local news
City editor: 562-2411, local 503
Thr Citizen
Tuesday, August 9, 1983 — 3
LOCAL BREWERY STAGING THREE-DAY EVENT
Council gets behind Oktoberfest promotion
by BOB MILLER Staff reporter Old Fort Brewing Company got unanimous support from council Monday to stage a three-day, city-wide Oktoberfest in Prince George from Oct. 20 to 22.
  Council approved a four-point request by Old Fort president Bill Sharpe, agreeing to let the Coliseum stand as the focal point for the event, apply for a liquor licence to serve beer and hot wine in the building, permit use of thc city crest on a special batch of Old Fort Oktoberfest brew and obtain a casino licence on behalf of one of the city’s non-profit service clubs.
Sharpe told council the brewery intends to model the event after Oktoberfest in Kitchener-Waterloo (On-
tario) and in future years would expand it to five days running. He urged council to take an active part in supporting Oktoberfest since the brewery intends to promote it ^nd the city throughout the province.
 Prince George hotels and restaurants will be encouraged to take part in the celebration by bringing in German bands and staging Oktoberfest events throughout the three-day blitz.
  In a prepared brief, Sharpe said the brewery intends to unite organizations, ethnic clubs, service clubs, business establishments, financial institutions and professions to promote and celebrate Oktoberfest; organize the manufacture, importing, buying, selling, licensing and developing of goods, wares ana symbols
in promoting the event, and organize contests and competitions in various sports and activities during Oktoberfest.
  The brewery will also organize and promote a beauty pageant for the title “Miss Oktoberfest”.
 Sharpe told council the brewery has earmarked $20,000 “seed money” toward advertising the event and will print posters to be distributed province-wide to promote it.
  The manager of the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest has agreed to come to Prince George at Old Fort's expense to help organize the event and there is a strong possibility that German bands from Kitchener-Waterloo will be able to attend, since the Ontario fes-
tival ends the weekend before Oct. 20, Sharpe said.
  Oktoberfest will help bring tourists to the city to inject money into the hospitality industry and has the potential to become an annual tourist draw for the city during the off season.
  Sharpe expects to fine-tune plans for the event during August with help from a 12-member steering committee. Members of the hotel and restaurant industry, the Chamber of Commerce, media representatives and the Prince George Region Development Corporation have agreed to sit on the committee.
  He hopes to recruit another 100 volunteers to start promoting Oktoberfest during September.
Direct approach on formula
Opening soon
 The new Otway Road overpass at Foothills Boulevard should be completed at the end of September, according to highways department officials. Excavation for a railway overpass is also under way. The two overpasses, along with the new Foothills Bridge (background), will help eliminate traffic tie-ups when unit coal trains start moving through the city later this year.	Citizen photo by Dave Milne
Crucial time for talks
   The next few days may be the turning point in contract negotiations in the pulp and paper industry.
   The Canadian Paperworkers Union and the rival Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada were to hold strategy meetings in Vancouver today to discuss future action.
   Talks between the two unions and the Pulp and Paper Industrial Relations Bureau haven't broken off, but all parties maintain negotiations are slow.
   The CPU may ask it’s 7,000 members for a strike mandate. PPWC members have already give their union leadership that mandate and the union has served strike notice on the B.C. Timber pulp mill in Castlegar, where workers could strike Aug. 15.
   However, if that happens, the bureau might be inclined to lock out PPWC members at other mills.
   The CPU is upset the bureau hasn’t presented a final contract offer, says Hans Suhr, the union’s representative in Prince George. “They’ve refused to give us a best offer and they refused to indicate why. I don’t know who they are taking their orders from.”
   Dick Lester, bureau president, told The Citizen Monday: “We aren’t ready to make it yet.” But he declined to elaborate.
   He also maintained the bureau hasn’t made any decision to lock out union members.
   “We’re keeping all our options open. I’ve never said we will lock them out. But it is one option.” However, he isn’t willing to discuss the other options.
   “It’s hard to tell if we’re accomplishing anything at the bargaining table.”
   Both union contracts expired on July 1. The hourly base rate for both unions is about $12.96.
Unique TFL bid planned
   Canadian Forest Products' Chetwynd Division is putting the finishing touches on a Tree Farm Licence application that will be unique in the province.
   If the application is approved by the government. the 819,000-hcctare TFL will be the first in the Peace River region.
   The application is also the first to be processed under an amendment to the Forest Act passed in December. 1982, that allows companies to roll over existing licences into a new TFL. In the past, companies had to surrender their licences before receiving a TFL and risk losing everything.
