THE CITIZEN. Prince George — Tuesday, August 18, 1981 — 3 i J AQUATIC CBfVTBl k~M 'f>' i .7 •• ■' ;j/ f}, .1- "* s' / • ■ ' •’> / < N ’ -v W , ______)■ POOL WITH bo mb ran iwimmino poo. BITE PLAN Pool proposal City council will put to referendum a $5.2 million proposal for an aquatic centre at 22nd Avenue and Ospika Boulevard. The centre would include a 50-metre swimming plool and a leisure pool. Taxpayers will get a chance to vote on tne issue during the November civic elections. MEZZANINE INDEX COVIMO INTRV LOSSY A RIC«»TION AQUATIC OlHICTOrva OPPMCI »VJ*LIC WAIMNOOM CURTOOIAL OPPICI MBITINO ROOMS RAMP UP conmoop AOO ■■ AT ILlVATiO BMCTATC OALLtnv WOMBN’B CMANOINO ARIA HANOICAPPIO A PAMILV CHANOINO ARIA MBN’B CHANOIMO ARIA TIRRACID CONCIBRION LOUNOI ■IRVIRY RATIO IIRVIRV ITORAOI IAUNA MICHANlCAL ■ WIM CLUB RTAPP ROOM POOL ■QUIRMI^’T VTONAOI BO MBTBR COMPITITK3N POOL LIIBURI POOL BWIRL POOL ARBOniTUM UPBOUARO BTAPP ROOM BTAPP WASHROOM A CMANOINO RIRBT A IO PMVBICAL PrTNBBB BUN TIRRACI LEISURE POOL WITH BO METER SWIMMING POOL PIG IN A POKE? Lot sale warnings urged by BOB MILLER Staff reporter Future land auctions conducted by the city should include more topographical detail about individual residential lots so purchasers can’t claim they’ve bought a “pig in a poke”, council heard Monday. The suggestion came in the wake of debate on the city’s land sale policy. Aldermen and city staff were divided on enforcing the penalty section of the land sale policy in the case of a Cran-brook Hill land owner. Debate led to a general dissection of city’s residential lot development program, during which some aldermen claimed the city has put lots on the market that it would reject in a private development. In a letter to council, Mike Sin-tichakis asked the city to refund the full downpayment for two lots on Baker Place in Cranbrook Hill because the lots were too steep to build conventional homes on. Under terms of the city’s land sale agreement, undeveloped lots must be sold back to the city, and a $1,100 penalty is assessed against owner’s downpayment. Sintichakis asked the penalty be waived because he felt the lots shouldn’t have been sold by the city% without advising him that special lancl’ conditions existed. The lots in question have a slope of about 40 degrees, which would require expensive retaining walls or pillars be- CITY COUNCIL ] fore they could be built on, his letter said. City engineer Ernie Obst agreed the lots would be difficult to build on, but in a report he pointed out that the owner inspected the land beforehand and bought them over the counter at city hall, three months after the rest of the 150-lots in Cranbrook Hill were auctioned. Obst said the purchase was completely voluntary and he could see no reason to modify the terms of sale in this case. If the owner wants to return the lots it should be done on the basis of the $1,100 penalty, he added. "I think we’ve made a mistake servicing and developing these lots,” Alderman Stewart Ross said, pointing out the city normally refuses development on lots with more than a 20-per-cent grade. Obst agreed that such land is not usually considered for housing, but that in a large development “pockets” of steep land do occur. Normally they are designated as greenbelt, but they can be developed at an added cost, he said. “In all fairness our criteria is to develop affordable lots for everybody," Alderman Monica Becott said. ‘‘I really think you (staff) sneaked in some lots that weren’t tailored for everyone.” She said she agreed with city administrator Chester Jefferey that the lots were not the type an average homeowner could buy and develop. When asked his opinion, Jefferey advised council to give the owner back his money without a penalty and put the lots up for sale again. He said he doubted if this course of action would set a serious precedent because each land sale can be judged on its own merits. "It’s a buyer-beware situation,” Alderman Denise Goodkey said. “On the other hand it isn’t the big, bad city’s fault either.” She said the city will lose revenue if it takes the lots back without a penalty. Alderman Jack Sieb agreed and called on council to re-affirm its policy and charge the full penalty if the owner returns the lots. But a tie vote with Mayor Elmer Mercier voting against the motion defeated it. A motion by Alderman Richard Godfrey that half the penalty ($550 per lot) be charged against the owner, if he sells back to the city, was carried. Both aldermen Allan Greenwell and Ross felt the city should designate lots that are more difficult to develop in future land sales. Greenwell suggested a lower upset price be placed on such lots, while Ross said the lots should be described in more detail, so people know what they’re getting. Seniors" free parking probed City council has formed a special committee to take another look at the question of free parking for senior citizens on downtown streets, after an appeal Monday by members of the Prince George Senior Citizens Recreation Council. The committee, made up of aldermen Allan Greenwell and John Backhouse, representatives from the downtown merchants association, the parking authority and seniors, will meet in September to discuss mutual