Terrace ploneer Ted Johnston presented a copy of his book, "Terrace: 1890 to 1918", to the city
at recent council meeting. Johnston searched Victoria archives for several years before having a
- Prince Rupert writer put his words to paper, and while thanking Johnston for the gift mayor Jack
Talstra noted that it will be a valuable source for naming new city streets, “It even has some Dutch
names," he observed with delight.

‘Terrace Review — Wednesday, September 26, 1990 A9

It's a nuisance —

Terrace city council recently
dealt with one unsightly premises
charge under their Nuisance Bylaw
with understanding, but a similar
charge against a second Terrace
resident won’t be getting the same
treatment. Dean Ganson told coun-
cil he has operated his business,
Ganson Timber Ltd., from private
residential property at 5030 Agar
Ave. for 22 years and he needs
time to remove old equipment and.

spare parts from his yard. At least —

a year, And after a lengthy dis-

- cussion city aldermen agreed that -
" ‘was reasonable.

Another resident, though,
Anthony Iamele of 2707-2801
Cramer St. hasn’t shown the same
willingness to cooperate with the
city. As was the case with Ganson,
a date was set for a public hearing
and lamele was invited to explain
to council and his neighbours why
he shouldn’t be forced to remove
his commercial enterprise from a
residential neighbourhood. But
three city aldermen and three of
Iamele’s neighbours showed up at

the appointed time and place and. Ste

Jamele failed to show.
This no-show didn’t sit well with ~~
city officials. It was pointed out

that he had been invited through

his daughter-in-law as well as a.
message on his personal answering
machine and there was little doubt
that the message had been
received.

In Iamele’s absence, city planner
Marvin Kamenz summarized the ©
history of the two properties in
question and noted complaints .
dating back to 1986. In conclusion,
Kamenz told those in attendance
that Iamele was using his property
in a non-conforming and illegal
manner and then recommended
that the city enforce the city’s
bylaws in order to correct the
situation.

City aldermen agreed, They have
asked their solicitor for a legal
opinion and direction as to the best
method to ensure Iamele cleans up
his property and conforms with the
permitted uses of his property in
the future.

Library board decides city offer too: ‘vague

by Tod Strachan

In 1988, the board of directors
for the Terrace Public -Library
unvieled plans for an expansion
project that would take the local
library into the year 2010. It was a
time of optimism and excitement
for many Terrace residents and the
future looked bright, Particularly
when we were just entering an era

TERRACE

of expanded awareness of the
extent of illiteracy in our country.
But during that same year, other

plans were afoot. Most everyone |

agreed that enlarging our library
was something we would have to
do, eventually. But on the other
hand a community convention
centre might do more for economic
development in our community.
In November, 1988 the library

TOURISM IS GOCD BUSINESS — GENERATING DOLLARS THAT
MULTIPLY AS THEY CIRCULATE THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY!
AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE SCENERY IS, VISITORS WILL BEST REMEMBER
THE WAY THEY WERE TREATED: BY. THE FOLKS WHO LIVE HERE.
JULIUS KOMLOS IS A SENIOR SAWMILL SUPERVISOR AT SKEENA
CELLULOSE. ;HE GAME TO TERRACE IN 1957 AFTER LEAVING
HUNGARY, JULIUS LOVES THE SPECTACULAR BEAUTY AND THE
FRIENDLY PEOPLE IN THIS PLACE HE CALLS HOME.

TERR ACE & PIStRIC CHAM BEle

WILLA’ SSISTANG | 1ROM THE CiY of TTRRACE

OF C OMMERCE :

board presented the city with an
official paper outlining their ex-
pansion proposal and desire to go
to referendum in November, 1990.
The plan called for extensive reno-
vations to the existing facility and
the addition of about 3,800 square
feet to both the main floor and
basement: The cost ‘of the project

‘was estimated at $870,000, and

that has since been updated to an
even $1 million.

