also for the environmental aspect,” said D'Arcy. [More com-' ments’ from .Chris D'Arcy in FEEDBACK, p. 3A.] Dirks stated that the provincial government was working as close- ly as possible with the federal level ’ of government to obtain the neces- sary approval-in-principle, “and certainly to get the details to Celgar® as quickly as possible so they can * proceed. Certainly that-is a major hurdle, but we're moving forward. That's the key thing. We're still pressed for the final report, that’s ° ‘the. next pe hurdle. 1 That’: 18 one: thing I’m pushing for-as quickly as possible so Celgar knows the details of what they’re looking an” Mayor Audrey Moore’ was optimistic about the hurdles yet to be cleared, “I think it was a very positive announcement and I think we'll be receiving. similar approval. from the federal govern- ment as well. This is a good pro- 5 ject for. this community, for this . whole area.-I'm sure. it will all come together. in time for the bankers to lend the money.” +The, Celgar. Plant: Manager 3f seemed to have a few yeservations Ps: “Now the approval is concrete and. i it should alleviate some fears.’ But’ I really don’t know ‘what it means until I see the documents. It’s like picking up the marriage license. -\. 'There’s'still a:few. important ©; _ Sbeincles aegis Checking up on Cs and Qs and Ks and Rs = CKC ger vince Santa, he's been’ good “during a ineak visit the: lolly old eit othe ‘studi H -’ Chris D'Arcy, NDP MLA for Rossland-Trail, has never pulled any -punches in the fight for the Celgar expansion and modernization. ‘> He has been involved its in frying te to > help the project fly from Day 1 ‘= before the C: ib jumped in, before the 3Citizens for Clean pete and long before other politicians, who seemed to be barrie to see how the wind blew, commited themselves. i Chris sat at the head table with Mayor Audrey Moore, Provincial iSecretray/MLA for. Nelson-Creston Howard Dirks, and Celgar Plant Manager Jim Browne last Thursday when Dirks fi water cleaned up as soon as possible. Certainly anyone knowing that pol- Tution will be reduced by 95 per cent doesn’t want to wait one day longer. But the jury is still out. “It is unfortunate that the Feds haven't formally agreed in principle'at this point in time. I understand that, informally, they have both adminstra- tively and Politically favored the interim report. They haven't expressed E any objections to it, they’ ‘re just taking their time evaluating it “My big concem is what the construction requirements will be. The approval-in-principle hasn’t said they can proceed based on the design they already have. The interim report didn’t say if Celgar is looking at $650 million or $750 million. Because they’re dealing with such large ithe Provincial Cabinet’s approval-in-principle of the project. 3} Following the announcement, Chris took the time to share his hts on that and the si as whole with Sun é 2 E E Chris D'Arcy seems to be a realist when it comes to Celgar. Like severyone else, he wants to see the environment cleaned up, but at the jsame time, he realizes the need for a sound economic base in the Castle- igar area. “Those of us who have lived in Castlegar for a length of time are very ’ SUN STAFF PHOTOS: Maney MLA Chris Darcy, Mayor Aud Secretary Howard Dirks atthe Celgar, announcement. y.Moore,.and Provincial. - of money, it’s from a pl. point of view. “That's why I emphasize that the final report from the review panel is very important. But they simply say that they are aware of the urgency and will produce as soon as possible. Hand- in-hand with the approval-in- principle for the Plant moderniza- tion and ion, Dirks also d the p toa number of highway improvement projects — subject to the pulp mill expansion proceeding. “T think a really imp part of the is that the Robson bridge will proceed as well as the interchange improvments at Brilliant. These improvements have been needed for decades. “We know an enormous amount of traffic exists from Robson to Castlegar from the ferry operation. The ferry carried one-half million vehi- cles and one-miltion people annually on a 16-hours-per-day operation. It closed in°1988, when the government simply said it didn’t wish to mn the ferry anymore, it wasn’t necessary, people could go around. T suggest that a large number of those passengers were cyclists and/or and the government put a heck of a lot of pedestrians and cyclists into vehicles to ‘go'around.’ “The present schedule, unless it’s accelerated, anticipates that it will be 1995 before the bridge is in operation. That’s not good enough. The bridge should be in by 1993 at the latest so traffic can begin to use it when the new Celgar goes into start-up. “The railway from Midway to Castlegar, which is 100 miles long, was built in less than two years in the late 1890s — including bridges. It absurd that with all the technology we have now that it would take five years to build one bridge. I'm doing everything I can to get that process accelerated. to the i “Tt was a bit of a disappoii at Kinnaird for improvements to that it were not included. We've been | looking Sar anerebange of Highways 9 and 22 for at least 10 years sill hope that will become a part of the hi, Much as are needed at Briliant everyone who uses the Kinnaird interchange mows : how much light and heavy traffic goes through there. While the rest of the country slips deeper into the recession, is it possi- ole sat Castlegar will not only weather it well, but even show signs ef a wy ually hope so. The log 3 and | sawmill today won't be helped until it’s ip d. But there is already a housing crunch in Castlegar, Particularly rental housing. ‘This will jost aggravate the situation. i's pacularydifcalt for Sella cllge students. Selkitk ing a new wing ‘and 1 think it's safe to say that the eavollmeat will go up thereat the same time as Celgar gets into doe swing of things. I assume the Celgar camp will be put in place as soon as possi- ble, but we still have to,look at the housing needed for those involved in the spin-off jobs created and the multiplier effect. - “Just.to further complicate matters, with the preseat cold snap B.C. Hydro and West Kootenay. Power have been stretched to the limit. The development of electrical energy capabilities at Keenteysige and Brilliana are likely to happen sooner than Later. “I,think we can assume that that during the construction phase commercial and resi Popeye commun, we ming tomentoe Gowda wil improve the and shopping options of the people in the communi ty. Tai valicy i i ses or Clay Counc et plinting po people, to layout subdivisions. They don’t have as, many options as they have on flat prairie land. There's the natural environment — watersheds, wildlife,’ and other resource values have to be I believe the planni: People have their work cut out for them the next few years and I wish them all patie “There's going tobe interesting ties inthis town.” % e a.