a ee -Motelier takes WITH THE Skeena River eating its way to his back door, a Thornhill business owner has had to dip into his retirement savings to fend off the assault. Ed Gingera and his wife Helen bought the Copper River Motel in August, 1991. The property consists of two lots — the 14-unit motel sits on Lot 1 and Lot 2, adjacent and up- slrcam, is vacant, Gingera had planned to build a ae OT EDE OE EE ee eee iis The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March J, 1995 - Aa News In Brief CUPE/Board Strike deal THE CANADIAN Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 2831 and School Dis- trict 88 have reached a tenta- tive agreement on a three year ; ¢ “contract. further 24 units on Lot 2, expand- The lacal represents special ing the operation to what he [2 SRRMNBegy seo services assislants, clerical maintained was an economical level, | However, the regional district turned down his expansion ap- plication citing concerns about erosion. In: the intervening three and a half years Gingera has found out how justificd those concerns were, Gingera said since he bought the land, 25ft. of Lot 2 has been ‘lost ta the Skecna, And there has been steady erosion at the rear of the motel so that the top of the bank is only about 10f. from the buildings on the river side of the property. A measure of how much land has been lost to the river can be seen in the decision of the BC and other inside workers in , Terrace, Stewart, Kitwanga and Hazelton, Details of the agreement are not being released pending ratification votes by CUPE, the board and the BC Public School Employer’s Associa- tion. Both sides used the services of a mediator last week to come lo an agreement SD 88 sectelary-treasurer Barry Piersdorff said ratifica- lion votes are expected to be completed by this time next weck. Labour staff beefed up ch Mare! cavated, then close to 10,000 cu.ft of rock dumped to protect the bank, As to whether the 25ft. high barrier will withstand the Skeena in full flood remains to be seen. acu: structed rock quay to the east of the Copper River Motel. During the course of the three-day job, 900 yards of gravel was ex- Assessnicnt Authority to reduce the assessed value of Lot 2 from $24,700 to just $9,000. Since the spring of - 1992, Gingera has been unsuccessfully Urging the Highways department . to take action to stop the erosion by rip-rapping the bank. Having decided he couldn’t wait any longer for the province to take action, he last week hired a contractor to do the job, cashing in: some registered rctircement ‘savings to pay the up to $20,000 bill. ' Gingera is baffled why he has to foot the bill when continucd erosion would undercut the bigh- way fronlage road and eventually threaten even Hwy 16 East itself. He also claimed Highways had offered to work with the Kilimat- Stikine regional district to arrange a land swap. That would have seen him exchange the fast- disappearing Lot 2 for a piece of adjacent land on the west side of the motel site. However, Highways district manager Linda Zurkirchen said he’s mistaken in that claim. While agrecing the question of a land swap was raised ata meet- ing last summer, she pointed out the property in question belongs to the regional district, not High- ways. **There’s definitely a misunder- standing here,”’ she added. As for the threat to the frontage road, Zurkirchen pointed out that stretch ‘‘leads nowhere” so wasn't a concern. And even if the erosion began to threaten Hwy 16 East, she said il might be less expensive simply to reroute the highway than get involved in expensive and con- tinuous rip-rapping. In the meantime, Gingera is left to hope his rip-rapping will be able to withstand the baltering the Skeena will deliver when it hits spring flood, Land swap doubted IF ED GINGERA wants to nego- tiate a land swap, he’ll have to talk to the Kitimat-Stikine regional district. But even then, the district may not be able to help, says planner Tosh Yamashita. “At this point he’s been dealing with Highways,” he said last week, However, because the 1.88 " acre plot Gingera is looking for is owned by the district, it will be up to that body’s board to decide whether a deal can be made. Yamashita said he bad written to the Copper River Motel owner to advise him a formal request would ahve te be made to the dis- trict if he was intent on pursuing the idea, At the same time, be cautioned it was highly ‘unlikely the district would, or even could, make, the * Pep package 375 G + Pram. Stereo/Clock/Gass, 1+ Electric Remote Minors * Speed Control/Tilt Strg. Wal. «3.8L SEFI Engine * Power Convenience Group * Privacy Glass ' Cargo Net/Underseat Storage Bin ' Floor Mats + 4 spd. Auto O/D Trans. « Power Windows/Locks 'GL-7 Pass. Hi-Back Bucket * High Capacity Air Cond. : 4631 Keith Avenue, Terrace 635-4948 1-800-463-1128 - suggested deal. Yamashita explained the land in queslion Was given lo the district by the province on the under- standing it would be used as park- land. Therefore, he suspected provincial approval would be necded for any change of use. He noted the two parcels are divided by a Highways right of way which right have ta be maintained to meet provincial regulations regarding public ac- cess to bodies of water. Yamashita also = doubted whether the exchange would solve Gingera’s problem since the parcel he was targetling was equally susceptible to erosion, The district recognized that and therefore was unlikely to put up peimancnt structures if and when it developed the land as a park. THERE ARE soon going lo be two new industrial rela- tions officers working in the provincial employment stan- dards office here. Job offers have gone out to people who ranked al the top of a recent job competition, says regional employment slandards manager Pat Cul- linane in Prince George. The.news means the staffing level of the office will go back to what it was more than a year ago before one of two industrial relations officer was transferred out, That changed again early this year when the remaining officer took a posi- tion with another government ministry. ; The branch has been bring- ing in industrial relations of- ficers from other offices to help out. Advertised vehicles may not be exactly as shown. See one of our salesman at Terrace Totem Ford for further details. ‘Lease quotes are with $2,600 down (nel of customer cash) plus first monlhly payment and refundable security deposit. Insurance & taxes extra. Dealer No, 5548 SALES HOURS .Mon.-Sat 8am -6 pm