__SKEENA VALLEY FALL FAIR REPORT -

‘PAGES 12a-12d_

Legislative Library,
Parliament Buildings,
Victoria, B.C.

V8V 1X4

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1989 ep
. Vol. ‘5, Issue No.. 7 Seo as

Phone 635-7840

Fax 635-7269

- Polls, petitions drop o on council

Local regulations pondered —
to control retail hours >

TERRACE — People holding
an opinion on Sunday shopping,
pro and con, are digging in for

the expected battle to come. City.

council is examining a proposed
bylaw which would require busi-
nesses to close no later than 12

noon on Sundays, and both

sides of the issue are zeroing in

_ on the city’s Finance Commit-
- tee, who have been given the job

of examining both views as well

as a legal opinion before recom-

mending a position to council.
Skeena Mall hired, extra per-

sonnel over the summer. who

"spent several Sundays counting

" the number of. -people entering .

the mall — “ammunition that.
hasn’t yet been released. One
mall tenant, Overwaitea Foods,
did release their documentation
to council last Monday night,
though: a petition they claim has
almost 1,200 signatures collect-
ed between Aug. 1 and 19, in
favor of Sunday Shopping as it
currently exists. An Overwaitea
spokesman told council the sig-
natures came from local and
rural shoppers and that several
other mall businesses, Delaney’s
for one, were working on similar

‘petitions of their own.

But the Terrace and District
Chamber of Commerce offers
council a study of its own — a
phone poll of almost 100 Cham-

ber members which Teceived an
83 percent response, Their poll
indicates that only about one
third of local. businesses are
open on Sunday, Of those open,
half ‘said they have increased
weekly receipts, the other half
either refused comment or said
weekly receipts had dropped.
Over half, 57 percent, said there
has been no change in: staffing

while 35 percent claimed an

increase in-staff, and eight per-
cent: said they have had to cut
staff, :

When those presently open on
Sunday were asked if restricted

hours - -would affect the future
expansion of - ‘their . - business, -

two-thirds said no. At the same
time, when all businesses polled
were asked to. comment on the
issue of restricting Sunday store

hours, 35. percent.—- which re--

lates to the percentage of stores
now open on Sunday — said

things should remain as they.

are. The balance, presumably
businesses not open on Sunday,
were split in their response. Half
said all businesses should be
closed, roughly a third believed
it was a matter of persanal
choice, three percent believed in
shopping restrictions, and a full
15 percent had no comment.
The Chamber of Commerce
doesn’t make any recommenda-

Back: to-school this year meant something new for local

students entering Grade 6. School District 88 Is offering .

Grade 6 band Instruction for the first time, and Terry Ander-
son, the man In charge of administering music programs In
the ‘district, sald the response was overwhelming. These
kids taking their first toots ona trumpet were among more
than 50 who signed up for. instrument workshops last
Thursday evening at Clarence Michiel school.

percent, not 33 percent,

tions or ask for support on any
particular view. They only offer

a profile of the views the. 83
‘businesses who responded. The

average business open on Sun-

_ days report. higher profits but no

increase in staffing. They also
say that any restriction placed

-on Sunday store-hours would

affect any plans for future ex-
pansion. Of those closed on
Sunday, half believe everyone
should be closed while a third
believe in freedom of choice.
But the Chamber’s poll also
presents the Finance Committee

with a dilema. When all busi-

nesses were. asked if they: fa-
vored restricted “hours.or leaving
things as they are now, only 23
said
things should be left as they are
while five percent believed in

freedom of choice and four per-

cent opted for no restrictions at
all. On the other hand, only nine
percent believed in total closure;

and restricted hours of either 8 -

a.m. to 12 noon, or 12 noon to 5
p.m. were each favoured by 19
percent of the businesses polled.
-. There are other individual
businesses who have requested

‘an audience with council to pre-

sent their own personal views
but in the meantime the city is
proceeding with obtaining a le-
gal opinion on the technical
aspects of a draft bylaw. In its
current state, the bylaw would

‘set store closing hours at 6 p.m.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
and Saturday, 9 p.m. on Friday
and 12 p.m. on Sunday. Thurs-
day’s are left open to accommo-
date businesses wanting to open
until 9 p.m. or events such as
‘Midnight Madness” which
normally means openings from
9 p.m, to midnight.

Exempt from these restric-
tions would be drug stores with
a pharmacist on duty and a total
sales and display area of less

‘than 560 square meters (6,028

square feet), Also exempt would
be convenience stores with a
sales and display area of less

than 560 square metres. The

only. other exemption would
provide for all retail businesses
to remain open until 9 p.m.,

-severi days a week, for the 21

days ‘immediately preceding
Christmas.

In tho final Under 14 game of the season for Terrace youth
Soccer, San-Berry (white jerseys) defeated Rotary by a
score of 2-0. San- Berry received the division trophy while
members of both teams received individual shields. Season _
performance was tied and Rotary and Northern Drugs

shared the league trophy.

City may roll recycling
into waste disposal plan

Terrace city council has
adopted in principle recycling as
a component in the development

of their waste management plan .

and sent nine recommendations
made by the Recycling Commit-
tee of the Skeena Protection
Coalition to council’s Public
Works Committee for examina-
tion and some possible recom-
mendations of their own.
Following a presentation to
Council last Monday night in

‘which local resident Maureen

Bostock outlined the need for
recycling, she asked council to
explore recycling options with a
view to developing an integrated
pickup system where various
categories of waste materials
could be separated. She also
asked that council consider

utilizing a portion of their cur-—

rent sanitary landfill site as a re-
cycling depot where residents
coyld drop of recycleable goods.

In addition she asked that the
city join the Recycling Council
of B.C., educate the public and
revise bylaws to accommodate a

recycling program, explore the
possibility of procurring capital.
items for the program locally,
and work with the regional dis-

trict in exploring the transporta-: -

tion of recycleable materials to
provincial collection points.

In her presentation, Bostock
outlined some of the findings of
the B.C. Task Force on Waste
Management which found that
landfill sites in the province are
rapidly becoming full and the —
recycling of products would not
only answer that problem but
help us to better utilize our
resources as well.

The most common method of |
collection is done at the house- —-
hold level where separate con- |
tainers are provided for items.
such as glass, metals, paper and.
organic materials. Studies have .
shown that additional handling:
costs at the municipal level can
be balanced with the sale of
recycleable goods, which in ef-
fect means no additional ex-
pense for the taxpayer.

ster es eo ar ri ee ek a a as ca a Ss aia all