rar

weep

"TERRACE — Mining com-

le RS

Sear

oe a ee Oe aNd

a TR cee oc

panies are expected to soon tell
the provincial government they
disagree with how much money

‘they're expected to pay for a

road into the Iskut Valley.
Their Position will be based

‘ona critique ofa mines ministry
Teport which states mining com-

panies ‘will benefit the ‘most -
from the proposed 60km road

leading. from ‘Hwy37 at’ Bob

Quinn Lake into the Iskut.

That report has not yet been
released but information which

‘et PAM tn Sa tea

has - ‘come: ‘ iit. “indicate it

downplays" forest resource ©

values in the Iskut area and says
‘there is little benefit for recrea-
‘ tion and’ tourism,

That's ‘considered important
because the value ‘of. all the .

resources in the area to. which

, the road will provide access will

determine how" much each in-
dustry should contribute to con-
struction costs. - nee

All: parties involved in the

negotiations on. how to finante. -
the road ‘say talks are now in the

ASSEMAL Y

LEGISLATIVE
FARL CAMERT BING
ATTME Fav. CORI
YIETORIA RC
VEU TNS

TTT BOUNCES ters gra Rie at

; PARES a to

CAN

oo ilitien ere Ub

critical stage.

Mining companies have in the
past sald that since the road will
be used by ‘more users then

_ themselves, construction should
be the responsibility of the pro-
vincial ‘government ‘and costs

‘paid back: through a toll-fee.

‘That’ goes against - the pro-
vince’s position of. having the

mining. companies take on the -

majority of the financing
because of the benef ts it says
they will ‘enjoy...

. Recess, to the area ig ‘now

Penact _ ~ Beginning this

‘main’ protection vehicle for
‘the city and for Thornhill.

dd‘ tiad: one
We

showpiece)’

erestoring ‘an old ‘fire
ae once served as the -

epartment was all. volunteer :

vorking ‘order, "
. thine ‘thin

FIREMEN SHAUNCE Krulsselbrink and Richard’ Owens peer through the door: of No.2, 21951
"Fargo truck converted into a firetruck. It served’ the clty for years and was retired in the
. mid-1970s, Volunteer firemen will restore the vehicle for use in parades and other furtions,

4 ~ Window \ ‘to the past

“Kruisselbiink ‘said. of. ‘the: L
voluntéer ; firenien’s ry associa.
-tion-project. |

‘Heritage Park ‘has: as fire.

; truck: ‘from Kitimat and. from:
» ‘Tranquille. (near: ‘Ramloops)
already,’’ he said...

‘The. ‘six-cylinder ‘Fargo °.
served: until the.’ mid-1970s'
when a larger. truck ‘replaced.

vite Although ‘it-was.retired:as. ;

a: fite’ fighting ‘vehicle, the :

'Fargo’s front pump, has‘seen -

Se." use'as a booster for the city’s \-_
* Water pumping .needs, when”

This ei be the

into a fire fighting veliicle.
by the Green brothers, Dick *

: oft the city’s past on Page AS.
~ fa mark Heritage: Week, -. vou.

"worked on the truck...
The original ‘conversion ,
‘came when voluntee? firemen
Purchased: the flat’ ‘bed in
1952 for $500 from Terrace.’
Motors which had ‘bought in
from : -McAdams..: Don-
Parmeniter: ‘and Lucky: Noel
then transformed the flat bed _

. It was rebuilt again in 1960...:

‘and Fred, and Parmenter,
‘Fite: ‘chief Cliff, Best, said

tl thé. Fargo < had : ae Tong and.

‘seful ‘lifé:and: was! ‘involved

rldge caught fite, the Fargo
Was nosed into the: Skeena
River ‘80> the front” pump,
could: provide: water. to Aight
thé-blaze, he sald.

‘You'll find more “articles

a5 preparations are tanilerway

Setup

also tésponsible for

peel are er a ee Fig wse:

restricted to alr travel. Skyline
Gold, the one operating mine in.
the Iskut, uses Wrangell,

Alaska as a‘staging base as do
companies doing exploration

‘and development in the area.

A provincial :road . ‘study |

-Yeleased last fall stated road ac-

cess would lead to more mineral
development in the iskut and to -

benefits for northern com- .

munities ‘which would then act
as service.centers,

. Skeena MLA . and
minister Dave Parker,

lands
who is
northern

development, said last week the
parties involved in the. financing
negotiations are now waiting
for. the mining companies’ criti-
que,

And although he said mining
companies will benefit, timber
, Values contained in the mines
“ministry Teport go against
figures he has.

