Big buck pave plan slammed TERRACE — An ambitious paving program that would commit taxpayers to spending $50 million over the next 25 years has been blasted by aldermen Mo Takhar and Dan- ny Sheridan. First unveiled last April, the program. would make gravel streets and roadside ditches things of the past and see a. rebuild of all existing _sub- standard paved streets, Council abandoned the idea 10. because it would require a 13 per cent tax increase, But it returned Feb. 6 in the form of a recommendation by council members who gathered behind closed doors. Meeting as a committee-of- the-whole, council members want ‘to distribute a question- naire to gauge public response. ~ Takhar said considering the - plan is a waste of time, adding city public works _ officials - should instead by concentrating: People power NUMBER ONE. No matter what the major manufacturers claim, the pedal car seen above i is. an the most popular make inthe Terrace area right now. It's also-a tribute to. the: skilis of rnaker « Max Muff who has put in more than 70 hours building this one-of-a-kind vehicle. The: ‘pedal, is the prize ina raffle being held by the Skeena Valley Car Club and,; SayS VIC: ‘Bresident Doug MacKay, tickets are being snapped up at a furious rate. They'll: be. on’sale again this, Friday and saturday at. the Skeena but, with three-quarters sold. as of last weekend, thosé: wishing | to purchase. best:nat wait too fong. One of those hoping her. father: has. bought, the’ winning: ticke is five-year-old - Melia Stephens who was. more than he sppy to’get behind: the. wheel for: this photo. The draw takes place April 23. The Car Club will be the subject of Evergreen, Commu o ty Television’ 8 next Northwest Wi indow program That aits this is Sunday. at 7:30 p.m;on channel vt on their budget for this year, “T know the people won't ap- prove that,’ he said. ‘We should scrap it right now.’’ While agreeing something had to be done about the condi- tion of -many - city ‘streets, Sheridan argued the proposed method was, not. the way to- do it. He objected to creating” ‘a ‘special, fund - which. he’ said would not be subject to discus- ‘sion and debate, as part’ of the Government critized District fights back TERRACE — Putting the Kitimat-Stikine regional district on the environment ministry's polluters list because of Thor- nhill sewage problems is a bum rap, say directors. | The district made the list for the first time earlier this month because high water tables. and poor soil conditions are resulting in raw sewage appear- ing in ditches and backyards in. the Queensway area. - Yet administrator. Bob Marcellin pointed out a housing development in the area was ap- proved by the provincial government before the regional ; district existed. Kitimat director Tom. Goyert said the provincial government should be answerable while another Kitimat - director, Graham -Anderson, «suggested the province should place itself on the list. Directors decided at . meeting last Saturday to send a letter saying the regional district doesn’t accept responsibility for the problem. Meanwhile, Thornhi!l direc- tor Les Watmough, Marcellin and Skeena MLA. Helmut Giesbrecht met with municipal affairs minister Robin Blencoe this week to ask for money fora Thornhill sewer system. : The. topic last came up in 1990 when the municipal affairs ministry commited itself to 50 per. cent of the cost of two systems — $2 million for one covering Queensway and $3.1 million for the Thornhill horseshoe area, A further - $485,000 was. promised by the environment ministry. _ Homeowners would still have faced paying an extra $1,100 in taxes. je The regional district: decided _a. referendum to - raise - taxes _. Wouldn't pass and told the pro- vince it wouldn’t proceed unless it received more money, This’ll be the first. meeting between the regional district and the province since the change in government. normal preparations of the city’s annual budget. Sheridan is concerned about the idea of handing over money to a city department on the basis. ‘they? Il decide what they're go- ing to do with it.” “We're just signing a blank cheque,’’ Takhar said in poin- ling out it is council’s job to decide each year how much money it could afford to spend and where it should be spent. “Public works is ‘certainly coming under a fair bit of criticism from the public now on how it does projects and the cost of its projects,"’ Sheridan said. ‘I think now’s the time for council to watch these much more judiciously.” Both aldermen said council faces other major, expensive project this year including repairs to the Deep Creek reser- voir, dealing with flooding on Halliwell Ave., correcting land slippage on Lanfear Hill and improving the sewer system, When the paving plan. was first proposed, city engineering director Stew Christensen sug- gested 40 per cent of the cost could come out of general taxa- tion with the remainder being covered by a newly-created and separate road tax. The new suggestion calls for $1 million to be be spent in the first year with a five per cent in- crease in each and every subse- quent year for a total: cost “of $50 million, ERRACE STANDART) | Natives holding — key to pulp mill — approval process TERRACE —The provincial government won't complete its final review of a planned pulp and paper mill near here until native groups are involved, says a provincial cabinet minister. But that shouldn’t be taken