   It’s also the first that allows the minister to compel the company to set aside up to 15 per cent of the allowable annual cut for the Small Business Program.
   Companies view Tree Farm Licences as the ultimate form of tenure because it is based on a particular, defined area of land, said Leverne Merkel, regional timber officer for the forest
 service in Prince George.
   The licence-holder is responsible for all forest management, and any resulting increase in the allowable annual cut (AAC) goes to them exclusively, he said.
   By contrast, other types of tenure allow a company to harvest a certain volume and companies can only hope for a partial increase in the AAC through improved management.
   Creation of a new TFL is also part of the government’s plan to “privatize" forest management functions, he said. Although TFLs are common on the coast, there are just two in the Northern Interior.
   Merkel predicted other companies will watch public hearings in Chetwynd later this year with great interest. Depending on how things go. he said others could apply for TFLs in the near future.
   From Sept. 1 to Sept. 29. the application will be available for public viewing at various ministry offices, including Prince George, Mackenzie, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek and Victoria.
  Warning
issued
   A rash of residential break ins Monday night has police concerned if city homeowners are paying enough attention to locking their doors and watching for suspicious persons in neighborhoods.
   Three suspects were arrested Monday night when about 12 houses were broken into, netting thieves many household articles.
    “It’s got to the point where people are just walking in.” said a police spokesman. The break ins occurred in several different areas.
   Some goods have been recovered.
Suspect
remanded
  Ronald Stone. 37. charged Monday with the double murder of two people he shared a home with in Miworth, has been remanded in police custody until Aug. 16
  Stone was charged with two counts of second-degree murder after police responded to a neighbor’s call and found Alma Stone, 48. and Stewart Sackner. 71. dead from a gunshot wounds in the home early Sunday morning
Thieves take boys' treasures
   Articles that took several years of savings by two newspaper carriers to buy were recently stolen by thieves who broken into their home and used a hidden key to open a storage shed.
   Kevin Prouse, 13, lost an XR 100 Honda moto-cross trail bike which cost him three years' savings and Whitney, 16. lost a color computer and a black-and-white TV, when thieves entered their 2290 Carle-ton Lane home July 30.
  The family had covered all the bases, when preparing for their summer vacation: Kevin notified his customers he’d be away and introduced his summer replacement (Whitney recently quit delivering papers and has another job); their parents arranged for a
One of the last proud moments Kevin had with his new bike before it was stolen
 neighbor to keep watch over the house and left a key behind so the interior could be inspected.
  Three days after the Prouses left, the heigh-bor discovered the break in.
  “What he noticed first was a 10-speed bike in the driveway,” Russell Prouse, the father, said.
  "Soon as he saw that, he knew somebody had been in (the house).”,
  A quick look about the
 house disclosed one of the windows had been broken. He entered and discovered the TV and color computer were gone.
  A later search disclosed the shed where other bikes and the mo-tocross had been stored had been entered and the motor bike was stolen.
   The father is convinced the thefts must have been done by young people because anyone with a vehicle could have loaded more than was stolen.
   He said the 10-speed was probably left behind because it had a flat tire.
   Also, he said, the mo-tocross was too difficult for one youngster to manage because it had to be lifted up stairs.
   The computer and TV are covered by the house insurance. Prouse said, but the motocross wasn’t.
   “A lot of people don’t realize that they need a special rider for their bikes, lawnmowcrs and things like that." Prouse said.
   He said he hopes this story might serve to both get help from the public in finding thc missing motor bike and to advise people to check their household insurances so they have all their possessions covered.
   “It seems as if it’s got to the point wherp you can’t tell people what you have or someone will steal it from you.
   He said the police say they have several sets of excellent fingerprints.
    City council intends to meet with Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Ritchie to discuss the impact of a new sewer and water assistance grant formula that shifts the burden of costs onto municipalities.
   Rather than lobby through the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM), council opted for the direct approach at Monday’s council meeting after receiving a report from city treasurer Bill Kennedy.
   Members of council felt their concerns might be watered down if they worked through the UBCM since it is largely dominated by members from the Lower Mainland. who have different goals than growing communities like Prince George.
   There was also concern if utility grants are based on provincial priorities it could lead to “politicking” and the city could wind up "on the short end of the stick”.
    Council received a list of recommendations in Kennedy’s report calling for a review of the city’s 1984-89 capital works budget including a re-'view of methods to finance capital projects and consideration of development-cost charges or some other form of “up front" contribution from new development to reduce the city’s future debt load.
