How much can be cut?

The chief forester’s in town this *
week figuring out future logging in
the North Kalum\NEWS A8 |

She’s bound for China

Jean Thomson's heading to China’
this May for her third tour in four
years\COMMUNITY B1

Solid gold showing

Downhill skier Jana Trappl sped to
the only local victory at the
northern ZONES\SPORTS C1

WEDNESDAY -
JANUARY 18, 1995

THE CITY’S drive to reduce sub-
sidies of the pool and arena will
translate to sharp increases in
user fees this year.

At the pool, single admission
tickets will rise between seven
and 11 per cent while adult group
rentals will also go up 11 per
cent.

Skating rates will climb from
seven to 17 per cent and the adult
rental charge jumps 9.9 per cent,

But those increases pale next to
the hike faced by youth groups
renting either facility,

The Blueback swim club will
find itself paying $45 per hour,
up 38 per cent, while ice users
will have to fork over $50, an in-

crease of 37 per cent.
Those figures have provoked

howls. of protest from several |

youth sports groups (see story on
Page A3).

Recreation superintendent Steve
Scott explained the new rates
were drawn up to match council’s
objective of achieving a better
recovery rate on facilities.

In 1993, he said, the council of
the day approved a three-year
plan to reduce the level of sub-
sidy to 50 per cent.

However, the. current council
decided it wanted to do better
than that, hence the increases.

Scott estimated revenues will
cover 54 per cent of the aicna

costs this year and the figure for
the pool will be approximately 58
per cent,

The big jump for youth groups
reflected a council decision to
peg those rates at half the adult
group rental rate, he added.

Councillor Rich McDaniel, who

recently took cver chairmanship .

of council’s. recreation com-
mittee, said the rate increases had
to be taken in context of the
entire city operation.

Pointing out the city had to find
the moncy for infrastructure im-
provements such as roads, he
added, ‘People have got to start
paying their way.’’

Snowy silhouette

ALPINE-TOURING SKIER Alan Gilchrist scans the spec-
tacular horizon from a high ridge atop Shames Mountain on

a crystal clear, indigo-biue sky day. He climbed several hun-
dred feet above the resort's lili system to get the view.

City cuts senior positions

By JEFF NAGEL

CITY COUNCIL’s decision to
climinate three administrators is
sending shock waves through cily
hall.

Gone are direclor of permits
and licensing Bob Lafleur, public
works direclor of operations John
Colongard. and . waier/sewer
branch head Charles Hansen.

All were given severance pack-
ages in lieu af notice. Details
weren't released although
estimates place the total at. well
over $100,000.

Last week’s dismissals - were
aimed at. cutting costs and sent
the signal that nobody is safe
from budgel-trimming knives.

“Council is taking a very long
and hard look at the entire opera-
tions of the City of Terrace,”
mayor Jack Talstra said,

“I don’t want to sound ominous
or anything, but we’re going to be
looking at other departments with
a view to making them as effi-
cient as possible.”’

Council’s finance, personnel
and administration committee
will take a hard look at each de-
partment through the year, he
sald.

“It may mean some shifting

around,” Talstra said, ‘‘But we
don’t anticipate any ‘further
layoffs for a while.”

Talstra said Lafleur, Colongard
and Hansen weren't dismissed for
cause, adding the three did their
jobs well.

But he said it appeared the city
could eliminate the positions and
tansfer the workload to other
staff.

“"H’s always a bit of a shock to
the systern,’’ Talstra said. ‘‘These
are teal people that you've dealt
with for a long time: that have
friends in the system, It's not an
casy thing to do — it’s not easy
for me anyway.’”

Council] _ unanimously passed
councillor Gordon Huli’s motion
fo eliminate ihe positions at an in-
camera council mecling last
week. Houll’s chairman of the
public works committee. -

The decision came the same
night that council approved plans
to end its city-subsidized com-
mercial garbage collection and
lcave that business to private
companies like Riverside Dis-
posal. That move eliminates two
unionized staff positions,

Also. passed that night was a:

new. staffing policy. -— proposed

by councillors Ed Graydon and
David Hull — that states new or
existing positions that become
vacant will only be filled after a
two-thirds majority resolution of
city council. Ruth Hallock was
the only councillor to vote against
the so-called hiring freeze,

Councillors have already indi-
cated they intend to contract out
as many public works projects as
possible in 1995,

It all adds up to the most ag-

gressive attack on city spending .

and inefficiency in years.

“The aim is to be as productive
as we can be using the least
amount of money from the tax-
payer as possible,”’ Talstra said,

He ssid council's first step was
to go through the budget and ‘‘cut
every scrap of fat that we could
find.’*

The second stape, he added, is
to go through all city departments
and examine staffing,

‘*We're cutting down,’ ‘Falstra
said, ‘‘We don’t think we're com-
promising the efficiency of the
city in its operations, And at the
same time we think we're saving
some money for the taxpayer,”’

Severance packages for the

fired employees mean that the

city will sec litde if any of the
savings from the administration
shakeup in the 1995 budget year.