concerns and report back to council. Council decided on the move after a plea from Al Holdner, a spokesman for the senior citizens, who asked for a second chance to make their case for free parking. ‘‘Parking is not a big problem to you, but it is to a person on a fixed income.” he said. “July 1 we got a $6 raise but it doesn’t go far today.” Holdner said the cost of free parking for seniors isn’t near what the city administration has said it would be, and the argument that seniors who drive cars are well off, just isn’t true. “If there’s a group of people you shouldn’t be ashamed of, it’s the seniors,” he said. "If it weren’t for them, Prince George wouldn’t be the place it is today. You give grants to organizations that aren’t half as important as seniors.” Alderman Denise Goodkey pointed out that seniors in Prince George haven’t been neglected — they get grants for buses and to support activities at the Dew Drop Inn. She argued that any senior who drives a car “isn’t close to the borderline.” Mayor Elmer Mercier said he has no problem supporting a move to grant seniors free parking at the Dew Drop Inn. but that free parking throughout the city was a different matter. Holdner repeated he doesn’t think free parking is a major problem because there are only 544 seniors who drive cars in the city, and not all of them would be downtown at any one time. Alderman Jack Sieb suggested the two sides get together to negotiate a solution, but Alderman Ed Bodner said negotiating would be ridiculous. “Either you give them 544 parking stickers because they’ve paid their dues, or you say no,” Bodner said. Alderman George McKnight agreed that seniors have "paid their dues” and that council should give them free parking. But Greenwell said merchants should be consulted before any decision is made because they’ll be the ones affected most by free parking for seniors. City explains water problems A delegation of residents from Wallace Crescent in the Hart Highlands was given little hope for an early solution to their water woes when they appeared in council chambers Monday. The city will do what it can in the meantime to improve water pressure. Mayor Elmer Mercier told them, but a permanent answer is a year away. Another development in the Highlands will be on-stream then, and with it a booster pump station that should improve water flow to Wallace Crescent. said assistant city engineer Colin Wright. Residents have poor water pressure because the homes are at about the same level as the top of the new reservoir in Hart Highlands. It’s not a new problem, it’s one the city has inherited through amalgamation, he said. Since amalgamation the city has raised the level of the reservoir by 15 feet and added a pump to double water input from the Nechako River, residents were told. But Alderman Stewart Ross said he heard the pumps can’t keep the reservoir filled and that adding a booster pump wouldn’t solve the problem since there wouldn’t be enough water in the upper system to boost anyway. Wright said the water intake can keep the reservoir replenished but it Hydro hike rejected VANCOUVER (CP) - The B.C. Utilities Commission rejected B.C. Hydro’s request for an electricity rate increase, but gave its approval Monday to the power authority’s request for higher natural gas rates in Victoria and the Vancouver area. The commission rejected Hydro’s bid for increases in electricity rates of just under 10 per cent this month and about the same amount next April because Hydro failed to account for all of its revenue from power exports and other sources. The commission told Hydro it will reconsider the electricity rate increase if Hydro files revised tariff schedules. It wants these figures to reflect increases in Hydro’s return on electricity exports-which almost doubled last year, to $74 million. Hydro also has enjoyed other in- creases in revenue which the utilities commision said were not adequately detailed in its application for higher rates. The natural gas price increase which was approved is 6.15 per cent effective Aug. 1 and 5.4 per cent more next April 1. The commission also accepted Hydro’s proposed Aug. 1 increase in the price of butane service in Victoria--but it rejected a further increase next spring. Again, the commission said it wants more information-this time on the Vancouver Island gas pipeline which is to be completed in 1984. All the approved rate boosts are interim increases, which means they can be rescinded if Hydro fails to demonstrate the necessity for them at public hearings, which open Jan. 19 in Vancouver. must fluctuate a couple of feet in order to trigger the pumps. Residents asked Wright to explain why if there’s enough water in the reservoir their homes have been without water altogether several times in recent weeks. Wright said water lines at the other construction site were being flushed by the contractor. Also, sprinkler trucks hook into the hydrants to water down roads in the subdivision and this reduces water pressure as well, he said. Judy King, a spokesman for the residents, suggested that work on the new subdivision be halted until the city can supply Wallace Crescent homes with a proper supply of water. Residents were also concerned about fire