“it?s at the point of what pro-
portion those (road . construc-
tion) will be — what comes
from government and what will
come from tke mining com-
Panies, That'll lead to the nitty-

CES ANDAR

sritty,” said Parker.
When Parker was forests
minister, he committed the

ministry to provide road:con- .°

struction money through a pro-

‘gram to help smaller forest 2,

companies.
And because - Parker no

longer is in charge of forests, he .- 2
said it is now more diffi cult to -
- press-homé-his point:

_ Parker added that the cabinet
committee on sustainable

development will soon. -be

cont'd A2

45 workers gone
as mill lays off _

TERRACE — Skeena Sawmills
is blaming a shortage of
economically priced logs for Jast
week’s decision to lay off 45
employees March 9,

Mill manager Don Chesley
said 31 employees would be laid
off when the graveyard shift in
the sawmill was ends March 9
and a further 14 will lose their
jobs in the planer mill in early
June, :

The layoffs will reduce the
number of shifts from three to
two, Three shifts have been
operating at the mill since 1986,

Emphasizing the problem was
one of wood supply, Chesley

said the mill required 950,000
| cu.m, of Jogs ‘a-year. to-tun 4 .-
three . ShIfG-systeni. xHowever, 7

* “Our own ‘tenures only:pravide
a Chesiey Said.

about half that,?!. the added; -
Until now, ‘the company had

‘been able to. make up the dif-

ference by purchasing logs on
the open market. Those logs
were still available, but no
longer at an economic Price,

Don Chesley

When the third shift was in-
‘troduced:in 1986, the company
was able to buy logs at $28-30
per cubic metre, That price had
now risen to as much as $46 but
there had been no equivalent in-

Highways ratings
|} Kept in private |

TERRACE — Highways
ministry officials have refused
to release performance ratings
of the private companies now
doing road work,

Ministry spokesman David
Baker compared the companies
to employees and the ministry
to an employer in giving his
reasons.

“It's no different from an.

employer-employee relation-
ship,” said Baker in adding
such matters are normally kept
confidential,

The ratings are based on the
ministry’s . quality.“ assurance
program introduced to measure
the work of the private com-
panies when they: ‘assumed road

and bridge maintenance in.
” 1988, .

Highways ministry managers
grade the companies in certain
specific ‘areas such as when

roads are cleared. after a

snowfall and assign points for
completion of each. task and

how it was accomplished, The

areas are laid out in the con-
tracts the mintistry has with each

company,
Ministry officials also meet

regularly with company
representatives to go over
reporis. They have the option of
issuing notices telling the com-
panies they are not performing
to the contract and to instruct
them to do so,

Local highways district

‘manager John Newhouse called

the assurance program ratings
system complicated and that
there is a danger they might be
taken out of context,

“In general they are doing
well,”” said Newhouse of the
companies, ‘There are some
areas at times where we may
talk to them and they recognize
‘that and take action.”

He said a driver’s perception
of how roads.are being cleared
of snow may often rest upon
when the highway is travelled.

One driver may be just ahead
of snowplow and have a low
opinion, while another one may
be just behind and have the opi-
nion ‘there is. no problem,
Newhouse said,

Contracts with the companies
are due to come up-for bid and

_hegotiation in the middle of

LDL:

crease in lumber prices:

Attributing the raw log price
hikes to increasing) demand
chasing decreasing supply,
Chesley said greater log con-
sumption by mills elsewhere in
the region, a five per cent cut in
timber companies’ annual
allowable cut ‘and the export
(of logs) in the north end of the
province” were all contributing
factors,

While he conceded Stewart
residents were unlikely to agree,
Chesley pointed out West
Fraser, operators of Skeena
Sawmills, had consistently op-
posed whole log exports. The
high prices obtained for logs be-

~ ing shipped out of Stewart ef-

. fected West.Fraser’s ability to
“buy what it needed, he added.

However, although an export
ban would Likely mean the com-
pany would be able to secure
part of that supply, he could not
predict whether it would be
enough to reinstate the third
shift,

Chesley said lay-offs would
be on a last in-first out seniority
basis, in line with the
company’s contract with the
IWA. He estimated the seniori-
ty cut-off date as late 1986 to
early 1987. Those laid-off
would have recall rights under
which they would be offered a
job as vacancies occurred.

While acknowledging the cut-
back would come as ‘“'bad

news’’ to those losing their jobs,
he said the measure had been
taken to ensure the continued
viability of the remaining two
shifts. The future of the remain-
ing workers was assured, he ad-
ded.

> © )ERRACE _ A company.

- which -offers tax benefits: in
- ““'getdrn for investing in Shames

“*Monntain now has nine’ in-
“vestors, says its President: ,
‘Wayne. Braid . of - Shames
ountain (VCC) Ski Corpora:
jon (the VCC stands for ven--
ture capital corporation): said:

-{hat number is up four from the
‘ilme 'it-was created last year and

estors are being contacted, :

Ly

t additional. potential - in-

énturé capital corpordtions « j
provide. tax ‘credtite, equal t 16:30

case of the Shames YCC with its

minimum. $5,000: investment, |

the credit is worth $1,500. An
investor must hold the shares at
least: seven. ‘years in’
‘qualify for the tax break,.”.

ed. -on'S0. investors each .
in the veiains $5.00

. per. cent of an n investinent, In the.

order to.
The:
_Shames VCC is-not part of the.

Shames Mountain Ski Corpora-
Hon, but.Is expected to dnyest-_. .
“ment up to $250,000. of ‘the.

- estimated $1,5 million needled to.
open the mountain, That figure “bu
“ds ‘based:

capital

amount,

George Clark, who sits on the
Shames VCC committee look-
ing for investors, says it has

, Seven additional people ready to
invest. and a like number who
are interested.

“We'd like. to: ‘have the max-

isn’t like that,’*. Clark said.
“He added that’ January and

. February are the main RRSP

ying. months: ‘and

f atid that might
“be: pking away”

potential

imum number. today, but life