“The real savings in terms of
hard money won’t happen until
the last quarter of this year and
into the following year,”’ Talstra
sald.

-None of the three will be re-
placed.

Colongard and Hansen had
worked for the city for 20 and 26
years, respectively,

Lafleur, a relative newcomer to
the city’s bureaucracy, oversaw
licensing and permits for a con-
struction boom in the city which
has exceeded $20 a million a year
for the past three years.

City administrator Bob Hallsor
will oversee bylaw enforcement
and building inspection, which is
carried out by senior building in-
spector Paul Gipps.

Business licensing and animal
control will_ now report to city
treasurer Keith Norman.

Some of the work done by the
director of operations will be
added to director of engineering
Stew Christensen’s duties, and
the rest will-be dispersed to other
public works employees.

He also noted a check of com-
parable sized communities in the
province showed ‘that even at the
new levels, Terrace’s recreation
user fees were not the highest.

However, if there were con-
cems about the increases, ‘“We
will look at them. That’s what
we're here for.”

McDaniel invited people to
phone him on the subject,

The move to hike recreation
fees is but one of several being
made by council to cut its costs
and raise revenues,

It’s already decided to get out
of the commercial garbage collec-
tion business and last week, cut
three of its senior staffers.

Bg 75¢ PLUS se ast
a VOL. 7.NO. 40 7

Recreation to cost a lot more

Rich McDaniel

Thornhill

doubts city
grant plan |

By JEFF NAGEL
THORNEILL TAXPAYERS are
not impressed with Terrace city
council's. idea that it can give
away their money. .

Peggy Julseth, Thornhill’s
director on the Kitimat-Stikine

‘ regional district board, says her

phone has been ringing ‘‘quite
regularly” since the issue came
up.

Council late last year approved
councillar David Hull’s sugyes-
tion that the city attempt to get
rural areas, including Thomhill,
to start sharing the cost of sup-
porting community organizations,

Hull has a list of $130,000
worth of city grants to groups like
the Chamber of Commerce, the
Terrace Beautification Society,
and Terrace Victims Assistance
Program.

The idea would have to be ap-
proved by the regional district
board,

But there’s some chance the
board would pass such a motion
— over the objections of Thom-
hill — because representatives
from other parts of the regional
district don’t like the amount of
the district’s time Thomhill con-
sumes.

There’s nothing directors from |

the Hazeltons, Telegiaph Creek
or Stewart would like better than
to sce Thornhill leave the

regional district and either in-.
corporate or. amalgamate. with.

Terrace.

Approving a Terrace cash. pnb
would underscore the fact that
Thormbill has only one represen-
tative on the board for several
thousand people and could ‘help
prod them to stand on theirown..

Julseth says the possibility bas
Thornhill residents so worked up
that it could threaten the regional
district’s process to examine Pos-
sible restructuring.

“Pm not terribly happy about
it,’”’ Julscth said. ‘'T think it’s af-
fecting our restructure study and I
object to having things jammed
down our throats.” -

Both Julscth and Thornbill’s
previous director, Les’ “‘Wat-
mough, sat in at last week’s cily
council mecting to observe the
proceedings:

Watmough suggests the councit
initiative will - only . .alienate
Thorahill.

“TE they want amalgamation
this is certainly not the way to > Bo
about it,”’ he said.

Pig hinds slammed the move.

S “taxation without represent
tion. ”
“Terrace is giving away our
money without our consent.
Where are these guys at?”

Cont'd Page A2

A NEW ultrasound machine
for Mills Memorial Hospital
has been ordered and should
be installed within weeks.

Michael Leisinger of the
Terrace Regional Health Care
Society said the firm Accuson
was chosen among four bid-
ders,

“We're paying less than
what we had expected, which
is nice,’” said Leisinger of the
$174,000 cost.

Health care officials had
estimated the new device
would cost $220,000.

Accuson’s bid includes the
price lag for sending .two
people from Mills away on a
training course,

The device will replace an
older ultrasound. machine
which, will still functional, 1s
more than a decade old and

ogy now available.

Hospital orders
ultrasound unit

docsn’t match new technol-

Money to pay for the new
machine will come from the
Dr. RE.M. Lee Hospital. -
Foundation. a

The foundation has alrendy
raised $100,000 of the cost
through donations and efforis
from various — communily
groups and individuals. -

Mills is covering the pur-
chase ‘cost of the ultrasound
machine from its own operat-

ing capital and will be repaid

as money is riised. __.
Although medical equip-’
ment |s subject to the 7 per
cent provincial sales tax it
does get a break on n lhe federal |.
GST. . _
That break amounts to 83° ;

per cent of the 7 percent GST.

level, fy
The machine was. ordered _ -
Just before the end of 1994 in. -.
order to avold a 1995 Bree,
hike, vee ate igs

‘yt