protection in their neighborhood since there might not be enough water at the hydrant to fight a fire. But they were told the fire department is aware of the problem would use tankers. Alderman Monica Becott said the. water problem is a city problem that should be looked at seriously, and she was critical of the way in which the city had handled it. If it wasn’t for the new subdivision the city wouldn’t be doing anything to relieve the problem, she said, and it’s a hold-over problem from amalgamation, the city should take the initiative to solve it. *• We’re aware of the problem and the engineer is bringing an updated report on when the booster pump will be on line,” Mercier told the residents. "The problem has been there prior to 1975. It’sa problem we inherited, but we’re going to do what we can as quickly as we can.” More links in murders considered by Canadian Press VANCOUVER - RCMP officers said Monday a new location in the Vancouver area is being searched for . clues in the mysterious and coincidental murders of three youths and the disappearances of five others in southwestern B.C. Insp. Larry Proke, who heads the RCMP’s serious crimes unit, refused to further identify the area being searched. “The helicopter’s in Vancouver today (Monday) and will be used in this area,” Proke said, adding the search will probably continue all week. He added searches are continuing in the Agassiz area, east of Vancouver, where the bodies of two youths were found, and in the Whistler area, north of Vancouver, where the tattered and stained clothes of a 17-year-old missing Maple Ridge girl. Louise Marie Chartrand, were found. Supt. Bruce Northorp. who heads the 148-man investigation, told a news conference any additional unsolved murders or disappearances will be considered in conjunction with the eight cases. But when asked whether the disappearance of 15-year-old Terri Lyn Carson of Surrey was included in the larger investigation, Northorp replied “she’s not on the list, per se.” “We’re aware of the fact that she’s missing,” he said. "It’s the impression of her mother that she is alive and around,” he added. Surrey RCMP have said Carson’s disappearance has the classic profile of a runaway. Sgt. Bill Stephens of the Surrey RCMP detachment said the girl had been fighting with her mother for the last month over the amount of freedom she was allowed. Carson was last seen Aug. 1 drinking beer in a Surrey motel. Northorp was also asked whether the case of 17-year-old Marnie Jamieson, found murdered on a logging road on the Sechelt Penninsula last August, has been linked to the other cases. "Any unsolved murder of a like nature is being considered.” he replied. Richmond RCMP said Sunday the investigation into the stabbing death of Christine Weller, 12, will be reexamined in light of the eight other cases. "We’d be remiss if we didn’t get together on this matter again.” said S.Sgt. John Kovalick. Weller died of multiple stab wounds. Her nude body was found last Christmas Day in Richmond, five weeks after she had been reported missing. Meanwhile, Northorp declined to provide additional details on a suspect arrested by RCMP on Aug. 12 in connection with the murder of 14-year-old Judy Kozma of New Westminster. Kozma’s naked body was found July 25 with 19 stab wounds near the Weaver Lake camping area of Agassiz. Murder charges have not been laid in Kozma’s case. The slain youths include Kozma and Raymond King Jr., 15, also of New Westminster, and Daryn Todd Johnsrude, 16, of Saskatoon. Still missing are Chartrand; Verna Bjerky, 17, of Hope; Ada Court, 13, of Burnaby; Sandra Lynn Wolfsteiner. 16. of Langley; and Simon Partington. 9. of Surrey. Bad cheques net sentence A 60-year-old Chetwynd man has been sentenced to 11 months in jail for writing bad cheques and conning acquaintances out of money. Larry Newton pleaded guilty in provincial court Friday to four counts of writing bad cheques totalling approximately $4,000. He received five months, concurrent, on each count. Newton also pleaded guilty to four counts of fraudulently obtaining money in Dec. 1977. Court was told the accused persuaded four acquaintances to invest a total of $4,500 in shares of a non-existant jade mine. He was sentenced to six months on each count, concurrent to each other but consecutive to the first sentence. f The Citizen Local news Dave Milne City editor 562-2441 Evening ferry run cut irks residents by BILL McEACHERN Staff reporter Reid Lake and surrounding area residents say they are being further weaned of the Isle Pierre ferry crossing use with the district highways decision that extended evening service will be cancelled. Highways department spokesman Phil Erickson said use of the Nechako River crossing 50 km northwest of Prince George will in future be confined to day operation only, despite the willingness of operator Charlie Colville to make evening runs across the river. The ferry is scheduled to run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with hour long lunch and dinner breaks, even though Colville had for over a decade been charging $5 for persons wishing to cross in the evening. The highways decision comes after the ferry resumed service July 27 amidst controversy from area