Society
worried

THE CANADIAN Cancer
Society wants to let BC resi-
dents know that it doesn’t
solicit donations by phone,

B.C. residents have
received phone calls lately
on behalf of Candelighters,
a legal organization in New
Brunswick which raises
money for children with
cancer,

However the — cancer
society is worried that resi-
dents might confuse Cand-
lelighters with itself, since
the name of the organization
may be said quickly.

However, canvassers from
the Canadian Cancer
Society will be knocking on
doors in April. They'll have
complete identification and
literature, and will always
issue receipts,

@ Early start

THE TERRACE Beautification Society Is getting a very early start on its
projects, Chris Hansen arranged for a 100 loads of dirt to be dumped on the
slope next to the Saan store, and hopes to plant grass there this spring. If you
have an eyesore you'd like to fix, come to the meeting Mar. 5, 7 pm atcity hall.

City, district battle
over who pays bills

THE CITY of Terrace and the regional dis-
trict will meet again this week to try and
work oul a cost-sharing agreement between
the two communities.

The two sides have met twice already to
talk about sharing costs for services that
benefit both communities, but are only paid
for by one.

The meetings were prompted when Jack
Talstra, Terrace mayor and a city director
on the regional district board, wanted to in-
clude a $70,000 payment to the city in the
new regional district budget.

Talstra said residents in the outlying areas
mistakenly use the Terrace fire depart-
ment’s dispatch service all the time, but
hardly pay anything for the service.

Terrace fire chicf Randy Smith also pre-
sented records of hundreds of calls to the
dispatcher from Thornhill residents in
1997,

Dispatchers “relay the information to
emergency services such as the Thornhill
fire department, Terrace Search and Res-
cue, the ambulance service or to the RCMP,

“When people are in trouble, who are
they going to call?’* Smith asked.
“Generally they call the fire department.”
The Terrace fire department’s dispatch
service cosis the city $210,000 to run 24.
hours a day, all year round. Outlying areas
of the regional district only contribute
$10,000 annually to that service.

And Talstra said that wasn’t enough. -

Something has to be done,” he said.
“It’s a very difficult situation for us.”’

Thornhill director Les Watmough agreed
that cost-sharing arrangements should be
looked at with the city, but the motion was
tabled until after the tvo groups met to ne-
gotiate a deal.

At those meetings last weck, Watmough
and regional district staff countered Ter-
Tace’s argument, saying that Thornhill pro-
vided services to Terrace, free of charge as

4

Jack Talstra Les Watmough
well.

‘“‘We share what we have and they share
what they have,” Watnough says, “By the
end of the day we probably come out
even.”

Watmough points out that while Terrace
has the arena, Thornhill has the golf course,
and while Terrace has Heritage Park,
Thornhill has the gymnastics club. Both
communities provide tax breaks and other
benefits to many such groups.

One possible solution being considered is
the creation,of 4 committee that will handle
services which provide regional benefit.
The cily and the regional district would

‘then pay for projects approved by the com-

mittee according to a formula — generally
71 per cent coming from Terrace and 29
per cent from Thornhill.

Watmough says that may work, but it will
also create another level of bureaucracy.

“And you have to’make sure you have
some pretty frugal people on the com-
mittee,’’ he says,

The two sides will meet again tomorrow
night to try to come to some sort of an
agreement before both communities’
budgets are finalized for the year,

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635-TIPS

6 Months % 04.0.

Program Runs Until December 31/98

Interest

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Phone:635-7131 ¢ Fax: 635-4831

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