i - BANTAM REP hockey team: coach John Amos at the future site of the proposesd second sheet of ice project. It is expected to be built on the north side of the existing arena.» . ce 'eN_ increas- ingly more vocal group of voices is ~ council to borrow money to make. up the shortfall re- quired to build the planned sportsplex/second sheet of ice. Even the chair of the city- "8 struck, Sportsplex fundrais- | _ing committee says it’s time | ‘to do what is: necessary to get the project moving, even .if it means hitting taxpayers « in the pocket. “don’t believe this facil- ity is ever going to be built without some sort of public money,” says Art Erasmus. . “It almost seems as though the fundraising com- mittee has evaporated. We haven’t met since Septem- ber of last year.” When Erasmus . was charged with heading up the committee-in 2003, the city asked it to raise $2 million. By last. fall it had received nearly. $700,000 in commit- -ments of cash. and in-kind services. And since 2003 the city has spent $402,187 on archi- tectural drawings and other preparatory work on two separate concepts of the pro- posed project. That . includes spent on a much-publicized ‘plan’ to link the existing arena with the aquatic centre and making room for retail ' space and offices. That design was the ba- sis on which the fundraising | committee secured pledges for the project. But it was scrapped this May in favour of a cheaper, urging city: money — What the city has, what it’s spent already « and why you should care, A special report by Sarah A. Zimmerman bare bones second sheet of ice, Not only was the. proj- -ect scaled back, it was also moved from the planned location between the arena and aquatic. centre. In an unexpected and not well-publicized move, the city decided that putting the second sheet of ice on the North side of,the current are-.__ na would be cheaper. The decision to scrap the larger project came in light of skyrocketing building material prices. Some people are now calling for the city to consid- er a full-blown conference - centre rather than just a sec- ond sheet of ice, but Eras- mus says the city should get on with the existing project before considering anything else. “I would advocate doing what they have done all this planning on,” Erasmus says. | “They have done a lot of de-.. sign work and have spent a significant amount of money ‘on design work...so get on with it.” The second sheet of ice project was put out to ten- der this summer but when the low bid came in at $8.9 | million with an additional $1 million required as a con- tingency fund, city council unanimously agreed. to re- tender the project ~ at an ad- ditional cost of $20,000 — ~ the early new year. That’s in hopes of secur- ing more competitive bids. But the city is starting to run low on money it ear- marked for design and other preparatory work. _ That’ s because the more than $400, 000 already spent on that work comes out of a $595,000 infrastructure re- serve. created in 2003 from ‘money received” from the Municipal Finance Author- ity. That body on occasion | gives cities rebates on money it has paid toward loans for capital projects when those loans are paid off early. With that money already spent, and more to come on newer, revised drawings which incorporate a differ- ent roof design, the infra- structure reserve has just $192,813 remaining. .City records, however, lump the full $595,000 re- serve allotment in with the financing it has already se- cured for the project. City records show it has ~ $4,551,401 in place so far to finance the project. That includes: - $180, 700 of real cash | in the bank HM $692,368 in pledged money @ $1 million provincial slush fund grant @ $2 million federal-pro- vincial infrastructure grant $83,333 from the 2004 budget M $595,000 infrastruc- ture fund But with money already spent from the infrastruc- ture reserve the total amount the city has set aside adds up to a lesser amount: of $4,149,214. ° City administrator Ron Poole says spending the ‘money on design and other work is something that was open to the public for com- ment, \ Confirmed money. 