A2 Terrace Review — Wednesday, September 26, 1990

oir eS Bip lae

_ duty recommendations cont'd fr. peAL

wasn't the city even more. ‘vigi-
lant?”

If Kinkead had followed pro-
cedure, Talstra suggested, the
request would likely have been
placed before council and, "I think
the first consideration would have
been to discuss it with the Ministry
of Environment." On the second.
question, Talstra suggested that the
appropriate steps of committee
referral had taken piace subsequent
to receiving a complaint from
North Sparks resident Ben Webber

and "the view of the committee |

was to deal with it as they did”.
Using the same bylaw, under a
section entitled "Removal of Erec-
tions and Things Dangerous to
Public Safety or Health," the jury

_ recommendation suggested that the -

city should enforce a section giv-
ing them the authority to declare,
if they so choose, any "building,
Struchie, or erection of any kind
whatsoever" a nuisance and order
that any work necessary to correct
the situation be done. Or, in
default, the city should do the
work themselves and bill the
owner of the property for the cost.
" Mayor Jack Talstra admitted that
the city docs have this power
under their "Nuisance Bylaw" but
the role of. council and mayor
involves listening to both sides and
determining if the complaint does .
in fact constitute a nuisance. "And
that's very difficult,” he said.

“The city should correspond with
the Ministry of Environment any
time a violation of the 1978 bylaw:
‘is identified to determine the juris:.
diction of authority to best deal
with the situation.

Testimony heard by the jury
indicated there is some confusion,
or a-"grey area” according Talstra,
involving the relative authorities of
various jurisdictions over natural
waterways within city boundaries.
In Talstra’s words, "This could. be
more clearly defined.” -

While evidence indicated that the

Ministry of Environment may have

believed the city had the situation:

under control, city: administrator

Bob Hallsor stated that it was the

_ city’s view that the Water Manage-.

ment Branch of the Ministry of.
Environment held the authority to.

deal with the problem.
elf it is decided, after correspond-

ing with the Ministry of Environ-'

ment, that is within the | city’ 8

jurisdiction: to ‘deat ‘vith th the 3 ate

ation "then appropriate action must
be taken fo ensure that the viola-
tion is followed up and rectified".

Here, Hallsor clarified a couple
of points: by stating that the city
doesn’t want io force anyone into

bankruptcy by demanding they

complete thousands of dollars
worth of corrective measures they
can’t afford. And, in the case of
the Heek Creek situation, the city’s

‘course of action was also deter-

mined by the fact that Kinkead had
indicated he was interested in
creating a residential subdivision

on his property; from a long term

development point of view, Hallsor.
said, this would "open up" residen-
tial property in the area "at a time
when it was badly needed”, |
In light of all the preceding re-
commendations, the city needs to
determine which authority should

‘deal with the Heek Brook pond,
and if it is decided that this is a

City jurisdiction, the corrective
measures outlined by city engineer
Ralph Keen and adopted by Ter-
race counci] on April 28, 1986,
should be carried out. And, in
addition to the measures set out by
the city, an adjustment should be
made where Keen referred to the

"high water level" in 1986 to

reflect the actual high water level
in 1990,

‘Evidence given indicated that the
height of the fill in the ravine, and |
consequently the high water mark,
has Fisen considerably since 1986,

Following an April 4, 1986,
meeting between Keen, Stan Kin-
kead, his neighbour Ben Webber ;
and city employee John Colongard,
Keen listed five recommendations
which city council later adopted:

Kinkead was to fill the pond,

. Starting on Webber’s property, to a

level one foot higher than the high
water mark at that time. This fill
was to come from a hillside
located on Kinkead’s property and
was. to: result in a much smaller
pond located entirely on Kinkead’s
property. This work was to be
completed by August 1986, and
the remainder of the fill was to be
in place and a "protection fence”

‘placed around the remaining pond

by Aug. 31, 1987, |

If Kinkead was to add any addi-
tional fill to the portion of the
ravine on his property, he was to
do likewise to the upstream portion

Lees *D);

a) Chem

Name .

A535 Greig Avenue, Terace,

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‘of the ravine on neighbouring

properties, and.at-the same time
install “suitable storm sewer drain-
age pipes, catch basins and sumps

to the approved design of the City

Engineer".

Even prior to the addition of
more fill and a storm sewer, how-
ever, if the existing sand layer that
allowed for the drainage of the
pond at that time were to fail at

any time in the future, "Mr. Kin-

kead will be required to install the
storm sewer system forthwith."
*In the future, if the city finds they
"do not" have jurisdiction, they
should not attempt to act as a
mediator. According to the coro-
ner’s jury, this can give the illu-
sion that the problem has been
addressed and wili be resolved.
In the case of the Heek Brook
ponding, Hallsor said the city did
follow-up to the actions specified
by Keen and ratified by council,
but no action was taken because
the city doesn’t like to "wield a

large axe". Instead, they prefer to

mediate an amiable solution
between disputing neighbours and
this, according to Hallsor, was
exactly what the city believed they
were doing. .

