: EXPOSED TO THE WEATH ER. v ‘With the number of First Responder calls growing, cold

_. ‘weather earlier this weak caused some concern for. aging Rescue 01. The city will be ‘going
-to tander Soon on a replacement emergency vehicle for the fire .department.' The concern
then will be finding a warm, dry place to park the new vehicie when. tt isn't being used.

Realtors happy with 5% solution —

Canadians who. want to buy
_ many - families in the Terrace
‘area who are now paying high
rents and could easily afford |
Mortgage payments but haven't.

"a home can now get it with only
five percent down. A new. policy ;
announced last week by Canada,
Mortgage . and: ‘Housing will
allow the low down payment.on
a federally-insured mortgage for
first-time home buyers...

The program also involves
payment of an insurance fee and,
for Terrace and other arcas
outside inflated real estate mar-
kets, a purchase price ceiling of
$125,000.

. Gordon Hamilton, president
of the Northwest Real Estate

board, says it’s: ‘good news for

. both buyers and. the real estate
‘market. "It’s a great thing for
young people," he said. .

Hamilton believes there are

bought because they can’t save
enough for a down payment. The

_ previous minimum down pay-
ment under CMHC terms was 10

percent. In announcing the new
policy, CMHC estimated that it

‘will enable 200,000 ‘Canadian

families to buy homes instead of
renting. |

A government-insured mort- |

gage for five percent down has
been. available for about three

_years through the B.C. MAP

(Mortgage Assistance Program)

initiative, but Hamilton points

out that it requires the buyer to
take out a second mortgage
through the provincial. govern-
ment in addition to the federally- '
insured. CMHC first mortgage: °

‘The new. program allows the
entire transaction to be done-

through a first mortgage.

“Hamilton said the lower
down: “payment” “policy,” owhich*
will be in effect for two years,
should be good for the local real
estate market. He: noted, how-
ever, that the market already is
strong but there aren’t enough

houses to go around — realtors,
‘ are short of listings, and quality

property that goes on the market
is sold almost immediately.

~ FEBRUARY 12th TO 15th

1 0% OF F EVERYTHING IN STOCK ONLY

Show them You Really Core
WithaGiftfrom a i

=". Lehmann Jewellers Ltd. -  .. |

a > SERVING YOU FOR 25 YEARS ©

Skeena Mall
_ Phone 635-5616

' now included in. the first draft of

_ Terrace Review. — Wednesday, February 12, 1992 3

draft of

. First draft budgets. are fick|e

_ things, filled with much promise

‘but ultimately some disappoint-
ment. For this reason, no one
should begin. applauding city.

on the back may help encourage

long overdue positive action on

a few traffic problems in. town.
‘Terrace’ city - council’ has

adopted almost intact-the Tour-

ism and Economic Advisory
Commission _. recommendations
finalized two weéks ago. Items

- the city’s capital budget include

_ a sidewalk on-the north side of

Keith Ave. from the Greyhound
bus. -depot fo Sande Overpass,
and a pedestrian. controlled
. crosswalk at Kalum St. and Loen
| Ave, ©
Even without the pedestrian-

_ traffic contro! signal at Kalum. .

“and Loen, another measure to
improve safety in that part of
town is already under way. The
city has already approved the

‘installation, of street lights. on:
“nearly” every pole on. Kalun' :

. between Lakelse. Ave; and Tuck

ing the lights later this week, a

B.C, Hydro spokesman said.

A few other items that are. not

council just yet. But a gentle. pat.

Ave. B.C. Hydro will be install-" ;

ol traffic concerns |
‘dominate first |

budget.

could soon be Pr tei at one,

Ho

tions. *

Lazelle and Kalum, making

-Kalum more of a secondary

route in and out of the down.
town core, may be preferable to

removing sections of sidewalk: to: :
‘provide right turn lanes “of

Lakelse.

Another. TEAC proposal was.
the upgrading .of all streets,

‘sidewalks and ditches in town. °
Council has sent that idea. ‘to .
their Committee of the Whole: ‘to -

. be discussed soon with the pro-

posed 25-year city paving. pro-
‘gram. Public questionnaires ° ‘on

that proposal mayb be in the mail. -

soon.

And finally; one other city
intersection of concern may soon

. be.addressed. Council has sug-:

gested talks with the Ministry of

. Highways. to discuss the merits
of realigning: Tetrault St. with’

‘Sande Overpass. It may not be.a
new idea, but most people hav-
ing - io use the Tetrault-Keith.
intersection would likely agree
i's one that’s long overdue. :

<yet.indluded-in’ the. first dyaft-of: That. Antersection - is« a. main

the. city budget but could. still .
‘make it, according to head of

engineering Stew Christensen,
are traffic lights at Kalum and
Lazelle, Eby and Lakelse, and
some modification to the side-.
walks in the 4600 block Lakelse.
This latter item is set for dis-
‘cussion between 4600 block
merchants ‘and the city, and

]: Christensen says all three items
could: soon play a role in.
traffic

improving . downtown
flows.and safety. ;
Christensen says traffic counts

‘will be made-at the two intersec- .
tions and the RCMP will be
- asked for an opinion as well.

- Following that, he says, it will
be a matter of placing priorities
on each item, and traffic lights

feeder into Mills Memorial Hos-
‘pital, making it.a concern for
ambulance drivers and hospital
personnel. Terrace Regional
Health Care Society CEO
‘Michael Leisinger says the board
has not received a formal propo-
sal or request from the city, but
any proposal that demonstrates it
will improve safety in the area
would probably receive - “Tave
Teviews.

There may be a high its
between proposal and ‘reality,

however. Leisinger points. out:

that any move to sell or deed the
small section of property
required for the realignment
would require the blessings of
the Ministry of Health.

Overpass crossing.

|) gets. safety change

A few recent improvements. to
the traffic signals at the north
end of the Sande Overpass
‘should make it a safer intersec-
tion for pedestrians. The Minis-

the lights and improved the
visibility of the traffic control

signals by increasing the diam-—

eter and upping the. power from

| |-150 watts to. 250 watts in: the.
.| ‘ted, green and amber lights.

The changes. have been made
at the request of the city and the

‘RCMP following a pedestrian

fatality at the intersection last
December. These changes mean
pedestrians can no longer cross

Greig Ave. when horthbound |

try of Transportation and High-_
ways has changed the timing of —

vehicles are turning left onto”
Greig Ave.

When pedestrians activate the
"walk" signal to cross Greig
Ave., through traffic will get a
17-second red light, while west-
bound traffic wanting to. turn
onto the overpass will see a

flashing green ‘arrow allowing |
them to make the advance turn, ©

The changes should effectively
‘end all competition between

pedestrians and vehicles at the —
intersection, but a highways -

spokesman says it doesn’t mean
drivers and pedestrians can
throw away their vigilance. The
safety of the intersection will
still be the responsibility of
‘those using it.

For 4600 block Lakelse mer- 7
chants, though, a traffic signal at -