Al6 Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 31, 1990 - Church seeks grant ‘for downtown youth ¢ center If funding from the B.C. Youth Grants Program is ap- proved, Terrace’s Pentecostal - Church may be opening a new youth drop-in center in Terrace. There are, however, a few local hurdles to cross first. Pastor Cliff Siebert submitted a.copy of the proposal to city council last Wednesday stating that there was a funding appli- cation deadline of Feb. 15, 1990, and he requested a letter of sup- port from council indicating the need for a teen drop-in center in Terrace. In an effort to accom-— modate this request, the Com- mittee of the Whole discussed the proposal Monday night but found they had been given too little time to deal with too many issues. Concerns raised by the com- mittee included the number of available parking spaces at the newly expanded Pentecostal Church located at Sparks and Scott, the probability that the property in question (a Pente- costal-owned residence south of the church) would first require rezoning, and assurances that all health and safety requirements could be met. A representative of the church was not in attendance to discuss or respond to any of these con- cerns, however, and while the Committee of the Whole seemed to agree on the need for the center, they recommended that council forward the request to the Planning and Public Works Committee at their next meeting on Feb. 12. If this recommenda- tion is followed, the earliest council will be able to respond to the request will be their meeting Feb, 26. In reality, though, an official response could take much longer than that, possibly as long as three months. The biggest prob- lem is the fact that the Olson Ave. residence intended for use as a teen drop-in center is zoned for residential use only. Under the permitted uses of this zone, the building could be used as a church or Sunday school but not a drop-in center. Rezoning would require.a public hearing, . according to city administrator Bob Hallsor, and this process could take as long as two or three months, Even with re- zoning, however, the Pente- costal proposal could still be in trouble. Fix or get out, TK told If you have been frustrated trying to read the lips of our city aldermen while you try to follow the action at city hall on channel 10, your days of frustration will - goon be over. Terrace city council passed a resolution Jan. 22 that requires CFTK to find a way to transmit their voices along with the pic- ture or remove the whole setup. -They set a deadline of Feb. 25 - for their ultimatum. Poor audio quality on the channel 10 council broadcasts has been a source of complaints since it was installed and: city. aldermen say they’re | tired df. being told by television viewers , to: “speak up’’ during council meetings. When the church expansion was first discussed with council: last August, parking was a con- cern. According to city ad- ministration, building will have a capacity for up to 500 church-goers, or, if every room was used. simultan- eously, as many as 1,014 people. It was recognized at the time that it was unlikely that every room in the complex would be used at the same time and the ci- ty and church apparently agreed that 127 parking spaces, approx- imately one for every four peo- ple, would be sufficient. According to some city aldermen, this meant removing the residence now in question in order to provide parking space. It is now thought, however, that by leaving the building in place, the number of available spaces would be reduced to about 100. According to city director of INSURANCE’ the expanded Hallsor 82% of accidents in B.C. result from driver error or ; engineering - Stew - Christensen, the 127 parking spaces agreed on last summer was the bare ‘ minimum for the intended use. He says that when compared to other communities this number __ is still considered fair. Kelowna, he says, would require 140 to 203 parking spaces, Thornhill 247 and ‘Prince Rupert 101. -adds- adherence to the Terrace bylaw would have required the church to provide 333 parking spaces. The teen drop-in center, Pen- tecostal pastor Cliff Siebert says, would be named ““Crystal’s Place’’ in memory of 16-year-old murder victim Crystal Hogg and would provide a place for teenagers in need of help. The ground floor of the two-story Olson Ave. residence would contain a sleeping area, sauna, weight room and pool table. On the second floor would CORPORAT industrial and organizations. that strict ‘bea counsellor’ s office, kitchen, ‘games. room, ping pong and video room, and a combined library and office. Siebert says the center would initially open three days a week — Monday, Wednesday and Fri- day, from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. — and provide sleep-over services. when required. Eventually, though, thé center would be open from Monday to Saturday, he adds. Services available, ac- ¢ording to Siebert, would in- clude ‘spiritual guidance, free meals, budget and financial planning, goal setting, friend- ship and role modelling, enter- tainment, sports and recreation, ‘agency referrals and informa- tion on current youth issues. Also available would be life skills and social skills programs, a work experience program and job creation and volunteer train- ing programs. community _ promote their own safety campaigns. | The Youth Grants Program, says Siebert, is a project of the B.C. Youth Advisory Council and chaHenges young people to match their energy and ideas with- provincial resources in order to enhance their personal development. He says funding is available to innovative projects which: foster the independence, participation and active involve- ment of teens. The grant would cover two-thirds of the project - cost, according to Siebert, while the community would be respon- sible for the balance. . Following the meeting of the Committee. of the Whole, Siebert told the Terrace Review that the church will submit their funding application as planned and will continue to seek the - support of council and the com- munity. He added that he feels the church can successfully deal with all of the city’s concerns. inattention. So the obvious way to reduce spiralling insurance costs is to improve our drivers. The 1991 model should be smarter, safer and less expensive to insure. In 1981, ICBC set up a traffic safety education program that has become a standard for similar programs throughout North America. We work with groups from many fields in every part of the province — the school Our field staff uses programs to encourage children from elementary schools to “buckle up” and they in turn educate their parents, Older students produce their own videos | on what can happen to teens who drink and drive; they also organize CounterAttack Clubs and events. In addition, we sponsor regional and provincial youth leadership conferences and encourage _ youngsters to create and Our objective in all this has been stated very clearly by ICBC’ president, Tom Holmes: “...to eventually produce a safer generation of drivers who will not tolerate the destructive driving habits of their parents’ generation’ Together, we can drive insurance costs down. system, police, health care, Announcin: the new, improved 1991 driver. nen toes ety aT OO TE SN AT BT ages A RE re SkeanBE DALE pea TE ere