4 551,401 SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO: a _- © $180,700 © ’ cash in bank - Money already spent from $595,000 infrastructure reserve “I do stand behind it be- ” cause we passed a budget, Poole says. “People say they : can’t get in (to evaluate bud- get plans) but they won’t come to.a budget meeting.” | Erasmus agrees it’s mon- ey well spent, he just wants “to see steps taken to put the high-priced drawings in ef- ‘fect. < ° , * “YT think ‘you have to spend that in order to get these. projects done,” he said. “You can "t escape that for public buildings.” Hockey league grills council hopefuls — By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN _ Smyth says rink users are tired of competing lf Terrace i is indeed the hub of the Northwest it CITY COUNCIL hopefuls will receive surveys . in the mail this week quizzing them about their position on building the proposed second sheet of ice at the arena, The survey was compiled by the Terrace Men’s Recreational Hockey League as a guide for its members in making their choice for municipal ' councillors Nov. 19. . “The intention behind it is ‘to, I guess, pick ‘a slate of candidates that best meets our needs or would help advance our goals,” spokesman Steve Smyth, adding the league’s members overwhelmingly want to see the second sheet of ice go ahead, even if it means the city must borrow money. “From .the way we understand it, there are people on council who have tried to advance our cause and have received minimal or no coopera- tion from others on council,” he says. “If someone has been advocating behind the scenes we need to know about it so we can give them our support.” The results of the survey will be shared with the league’s more than 200 members and mem- ~ bers of the Terrace Minor Hockey Association and Terrace Skating Club. for much sought-after ice time and when surplus ice time is available it can be at unreasonable hours. ; Says league ~ “This is the equivalent of promising a kid a bicyle for 10 years...eventually the kid says” look, either buy the bicycle or stop saying you will,” — ~ Steve Smyth For instance, Smyth says his team currently plays Saturday and Sunday nights at 11 p.m. That - means players don’t get off the ice until 12:30 a.m. and many don’t get home until 1 a.m. | “You are so shot from the adrenaline of the game you don’t get to bed until two or three in the morning,” Smyth says, adding fa second sheet of ice will open up more reasonable times. Having a second sheet of ice, regardless of where it’s located or what other facilities are in- cluded with it, is necessary for a city the size of Terrace, he says. must move quickly to cement that image by back- ing it up with recreational facilities that can meet — the needs of the community. . Terrace is slated to host the 2010 Winter Games ~ a bid it won in part because the bid proposal in- cluded a second sheet of ice. If it is not built by then, the consequences could mean the elimina- tion of some ice-based events and could tarnish Terrace’s reputation for hosting further events. “We’ll be going to Kitimat for support or we’ll be deleting events,” Smyth says. The city has been pondering a second sheet of ice since 1994. It has gone through two failed referenda, dozens of design concepts and numer- ous names including the famed “multiplex”, the “sportsplex” and now is more commonly referred _ to as the second sheet of ice project. Smyth says it’s high time the city just made a decision to proceed, whatever it takes, or axe the whole thing entirely. “This is the equivalent of promising a kid a bi- cycle for Christmas for 10 years,” he says. “Even- tually the kid says look, either buy the bicycle or stop saying you will.” “We need to overcome this inertia.” The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Yeliow line mystery Dear Sir: In the spring of 2004, we read an article in The Terrace Standard about circle’s on Jean Thomson’s lawn. It was surmised they were made by aliens from outer space. I live at Lakelse Lake and frequently travel the Beam _Station road. I think those aliens are back. As you drive along the road there very strange coloured markings to be seen; white, blue, green and yellow These are not the same aliens as Jean’s. I imagine this - ‘ group to be more like the Irish “Little People”, full of fun and mischief. , They skip and dance along the road with cans of. paint : and a paint brush. They paint circles, and straight lines, and squiggly lines. 8 Fairly close to Sunset Kennels the “yellow team” had , a party and squiggled yellow markings right across the road. Closer to the airport fence ¢ one little. fellow. ‘was prob- “ably on a skate board, and squiggled a looooon-----curvy line down the centre of the road. What fun they had. | my : O.K. we all know it was the road repair crew. Or was — it? ,, Renee Cox, Terrace B.C. - Don’t blame all truckers © ‘Dear Sir: Your recent editorial regarding the recent accident that . -killed two Terrace residents presents a poorly | researched . ~ series of half truths and folk lore that need to be clarified. While the incident that killed Dick Brown and Dean Ganson can only be'described as a‘horrible tragedy, your article implying widespread drug use and criminal behav- iour amongst truck drivers can at best be called sensation- >alism and uninformed journalism. GP