as a deliberate delay of the plan by Orenda Forest Products to build the mill south of Lakelse Lake, said economic develop- ment minister Dave Zirnhelt. ‘There aren’t large technical obstacles in this,’ he said of review work already conducted by the province, ' Orenda’s been looking for approval in principle, defined as permission to construct provid- ed.it receives necessary. permits. -- and licences, since last fall, “We inherited a review pro- cess that didn’t include the native people, We have to con- sult an awful lot more widely with native people — that didn’t happen,” said Zirnhelt. ‘We have to meet our legal responsibility and our social responsibility, We can’t ignore them anymore. Those days are gone,’’ he added. Zirnhelt’s comments follow meetings last week between the Haisla ‘of Kitimaat and. the Tsimshian Tribal Council and the federal and provincial governments. Both native groups say they have an interest in the land slated for the mill site. The basis for native involve- ment comes from.a portion of a 1991 Supreme Court of B.C. decision, into the claim by the — Gitksan and the Wet'suwet' en ioa large portion of northwest Bc... : McEachern dismissed the idea of aboriginal title to land, he did say the provincial govern- ment has a special responsibility toward native groups. Called a ‘“‘fiduciary respon- sibility,”’ it places a great deal Miners tackle new ventures TERRACE —The closing of the Cassiar asbestos mine could have an unexpected side benefit — a new group of business en- treprencurs. As many as one-third of the Cassiar residents who lost their jobs when the mine closed want to start businesses elsewhere, says an official from Northern Lights College. ‘*A lot of people came here to build up a nest egg with the idea of establishing a business. This gives them the incentive to get that going,’’ said John Boraas last week, He and other college workers interviewed 120 people in three days last week in dealing with inquiries on business and other training, That’s going to result in a visit soon by a Federal Business Development -Bank © official from Terrace, who'll give in- . terested people a general infor- mation session. “We'll know then what kind of demand there is and what kind of courses we should offer,’’ said Boraas, Although the college for the moment is acting on its own, it ‘eventually will become part of the larger effort to resettle peo- ple from Cassiar, Boraas con- tinued. © The larger effort is being co- ordinated by a community- based committee being financed by the federal and provincial governments. In addition to business train- ing possibilities, the college is already offering computer training and job resume preparation courses. “The - industrial adjustment committee is very much in its in- fancy. We want to get the ball rolling and be ready to: help meet their needs,’' Boraas said. Other ‘initiatives planned by the college include a Class I truck driving course and bring- ing.in apprenticeship programs. — Northern Lights College covers the far northern part of the province. Its two-person staff at Cassiar has been doubl- ed in the last week to meet the increased demand for its ser- vices, For more on Cassiar, see Page All. “Although Chief Justice Allan of onus on the province to deal with native groups when plann- ed development could affect traditional hunting or fishing or food gathering activity. ...-’ But that responsibility, McEachern added, does not prevent the province from ultimately allowing the develop- ment of land and resources. Ex-NDP MLA Gordon Han- son, now a private consultant, has been hired by the provincial government to work oul. a review arrangement between’ ‘itself and the Tsimshian and the mS tatives on committees set up to oversee and guide examination of industrial plans going through the province’s Major Project Review Process, “The mechanism wasn’t there. Hopefully we can now proceed reasonably quickly,” . he said, Zirnhelt called efforts to in- clude natives.in the review of the mill plans ‘‘catchup’’ given. that nothing like this has hap- pened before, This is an adaptive | process and not something to redo the process over again,” he said. _ Fhe minister did concede that Orenda’s plans come at a time when there is a new government that wants to do things dif- ferently. cont'd A2 Heritage Week. Page AB. “Youth and: Northwest Roundup _ " PRINCE RUPERT — Police - here are looking for the killer of a 53-year-old man. Carl Stenzel was found “severely beaten around ‘the ‘head and neck in an alley last Sept. i4,.- . Sent: to Vancoxfier ‘for ! treatment, Stenzel died “recently. we dare working on yay.” thtey. have. Bf to | enough ey evidence t0, it lay a charge. SMITHERS _— > Two. aldermen here say there's no problem’ with - air quality ‘here, : Barrie Carter ard Carman Graf say a study done over 14: months. found only, one day in which. particles in the alr were: courldered uns used by “the: environment 7 ‘ministry.as a make-work pro- ject. HAZELTON — Mayor. “Alice Maitland wanta Westar's forest licences here “turned over to native groups . and other residents. ° “The result’ would be a- - community-based corpora: «tion, Maitland. told a.provins - She daid ‘that'll: provide ~ that. country. .N more “stable employment than if one large company — took over Westar terme, : HOUSTON — Northwood’s sawmill: here has received‘ - Japanese ‘certification . to. grade jumber- for export to.