Ald Terrace Review — Wednesday, February 14, 1990 Ministry official reviews —[ Coming zven ts | _ private road maintenance ee performa month, 15 two-kilometer.- sec- #4 tions of road are selected at ran- - dom in each area and the area manager is responsible for monitoring work at three levels: - the current condition of the - road, methods and. procedures being used in work being carried out, and the end product of the contractor’s road maintenance - programs. In the Terrace area, - there are two of these area John Newhouse: Not im- - possible, but very difficult, to - PF" . at . | . - business. If it does a good job, it compare costs. - Privatization of highways maintenance, according to Ministry of Highways Terrace district manager John New- house, has resulted in a quality of road upkeep equal to, if not better’ than, the. level of '. jhaintenance local motorists ex- “ perienced when the. ministry itself did the job. Basically, there are three factors that have helped to produce this result: ongoing work on fine-tuning - _ contracts, the Quality Assurance ‘Program, and the fact that a ' private company must produce. quality results if they wish to stay in business. by Tod Strachan The privatization process began more than two years ago and at the very least, says New- house, it was ‘‘interesting’’. Ministry staff were asked to write the beginnings of what would become privatized con- tracts. The challenge, he says, was to take very informal pro- cedures imbedded for years in bureaucratic process and put in- to words just when and how a particular piece of provincial road should be maintained. Adding to the challenge, the maintenance standards on that one section of road not only had to be equal to the ministry’s cur- rent level work, but also had to be equal to every other similar piece of road in the province. Newhouse says this initial phase of the privatization pro- cess was successful to a degree but a process of ongoing con- tract changes is still taking place to fine-tune work on specific sections of road. Much of this fine-tuning process, he says, is now being done in preparation for the next round of contract talks that will begin soon. The second part to the privati- zation story, says Newhouse, is ‘the Quality Assurance Program. There are a number. of factors involved in this program but the primary intent, he says, is to in- sure that road maintenance is _ carried out in the way it was originally intended. - ' The key. to the Quality _ Assurance Program, says New- house, is _monitoring. Every managers who monitor a total of 450 kilometers of road... . The final. factor responsible for the. quality of road maintenance, says Newhouse, is. the fact that the contractor’s ' future depends on. his. per- formance today. This, he ex-. plains, holds true for any will likely survive. If it doesn’t, it won’t. a When asked about the level of road maintenance in the Terrace area, Newhouse goves North Coast Road Maintenance top. marks. He says that North Coast is doing at least as good a job as. the Ministry did and in some. ways have surpassed the Ministry’s performance. One ex- ‘ample given by Newhouse was North Coast’s ‘‘Block System”’ now used on local rural roads. As described by Newhouse, the Block System consists of private contractors employed by North Coast to maintain specific sections or areas of roadway. It’s a system, says Newhouse, that’s ‘‘neat and tidy’’. In most, if not all cases, these contractors live in the area they maintain and know both the roads and many of the residents well. This is a good example of a system, according to Newhouse, that was developed out of the need for the privatized contractor to nce at mid-term do the best possible job and has in. many cases resulted in im- proved rural maintenance. There are complaints of course. Some people feel both summer and winter road main-. tenance is less frequent. than it » used to be, but Newhoue says. that often this is not true.and in- cases where it is, contracts are being fine-tuned. Other com-. plaints, particularly with regard to winter maintenance, don’t " have easy solutions, though. ~ Even with this new Block Sys- tem, main highways hold the’ first priority, and he explains ' that if North Coast is unable'to - keep up with the snow falling on the highways they are obligated | to pull equipment off rural roads and put them to work on the highway. Newhouse explains _ the priorities: ‘First there are the roads with the most traffic, then school bus routes, then col- lectors, then side roads, It would — be chaos if we plowed the side roads first.’ ‘There may be some legitimate complaints, though, adds New- house, and in these cases. the public should phone the road maintenance contractor first.. If they fail to get satisfaction there, they should then phone the Ministry of Highways. ‘‘This helps,”? explains Newhouse. ‘From ours and other observa- tions we can sort these probléms — out.” If road maintenance is as good as Newhouse says, however, there are still a few questions that need to be asked. How much does it cost? Does is cost more or less than before? How is road maintenance in the Terrace area compared to that in . the rest of the province? These continued on page Al5 is that your question? We offer lots of delicious answers BEEF Choice Top Sirloin Filet “Creole” T-Bone Steak OR NOT TO BEEF $13.95 your choice Lobster Ravioli Chicken “Parmigiana’” | Curried Jumbo Shrimp For more information and Ask about our Bonquet Facilities! We cater in our downstairs location fram 60 - 160 people. MUSIC AND LARGE DANCE FLOOR A SPECIAL FEATURE! reservations call: 635-9161 im Jun Restaurant pp Eabarian dun Restauran the frienditest "Inn" town! Make reservations now for Valentine's Day. information concerning the Twin River Estates project is available from the Skeena Senior Citizens’ Housing Society office, corner of Apsley Street and Lakelse Avenue, each Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. Please note change of day for our Open House. . Commencing February 4 — And continuing throughout February, the Northwest Academy of Performing. Arts will have its students demonstrating their musical | talents in the Terrace Art Gallery (in the basement of the - Terrace Public Library). Saturdays from 12 noon: to 3. p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Commencing February 4 — The Terrace Public Art - _ Gallery will be open featuring works by Cindy Materi of. Quick, B.C. The show will run to Feb. 24. Hours are Tues- . day to Saturday, 12 noon to 3 p.m.; Tuesday to Thursday, 7to9p.m,; Sunday, 1to4p.m. -— See "Wednesday, February 14 — United Native ‘Nations meeting to elect.a housing committee at House of Sim- -OL-Ghets onthe Kitsumkalum Reserve'at 7 p.m.. Sunday, February 18 —- The Skeena Valley Snowmobile |.” Association presents Snowarama 1990, a 100-kliometer. marathon ‘open.to.all snowmobllers. All proceeds of this _ annual event go to the B.C. Lions’ Society for Crippled Children: Time and.place may vary.due to weather. For ~ further information, call Ron Niesner at 635-9270 or Bon: "| “nie Larson at 635-5930. CB Monday, February 19 — The requiar meeting of the Mills Memorial Hospital Auxiliary will be held in the hospital board room at 8:15 p.m. New members are welcome. Wednesday, February 21 — Terrace Beekeeper Associa- tlon meeting at 7 p.m. at the ‘Térrace Public Library. . o There will be two hours of video tapes on bee culture. Coffee and donuts will be avallable. New and old members welcome. Wednesday, February 21 — “Life in Malawi and Southern Africa’; a slideshow presentation by Jim and Heather Bathgate — who lived and worked for three- and-one-half years in Malawi — at 7:30 p.m. at the Ter- race Women’s Resource Centre, 4542 Park Ave. For more information call Northwest Development Educa- tlon at 635-2436. Everyone welcome. Friday, February 23 — The Terrace Women’s Resource Centre, In support of the Terrace and District Multicultural Association's International Pot Luck Din- ~ ner, Is pleased’to announce an afternoon of making cab- bage rolls. If you love to cook, or want to learn a new dish, come to the Women’s Centre, 4542 Park Ave., at 1 p.m., and help us prepare cabbage rolis for the dinner. All ingredients supplied. For more information, call 638-0228. 7 February 23 and 24 — TERRACE MINOR BASEBALL registration on Friday, 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Skeena Mall. Everyone welcome. Bring a friend and join us for another fun year of . baseball. Saturday, February 24 — An evening of fun!!! The Ter- race and District Multicultural Assoc. presents the sixth annual International Pot Luck Dinner at 5 p.m. in the Arena Banquet Room. Bring one ethnic dish per family. Tickets are available at Misty River Books and Sight and Sound after Feb. 1.:Volunteers are needed to help with - this affair. If you can help, please call Lynda Bretfeld at 635-6298, Jane Dickson at 638-1594 or Erlinda Okano at 635-6526. Saturday, February 24 — A special meeting will be held at the Kinsmen clubhouse at 7:30 p.m. to try to form some teams to play team horseshoes. A special guest from Horseshoe B.C. will attend to explain the rules and regulations of team horseshoe. It is a shame to waste the facilities we have, so please try to attend this impor- tant meeting. Come and bring a friend. The Kinsmen clubhouse is located at the corner of Sparks and Halliwell. For more information, phone Joe Wideman at 635-2856 or Don Sharpe at.635-7766. Friday, March 2 — World Day of Prayer. You are invited to share in this 103-year-old tradition of Christians uniting for prayer and guidance in struggling with the major issues facing us today. This day is celebrated in 170 countries around the globe. The theme ‘A Better Tomorrow: Justice For All’ was written by the Christian women of Czechoslovakia. The Terrace service, organiz- ed by an ecumenical group of seven local churches, will be held at 8 p.m., The World Day of Prayer, at Knox United Church, 4907 Lazelle Ave. Everyone is welcome! March 7 and April 4 — Terrace Public Library presents | “Travel Talk” for armchair travellers, or for those who really plan to “get up and go’! Travel consultant, Theresa Brinkac of Elan Travel will show videos and share some of her experiences, In a series of informal talks about countries she has visited. Wednesday, ‘March 7 “Mexico”; Wednesday, April 4 “Cuba” — each night at 7:30 p.m. Admission Is free. Everyone Is welcome! For more information, please call the library a ‘Make our place “Your Place” to: enjoy an | evening of intimate dining and reasonable prices! a L” 638-8177. se erected sig PA REE suena aT aE ek Me he Ot Oo x. won ee a ne