Board lacks bucks for wage hikes TERRACE — The school dis- trict hasn’t received enough money from the provincial government lo pay for a wage in- crease its offered teachers. School District 88’s budget will be $34.2-million this: year up 0.5 per cent from Jast year s $34, 09. million. And amost of the new money ; comes in the form of grants targeted for specific purposes, That. means-it can't be used to cover increases in areas such as teacher salaries or ulilities. The vast bulk of the budget — the $33.4 million trustees can spend at their discretion on teacher salaries and . other infla- tionary items — goes up only 0.25. per cent. “Tt doesn’t recognize infla- tion;”. said school district secretary-treasurer Bary Piersdorff . . The increase for discretionary spending amounts to only $91,600. That amount of money must cover the entire teachers’ Salary increase now being negoti- ated in addition to any inflation- ary increases in other casts. - The board’s present offer to the teachers is a. 1.8 per cent wage in- crease in each of two years, That offer, if accepted, would cost the district an additional $522,000 annually. The teachers are asking for.a three-per-cent increase, -. Piersdorff said he doesn’t know where the money will come from for teachers’ wage increases. ‘ Us like trying to sluff.10 pounds of -potatoes into a five- pound sack,” he said. - He will present school. board trustees with a series of options, but says he doesn’t yet know whal those options will be. - One likely scenario is an in- crease in class sizes. That would reduce “the number ‘of teachers necded and offset the shortfall! from pay increases, Another possibility is to hold a referendum asking for an increase in local property laxes, “It’s cerlainly going to be a challenge,’’ said Piersdorff. School trustees must decide by March 15 if they intend to go to. refcrendum, The district has until April 20 to complete the budget ar and § send it to Victorias. > Dane As bad as it seems, il could | have been worse. Piersdorff noted some districts, due to a combination of factors, will actually have less money this year than last. The: non-discrelionary © grant money from Victoria’ includes $473,000 for capital projects, as well as about $405,000 for learn- ing resources, ‘Year 2000 cduca- tion reforms and school accredita- tion. si lapisSlaa! tateetetbdeuedes Page chen oe rE nt ee “FEEDING T TIME: “Marianne oe ar figaves 6 out the haybetes: for ‘the-65 head of cattle the Zagar family keeps on their McCon- hell Ave. farm. The animals get ancy as' they anticipate the 4 "pal m.: . feeding ritual, It's calving : season on the 412 “acre farm, which raises mainly Limousin catile. They've had close: to. 20" calves born in the last few weeks, : ne Furore prompts public meeting Foods offi cial. sald: thie? compa no local ‘bylaws restricting ; th creation of new hazardous : ‘waste’ siles. a : maby oe a “ : Dan, Wong “several” municipalities. ‘in the © Lower * . Mainland have bylaws that: regu The Femi Stkine Regional : District and: the City of Terrace. -~ along with most other northern B.C. communities. — have no such bylaws. ‘That “narrowed © it down,” Wong said last week... , He said there: were, also several other key factors inthe decision by — Agrtifoods - International Cooperative Ltd. Dairyland’s parent company, 10 locate ‘the PCB site for its holdings through- out the proviiice at its property on Kofoed Drive. The company has applied fora permit. to slore. up to:.8,000 :kilo- . grams of. PCB-contsminated elec- to pick? a. i Me eam it actually. |. owned, not leased. They also. wanted to ensure there were staff - there to supervise the grounds. decided ‘to’. ‘store, its “PCBs: in? at “We. narrowed it down to the’ suitable’ property,” -Worig : said, “There: weren’t that * ‘many op- ‘He said he was : disturbed that Dairyland has come, ae ‘Obviously : nobody wan’ "stuff in their “communities, mike "Wong said. “But all we're doing following | the: existing rules and “regulations to the letter of the daw??? Opponents of the proposal last week semit protest letters to en- vironment ‘ministry officials in Smithers who will approve or re- "ject the permit application. attracts Organizers said ‘Friday they were sending out at least 87 form letters signed by people. and busi- ness owners in Terrace and Thornhill, The permit would allow for ie storage of contaminated electrical ‘equipment, only — not large quantities of PCB oil. The old ‘fluorescent lighting ballasts and capacitors would be placed in sealed, plastic-lined drums and stored in a large shipping con- talner, inside a fenced compound. No date has yet been set for a proposed meeting between PCBs © " Agrifoods officials and people concemed about the project. ° Environment ministry’ spokes- iman Alex Grant says the dale of - the meeting will be set sometime after the today’s deadline for sub- missions. “It's not going to be a closed meeting,” he said, ‘Nobody’s going to be turned away -at the door.” PCBs are presently’ stored at four other sites’ in the. Terrace area: Skeena Cellulose, Skeena Sawmills, B.C, Hydro and the: air- port. roa Reformers pick Scott TERRACE — Kitimat’s Mike Scott will be the Reform Party’s candidate in Skeena in the next federal election. . Scott won the party’s nomina- tion. here Saturday, defeating Hazelton challenger Alan Forsyth by 134 votes to 37, ‘Jim Fulton has an excellent retirement package waiting for him,”’ Scott told the party mem- hership, ‘‘and we'd all like to see him start enjoying it really soon.’ A district ‘manager for Kentron Construction and president of the Kitimat District Chamber of Commerce, Scott has staked his campaign to a defence of the northwest’s resource industries, wilhout which, he says, ‘we just wouldn’t be here.”’ In his nomination speech, he told party members that proposals to expand B.C.’s park lands from six to 12 per cent of the provit- cial land base would ‘‘put thou- sands of people on the streets, out of work.”’ “Really, for those of us who live in the north, most of B.C. is already a park,’’ Scott said. ‘You can drive for mile after mile and it is a virtual park, It is only the West End apartment , dwelling types, who have not been north of Hope, who feel a deep. commit- ment to more parks.” Scoit also pledged to open the land claim negotiation process up to the public. He also attacked federal mis- management and overspending as being the main cause ‘of the na- tion’s huge debt and taxload, Diaper power . COMMUNITY + B1 Gold glide @ Local lugers overcome the elements to top. games charges TERRACE — Four of the city’s biggest grocery and deparment stores have been charged again with opening on a statutory holiday. KMart, F.W. Woolworth, Overwaitea and Canada Safeway face new charges un- der the Holiday Shopping Regulation Act, this time. for opening on Oct. 12 — Thanksgiving. Lawyers for the stores make More stat holiday are laid a court appearance April 16. The four stores were charged last -year for opening on Cana- da Day. They have made several’ court appearances on that and have pleaded not guilty... © The stores failed in a bid ‘to quash the Canada Day charges on grounds that the shopping regulation act refers -to.July 1: as “Dominion Day” not ‘Canada Day”’. ills looks | TERRACE — Mills Memorial Hospital is predicting it'll have a surplus of $250,000 by the time .. its budget year ends March 31. The. figure is a far cry from the | $750,000 deficit the hospital faced at the beginning of the budget ‘year last- spring, Terrace’ ia Regional, Health Care Society - chief executive ‘officer Michael Leisinger says. . That . figure was reduced to - 29525, 000 when the province for- warded what is called “the Mal- colm. Walker money’? which recognized that Mills acts as a regional referral centre. And Mills did receive money to - supporta diabetic teaching clinic, — But the hospital still had to lay off the equivalent of 10 full time workers. last spring to cut the deficit even more. ‘Last fall Leisinger was predict "ing a deficit of $200,000 but in- creased revenues and cost cutting have now pul the hospital's books into a surplus situation. The hospital’s operating budget this year is $12 million and 88 per cent of that is spent on wages. ‘We thought it would take six ‘ to eight months to get the FTE (full time equivalent) cost down to where it should be but it dropped like a rock,” said Leisinger. ‘‘We're now under budget in the FTE category.’” He said increasing day surgery — it now accounts for 60 per cent of all surgery at the hospital — has helped. **Thal’s gone along with a sub- stantial reduction in patient days ~ by 20 per cent,’’ Leisinger added. These fit the goals of scveral reports done on the hospital and on northwest health care, he said, He isn’t predicting what he will do with the surplus, saying the hospital has no idea of what ils budget for next year will be. The preference is to use the sur- plus as a safety net to balance whatever might happen when the DEW. budge) IS. KNOWN eiiioeenyerc + “There are three scenarios. One ig that we will havea balanced budget next year. The least likely is that we will hive a surplus and - are able to hire positions back and ‘the third is that We might have a small deficit,”’ said Leisinger., So far Leisinger said. the hospi- tal has been getting indications it won't be getting any more money than it did this year and- might. even be given less, He's also waiting for news of. wage increase talks between the three health care unions and the provincial government. There are suggestions the unions will settle for no wage in- creases provided there is pro- tection for existing workers. .. Kkakkk News of the surplus has’ been criticized by the largest health ’ care union at the hospital. The - Hospital Employces’ Union says hospitals which have surpluses. should. use them to preserve health care services and ‘jobs. “The (health) minister must prevent hospital administrators from wasting spare cash on un- necessary equipment purchases or frills like new carpeting and fur- - niture,”” said union president Carmella Allevato, The union wants an immediate freeze on discretionary purchases and = wants health - minister. Elizabeth Cull to request budget and patient service status reports from all facilities, . ° : It also wants Cull to order hos: pitals. with surpluses to submit _plans that-would preserve patient care, services and jobs. ..-. The wnion also says Cull shouid : take back surpluses from facilities. that don’t restore jobs and scr- vices.