 Hunt continues
 for prospector
   RCMP and volunteer searchers are continuing to look for a missing prospector in the Quesnel area.
   A helicopter and dog team will continue today to search for Robert Edgar who missed a rendezvous with friends in the Swift River area, 50 kilometres northeast of Quesnel.
   He also suggested the city review servicing standards to determine if they can be reduced and examine the timing and location of construction to ensure maximum advantage of existing facilities before new ones are built.
   “Consideration of the above points will not be an easy task as it will require a total review of the city’s development plans and utility financial structures," the report says.
  The controversial grant formula, a result of shortfalls in provincial government revenues, shifts the burden
 of financing water and sewer projects to municipalities. Where the province formerly picked up 75 per cent of financing costs it will now give municipalities a 25-per-cent grant up front for utlility projects that it approves.
   Municipalities must finance the remaining 75 per cent themselves.
   Using a hypothetical case to illustrate the effect of the new formula, Kennedy’s report says that a $1 million project under the old formula would cost the city $669,393 at 12-percent interest amortized over a 20-ycar period.
Driver robbed
   A Prince George man was robbed at knifepoint and his vehicle was stolen after a young man's ploy at impersonating an RCMP officer failed late Monday night.
   Police are asking residents to watch for a
Dead man identified
   DAWSON CREEK. B.C. (CP) — Police have identified Kenneth Velve. 56, of Dawson Creek, as the man killed in an explosion in a home here on Saturday.
    Police said Larry Stevens, owner of the home, and Mark Read. 27, both of Dawson Creek, were injured in the explosion
     They were treated at hospital and released.
    The blast demolished the house, damaged another dwelling and a truck.
     Police say Velve. an employee of Northland Utilities Ltd., had been called to Stevens’ home to investigate a natural gas main that had been damaged during a backhoe operation.
 brown Buick Century with licence plate number GBD 507.
   The driver picked up the blonde, huskily-built man in his early 20’s about 10 p.m. Monday night and the man told him he was an undercover police officer heading to Terrace to pick up a suspect.
   He showed him a pair of handcuffs but when the driver became suspicious, drew a knife and forced him to drive down a logging road, saying he would kill him.
   About $69 was stolen and the driver was left stranded on the road before notifiying police.
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   The same project under the new formula will cost the city more than $2 million over the 20-year period.
   The report goes on to say that because of the city’s high level of utility debt and the need for expanded facilities to meet a growing population, it is possible the city will be worse off under the new scheme than it would have been under (fie old.
   “It can also be concluded the new scheme has serious implications for the financing of water and sewer utilities. Given thc current capital program, it would appear that i utility i rate increases will have to be substantially more than have been forecast."
  But Kennedy urged caution in interpreting hypothetical figures in his report, saying that actual figures will only be known as time progresses.
   If inflation and interest rates moderate, the difference between the two schemes will be less, while if inflation and interest rates rise the difference will increase.
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$1 MILLION REQUEST
 Automation vote split
   A $l-million request to expand the city’s computer system and further automate city hall was deferred by a split vote at Monday's council meeting.
   Aldermen voted 5-5 on a motion to implement the computer plan and borrow the money necessary to carry it out, following a presentation by city treasurer Bill Kennedy and Michael Shawn, manager of the city’s computer program.
   Under provisions of the Municipal Act a tie vote automatically negates a motion and since there were no subsequent motions on the request it remains deferred until a member of council brings it forward at a later date.
   An earlier motion to refer the request to 1984 budget talks was similarly defeated by a 5-5 vote.
  Alderman George McKnight led the attack against the request, saying since the city is in a no-growth cycle he is hard-pressed to see the need to expand the computer system this year.
   He demanded figures to show how the expendi-
 ture would benefit the city and said if the expansion were delayed the city might get a better price for the same system at a later date.
   Kennedy was unable to give a precise figure on what immediate cost-savings might be but said the system would definitely show a return within three to five years.
  In response to a question by Alderman Hans Taal, Kennedy said he would support the expansion if the city operation ($50 million a yeari were his own, given the current state of the economy and the city’s $3 million in tax arrears.
  “Increased productivity and better management of city operations (through an expanded computer program) are significant enough the justify the expenditure." Kennedy said.
   The motion to support Kennedy’s request was negated when McKnight and Taal were joined by Aldermen Brian Brownridge. Ed Bodner and Richard Godfrey voted against it. Mayor Elmer mercier was absent from the meeting
SEWER, WATER ASSISTANCE
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