Smooth landing

On their toes

Feds say airport takeover is a deal
that is just too good to pass up |

on\NEWS A13

Local ballerinas take to the stage
today and tomorrow\COMMUNITY

WEDNESDAY
APRIL 17, 1996

‘Up, up and away

Local snowmobilers are going to
race their way to the top of
Shames\SPORTS B7

TANDARD =

93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST
VOL. 9 NO, 1.

Hospital escapes budget axe

MILLS MEMORIAL Hospital is going
ahead with renovation plans to save on
labour costs despite news ils budget
won'l be cut this year,

Hospital chief executive officer
Michael Leisinger said the estimated $1
million renovation is needed and there is
no guarantee its budget won’t be cut next
year or the year after,

The hospital had been expecting a
budget cut of up to $500,000 this year, a
factor that would have lead to layoffs.

Its renovation of the main aursing floor
would have centralized services and
reduced the number of people it needed

on the floor.

‘While we're certainly pleased the
budget won't be cut we have to be ready
for the future,”’ Leisinger said last week.

“Just because there’s a budget freeze
this year that doesn’t end the pressure.
We’ve got to think in more than one year
increments.’”

Premier Glen Clark announced last
week that overall hospital expenditures
will rise by 2.5 per cent this year — ap-
proximately $71 million — and that na
hospital will get less money than it did
last year.

Details of what that means weren’t

released jast week and the effect on indi-
vidual hospitals won’t be known until
the province introduces its next budget.
No date for that has been set.
Leisinger noted that even a budget
freeze means a cul because of inflation.
“We are still looking at a $150,000 to
$200,000 deficit this year. And even
with inflation at one or two per cent,
that’s a couple of hundred thousand dol-
lars will still have to find,’’ he said.
“We're still going to face pressure for
better utilization and efficiencies,’
Another unknown factor is the result of
contract negotiations now underway be-

tween hospital workers and the provin-
cial government.

Wage increases, if any, will have to
come from the hospital’s frozen budget
and that could ultimately affect the
workforce, said Leisinger,

“If there’s a freeze in wages, that
would be good news and put us in good
shape, But you have to remember that 80
per cent of our budget is spent on wages
and benefits,’’ he added,

The hospital wants to begin renova-
tions this summer and have them com-
pleted by early winter.

When finished, the main nursing floor

will have a revamped nurses’ station
with the various wards grouped around
it.

There will still be the same number of
beds — 42 —as there are now but some
will be set aside for use in case of emer-
gencics or in times of patient overflow.

If Mills Memorial’s budget is frozen
this year, it'll be the fifth straight year
this has happened.

To date that’s resulled in two series of
bed closures and layoffs which have al-
ready trimmed the hospital's wage pack-
e1 by more than $1 million.

m Signs of spring

THESE TWO LITTLE lambs are sure signs that spring is here to stay. Young Kelsey Hamer was helping
her grandmother Jean Hamer bottle feed these two little guys named Eanie and Meanie. (Their sibling, the

third triplet, is named Minie.} So far Jean has had 21 lambs born on her farm, north of town.

Nisga‘a to charge for land claim info

1

Bench could be home
of new high school

By CRIS LEYKAUF

A HIGH school on the bench.

That's where a replacement school for
Skeena Jr. Secondary might be located.

Yesterday MLA Helmut Giesbrecht
announced the education ministry had
given nearly $1 million to the Terrace
school district to plan a replacement for
Skeena,

Overcrowded and gow 43 years old,
Skeena’s been “called one of the two
worst (schools) in the province,” said
Giesbrecht,

A recent audit of Skeena showed it is
well below adequate on many key factors
including ventilation and meeting the
building code,

Right now Giesbrecht said the school
district is considering two locations for the
new school, on the existing site and on a
piece of undeveloped land on the bench
which stretches from the end of Mountain
Vista Drive across to Soucie,

“It's a 28 acre parcel,” said trustee Stew
Christensen.

That’s where the school district had been
considering building a new elementary
school. “There is room to pul two schools
on it,” said Christensen.

The land is owned by the lands ministry
but the school district currently has first
right of refusal.

Christensen didn’t know how much the
school district might have to pay for it, but
said there is a possibility it could be
bought for $1.

Some of the property nearby on Soucie
is farmland, but city planning allows for
that land to become residential.