The overwhelming majority of commercial ‘truck driv: ; ers accumulate millions of kilometers of accident free | miles under the most: rigorous conditions imaginable. Most drivers: are professionals trying to earn a living for . themselves and their families. To portray them as drug” crazed fiends roaring: up and down. the highway creating carnage is irresponsible at best and does nothing for pub- lic confidence. While I don’t have’ studies to back me up, I would sug- gest more accidents are caused by people driving vehicles | while talking on cell phones, balancing cheque books and - © yelling at kids in the back seat than are caused by certi- o fied commercial drivers trying toearna living on the same LO "roads, - The overwhelming majority. of the drivers in BC are well trained professionals who operate their vehicles i in.a safe, responsible manner. I feel. more secure meeting one” of them on the highway than I do when meeting a retired - | 70 year-old-lawyer driving his new. 60-foot motor. home -on his quest to discover Alaska. fo . Your article makes mention of airline pilots being sub- _ jected to regular medical exams. What you may not know © is that commercial drivers are also subjected to regular medical exams in order to maintain their certification. _Jheir. vehicles are also subjected to, scheduled “tions pete "ihore Sule pine thn ‘any, ues - hicle occupying the same highway. __ There is no doubt the accident in question was horrible . and quite possibly preventable but no amount of armed enforcement officers in shiny SUVs, well meaning laws. or roadside inspections are going to solve the problem of . _ ahomicidal maniac at the wheel of any sized vehicle - I believe you and this paper owe an apology to all professional ‘drivers whose integrity and skill you call into question with your editorial. Steve Smyth, Terrace, B. C. Let’ s hear it for trustees Dear Sir: I would like to commend the trustees of ‘the Coast Mountain School District for their conscientious approach ‘to the current dispute between the Liberal government _ and the BC Teachers’ Federation. Their decision to take~ a public stand at this juncture is a fine example to our stu- dents of how to deal with bullies. This stands in stark contrast to the attitude of the B. c. Council of Parent Advisory Councils and their local fran- chisees who, in a media blitz on Oct. 19, entered the fray... with the astonishing assertion’ that members ‘strongly ‘agree that until Oct. 7 [the day that the teachers withdrew | their services], there was no crisis in our public education system. What utter twaddle! , Under the B.C. Liberals our board of trustees has had to preside over school closures and shortened school weeks. Classroom sizes have soared to dysfunctional and occa- sionally dangerous levels and support for: special needs. students have eroded. The education of all of our students has suffered as _ teachers and administrators have tried to cope with the un-copable. No crisis in the public education system? ~ The principal part of the problem with public educa- tion in B.C. is the Liberal idiotic funding formula which dictates that school funding is assigned on a per student basis. highways, based on the relatively small number of resi- _ - dents along the Yellowhead Highway our allotment of — pavement would amount to a single rutted track. There are imperatives in providing quality education to - ,our children that similarly cannot possibly be met under Victoria’s current simpleton-minded ‘approach. I’m.sure I’m not alone in thinking that there is a sig- "nificant difference between standing up for the law as op- .. posed to hiding behind it. This is not the first time this government has arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed a contract. Recently, the province’s Crown Counsels had a binding arbitration summarily over-ruled by government. legislation. The teachers’ last attempt at negotiating an agreement was similarly overthrown by arbitrary legis- lation that amongst other things removed class size and composition from the negotiating table. ' For that move, the government was slammed by the International Labour Organization of the U.N. Victoria’s | response? The whole matter was dismissed as “frivolous, ~ vexatious, political and trivial”. I beg to differ. It s about the quality education of our children.’ John How, Lakelse Lake, B.C, About the Mail Bag - The Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our address is 3210 Clinton St., Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at newsroom @terracestandard.com. No attachments, please. Name, address andphonenumber requiredfor verification. { | { { a ( i ( ' c If the same critical mass theory were applied to.