residents. Company faces pollution charge Far West Cedar Fencing, of McBride, was charged Aug. 14. with failing to obey a June 19 order by the environment ministry to cover all wood-waste debris on company property. Terms of the Pollution Control Act demand wood waste be covered regularly to prevent fire and leaching of chemicals from wood to surface and ground water. The environment’s waste management branch alleges in its charge that the company failed to obey a directive made under provisions of section 14 of the act. Ferry service over the last several years has been interrupted by shutdowns because of what the highways department termed “economic factors” while area residents have maintained the highways wants to discontinue service. An action committee was formed and subsequently sent a telegram to Highways Minister Alex Fraser who! responded by immediately opening the service maintaining "some services are essential to rural communities.” The recent decision has upset residents as action group spokesman Les Brown said “a lot of people need the crossing in the evening to maintain farm and logging equipment and to travel from area sawmills.” "I don’t understand what the problem is because it’s my time and residents need evening service,” said Colville. The day trips are free with a five-ton-load maximum and Colville had been pocketing the $5 for his personal overtime. However Erickson, regional highways assistant manager, said this does not conform to highways policy since no receipts are issued. He said the matter was brought to his attention when a motorist required a receipt and was not given one. Colville said in the past he has given receipts if people ask for them. When Erickson, was asked why after years of evening service it was being cut now, he said, “the issue stems from policy long ago and with more use of the ferry being sought by tourists we want a more reliable schedule.” However Brown said it seems to be another step to cite lack of ferry use and cancel the service totally. IWA dissent grows VANCOUVER (CP) -Executive members of two locals of the International Woodworkers Union defied the union's provincial leaders Monday by advising their members to reject a tentative agreement reached between the union and B.C. forest companies last week. The 23-member executive board of the wood- worker’s militant Port Alberni local on Vancouver Island agreed unanimously to recommend rejection of the two-year pact, which, if accepted, would end a five-week strike and give ••’orkers a 28-per-cent wage increase. The executive of the union’s largest local in Cranbrook. in the southern interior, voted unani- SALMON PROJECT Contract awarded The first contract in a projected $2.15-million fisheries project to restore depleted stocks of upper Fraser River chinook salmon has been awarded. The $1.7 million contract for first-phase work was given to Procon Builders and Buhler Bros. Excavating Ltd. to build the Quesnel River hatchery, about 1.5 km downstream of Likely. Starting construction immediately, plans are to complete it in time for the 1981 spawning migration. • The project is expected to contribute 63,000 chinook salmon for native Indian food, sport and commercial fishery. The project is designed as a central unit of a group of integrated upper Fraser River enhancement facilities, Al Lill, chief engineer of the federal fisheries ministry said in a press release. Strict conservation measures have been introduced to provide brood stock for the new facilities. The project will provide incubation and rearing facilities for chinook salmon in the Quesnel-Cariboo system as well as for the Blackwater, Willow, Cottonwood, Bowron and Slim Creek systems. The new facility will employ seven permanent staff with a target of incubating 3.5 million eggs. The Quesnel River hatchery will employ successful systems used at Big Qualicum, Robertson Creek, Puntiedge and Capilano, but will also become an important research tool for development of new production practices for the B.C. interior, Lill said. mously to ask its 3,000 members to also reject the package. Also, the woodworker’s Haney local was expected to refuse the offer because its president, Joe Fowler, cast one of the three negative votes on the woodworker’s negotiating committee against the proposed package. Jack Munro, woodworkers regional president, remained confident the tentative settlement would be accepted by a majority of the union’s 48,000 B.C. members when balloting is completed Friday morning. "The contract gives us an average wage increase of $3.52 an hour,” he said. “It is my firm opinion that what we’ve achieved is sufficient to terminate the strike." J. Ian Evan* & Associates OPTOMETRISTS J. IAN EVANS D O S. F.A.A.O. GREGORY E. EVANS B.S.c., O.D. ALANE D. EVANS B.S.c., O.D. J. SPENCER CLARK O.D. FRANK E. DECKER O.D. Optical Wing 401 Oucbtc Si , Fane Buildina. Prmco George B C 562-1305 564-5300 A Thought for Today I have found that the men and women who got to the top are those who did the jobs they hod at hand with everything they had of energy, enthusiasm and hard work. —Horry Trumon The (G (HappyfocePtoce Presented aj a Public Service Every Doy'by Schultz Pontiac Buick Ltd. 11)1 Central 563-027)