Talstra said that this policy of
playing mediator has developed
“over the years" and "by in large it
works", He added: "Sometimes
we’re not sure the nature of the

dispute is the real source’ of fric-

tion."
cA "911" emergency number
should be established to serve
Terrace and the surrounding area
in order to coordinate future rescue
operations. This would ensure that
an effective chain-of-command
utilized the assets of all available
resources {0 the greatest benefit of
everyone involved,

It should also be noted that the

recommendations of the Coroners -

Jury are only that: recommenda-
tions. The jury’s purpose was to
determine how, when, where and
by what means Parsons’ met his
death and to offer recommenda-
tions that might prevent a similar
tragedy from. occurring in ihe
future. None of the parties
involved are bound to abide by the
recommendations and the recom-
mendations don’t determine the
legal liability of any of those
involved.

Any liability in this case will be
determined by a court of law only
if the Parsons choose that course
of action:

xy

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"The way |
‘IT see. it...

by Stephanie Wiebe

Well, I’ve just about had
enough. Between the touching
environmental television ads, the
environmental news articles, and
the environmentally-responsible
corporate logos, I was feeling a
bit overwhelmed with this ©
wonderful earthy trend. But the -
"Save the Earth" sweatshirts have
pushed me right over the edge.

It’s not that I’m against saving
the earth. Oh no, I truly believe
in clean water and composting.
But it’s just so "cool" to weep for
the whales, and so "in" to use
cloth diapers. And just how is a
sweatshirt going to save the earth,
anyway? I’m tired of people
living in their wood houses,
drinking beer from an aluminium
can and then driving their fossil-
fueled vehicles down paved roads
to tally for the good of the
planet.

And it’s such a wonderful
cause. Who could argue with the
premise of saving the planet full
of sweet Furry little creatures
scampering through lush forests |

. like a Bambi family reunion? But

let’s have some moderation -—
sometimes we need a little
asphalt in our lives. It’s getting
so bad, a person has to sneak the.
paper towels into the grocery
cart, hiding them beneath the
yogurt and organic carrots. I feel
as though I should be taking an
oath at the check-out, with my

Tight hand on the Bible, swearing

that I will use paper towels
responsibly and only when
necessary, 80 help me God. I’m
especially glad I don’t have
children in diapers anymore. I’m
really not the cloth-diaper- .
handling sort of person, and there
is no diaper service in this town.
Oh, I’m sure I'd be
environmentally responsible with
diapers, but, to be honest, mostly
because I couldn’t survive the
guilt of carrying a box of

_ Huggies to the check-out while
the watchful eyes of the "more
recyclable than thou" zealots
glare from every comer of the
grocery store. Can you imagine
some tired young mother
succumbing to the pressure as the
grocery store patter deadens to a
silence and shoppers stop in the

 alsie, horrified to see that box of

plastic-linedpulp? "O.K., I give
up," she would sob as she threw
herself on the floor in front of the
toothpaste display. "I admit I

| was going to buy them — just
. , one bOX, One lousy box of

Huggies, Pampers, yes, maybe

even Luvs with the colour-coded

designs! I’m scum, I don’t
deserve to live, I should be
publicly stoned!” As they lifted

4

her into the grocery buggy and.

gently rolled her away, she would |
mumble through her tears, "I was.
just so tired of rinsing those
#@*# things in the toilet..."

I can’t help it, I have a
rebellious streak that comes out

‘when J see a good idea becoming

utterly ridiculous in its
proportions. Like the colourful -
"Save the Rainforest" pin I saw
displayed ona shirt in a local ..
storefront. The shirt was made of
100% rayon, as it proudly:
announced on its tag. Yes, rayon
— acloth made from broken-
down wood fibre.

And I start to wonder about
how far this trend will go. Will
the campaign for the use of
condoms die out because they’re
not actually biodegradeable? Will
there be an uproar against

~ marshmallows? Cute, neat little

bundles of sugar and chemicals
packaged in a plastic bag — has
anyone ever considered whether a
marshmallow would actually rot
in a compost pile, or would it
still be sitting here, haunting our
great-grandchildren along with
the Ziploc sandwich bags and
Twinkie wrappers? Will there be
little. reminders printed on our
grocery bags, reminding us ‘to use
marshmallows responsibly? And
then there’s the plastic bread tags,
Fisher-Price toys and cheap
earrings. The list goes on.

Okay, I’ll admit we can ail do
our bit for reducing pollution and
the garbage heap. Re-using
plastic bags, shopping for items
that are not overpackaged, and
yes, even cutting down on paper
towels. But let’s not go too far.
The greatest effort I'll expend
towards saving the whales is to
watch a few old Jaques Cousteau

documentaries. Okay, I will use

baking soda to wash my

cupboards, I’l] compost the coffee:

grounds and boycott styrofoam =.
chips. I'll even' recycle a meatloaf
now and then. But only if I don’t

"have to read any more articles or,

ads telling me to do so.

And I will never wear a “Save
the Earth" sweatshirt. What I’m
looking for, is a sweatshirt.

. printed with this message: “If we
; took ‘all those plastic things. on
"the ends of shoelaces anid -

-gathered together the world’s ‘ --
supply, we could totally cover ~
South Moresby Istend. THEN

| WHAT?72"

. This is not going to be a very
popular column, but atleast you" °°:
can recycle the paper. And I feel 7
a helluva lot better,