Ten months later, however, the
city announced they had purchased
five acres of land behind the

. courthouse for $140,000. There

was no official statement, but it

_ was suggested that the property

might one day be the sight of a
community convention centre.
From this point, the city coun-
cil’s main drive centred on the
community convention centre. In
February of this year they hired
Strong Communities in the 90’s
facilitator Doug Smith. Smith
identified four top priority items.

One was a community convention
centre but. the library expansion
wasn’t on the list.

In Aprit, mayor Jack Talstra said
it was the city’s intention to take
the community convention centre
io referendum during the Novem-
ber election and the library refer-
endum would have to wait until
1991... a non-election year.

In May the library board was
told by a B.C, Lottery official that
their grant application had been
put on hold pending the 1991
referendum, and in June city coun-
cil released an official $4.5 million
community convention centre
proposal and preliminary design
drawings. There was a minor hitch,

though. The project couldn't go-

ahead, said Talstra, unless the

province kicked in one-half of the

cost.
More recently, the city asked the

library board to join them, in their

convention centre project, offering
to make space in the facility for a
larget, newer library. This invita-
tion came from a July 16 joint

meeting of the library board and
city council, and a letter further
outlining the proposal was received
by the board a short time later.
According to the letter, the con-
vention centre library space would
be a little smaller than the board's
proposed expansion of their exist-
ing ‘building but "other space"

would ‘be available and it would -

meet the needs of the library for
the next 20 years.

The library board had to consider
this offer at their board meeting
last week. It was their first meet-
ing since June, and after a lengthy
discussion a sense of insecurity
prevailed. The letter really only
offered a vague proposal with no
real promise. There were no plans,
no funding commitment... and
there would be no 1990 referen-
dum for the community convention
centre. It was too late for the city
to put it on the November agenda.

And there were other concems.
Does the public want the library
moved? Or would they rather have
it stay where it is... even without
the expansion? For many people,
the board feels, there is a certain
nostalgia and identity with the
present building. Should that be
preserved as a part of the com-
munity fabric or destroyed in
favour of sleek new. quarters? And
what are the potential problems of
combining a library with a conven-
tion centre? ;

There is now a suggestion that a
licensed restaurant might be
included in the plan. If there is
even a remote possibility that the
well-being of children visiting the
library would be compromised by
the presence of a.restaurant with a
liquor licence, and at the same
time a convention with hundreds of

out-of-town visitors, should such a.

move even be considered? About
one-third of all library patrons are
children.

George Clark couldn't attend the
board meeting but he did submit a
letter so that his views on the
proposal could be added to the

official record. There was almost
universal agreement with Clark’s
views. The location of the pro-
posed centre is less desirable than
the location of the present library.
Multiple use is not conducive to a
library, and the present building is
more suitable... even without an
expansion.

And there was a final concern.
What kind of a commitment would
the board be making? What if the
$4.5 million estimated cost of a
community convention centre
suddenly escalated to $6 million or
$8 million? How would that affect
the board’s involvement in the
financial structure of the project?

Board chairman Willy Schneider
called for a secret ballot on the
city’s proposal. But that wasn’t to
happen. As the board discussed the
idea of integration one thing
became clear. There were tco
many unanswered questions. Too -
may "ifs". Instead, the board has
sent a letter back to the city asking
for another meeting. ,

This puts the ball back in the
city’s court, but council may have
difficulty with a simple truth that
seems to be in the process of being
written into our history. The
library expansion project offers
security... but the community con-
vention centre, at this point in
time, seems only to offer uncer-
tainty.

Obvioully more work is required
here and while that is being done
perhaps the city might want to
reflect on a part of our history that -
has already been written. Twenty-
seven years ago, the city tried to
convince the library board it would
be in their best interest to integrate
the library with the new city hail.

That offer was declined. For a
number of reasons, the board of
the day said they believed the
library should be housed in build-
ing of its own. That decision was
delivered to city counil in person
by a Mrs. Pem and a Mrs. A.
Cambrin on Tuesday, Oct. coll
1963.