“Today it's farmland, but tomorrow ....”

said Christensen.

The school district estimates it will cost
about $22 million to build a replacement
for Skeena.

Right now school board officials aren't
sure whether the school will be for Grades
8-10, as it is loday, or whether it-will
become a middle school, serving Grades
7-9,

That middle school option might be part
of a grander plan the school board has for
the area.

They’re also looking aut putting ina
senior high school in Thornhill: .

Another decision the education iinisiry
has to make is-how it will pay for the
Skeena replacement. :

In order to pay for construction costs,
the school district might decide to'sell the
parcel on which Skeena now sits,

“It’s a pretty substantial piece of proper-
ty,” said Christensen about Skeenn
Juntor’s present locatton on Munroe St.
and Walsh Ave.

He doesn’t know how many aeres are
there, but admils the school district could
eum quite a bit of money, if it could sell
the land as residential tots.

However, he added that it was toa soon
to tell what might happen, or where con-
struction money might come from.

“A committee has been struck to look at
where we want lo put anew school,” suid
Christensen. That committee will have to
consider what the public wants,

“Tt could create a fairly good political
problem, if Skeena is. moved to. the
bench,” said Giesbrecht.

“Would the public think it’s a good
move to bus students up there?”

Say a big hello to 615

IT’S NOT a mistake,

If you’ve seen some new local phone
numbers popping up that begin 615, they're
legit.

As of Friday only 12 of the new phone
numbers had been issued, but you can ex-
pect to see a lot more of them.

B.C. Tel spokesman Ed Ciark said the
new 615 prefix was introduced in Terrace
in March.

He said Terrace’s 635- and 638- prefixes
are simply running out of space and a new
one had to be created.

Much of the demand for new lines is to

hook up fax machines and computers.

But the introduction of cellular phone ser-
vice here in December and a new surge of
demand for phone lines forced the intraduc-
tion of the third Terrace prefix.

The other big change for this ycar will be
the change in area code to 250 for all parts
of B.C. outside the Lower Mainlaid.

The new 250 arca code for this region
Starts up in October, but there will be a pe-
riod of grace through until April, 1997,
During that time, if you dial 604 in northern
B.C. you'll get through but you'll also get a
recording reminding you of the change.

THE NISGA’A are showing their business acumen once
again by hosting a $1,000-a-person three-day seminar on
their land claim deal.

Nisga'a Tribal Council spokesman Nelson Leeson said
the May 6-8 seminar at the Vancouver Trade and Conven-
tion Centre will detail the agrcement-in-principle, how ne-
goliators reached it, and what the fulure holds,

Leeson said they heard about various agencies and in-
stitutions looking at hosting conferences on the deal.

“We gol to thinking why shoulda't it be us? We were
eclually in the room.’?

He said profits from hosting seminars and consulting will
be used to pay down the nearly $30 million the Nisga’a
have spent negolialing for the past 20 years.

“We think it’s an ideal way to put money towards

paying for those years of negotiations,’’ he said.

Those negotiating costs, which have been bankrolled by
the government, are to be deducted from the $190 million
cash part of the Nisga’a land claim selUemcnt.

The provincial government spent $3.1 million since joing
tho Nisga’a negotiations in 1990. The federal government
— which was at the negotiating table much longer —
spent more than $6 million,

The seminar includes breakfasts and ail materials, in-
cluding a video tape, and a political panel. There’s also a
$150-a-plate banquet offered to those altending.

‘*There’s a lot of interest from the corporate and business
side,” he added. ‘‘A lot of them are interested in how
we're going to do business with them later.”

Leeson said they may do similar seminars in other

places, noting there have been expressions of interest from
Kamloops, Vernon and Victoria.

Asked if the Nisga’a will hold a public meeting to better
explain their plans io a Terrace audience, he said they’re
considering it

But he said the Nisga’a would likely still charge a fee for
an appearance in Terrace, although it might not be as high
as in Vancouver,

‘We've got a dill that’s $30 million and running —
we've got io make something out of it,’’ he said. ‘‘Maybe
it won’t be stich a big charge up here,”’

Leeson said Nisga’a efforts to organize joint ventures
will benefit all northwesterners.

‘‘What we're doing is enticing business to come to the
northwest — that’s good for everybody up here.”’

Nelson Leeson

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