engi hE I ota a,

Corre

by Tod Strachan _
————— — ———————

It began with regional district
chairman Jack Talstra asking those
present to refrain from uncon-
trolled debate. "There will be an
opportunity for a public hearing,"
he told 15 representatives of Cop-
per Mountain area residents. and
three proponents of locating a new
correction centre there.

But after an hour and twenty-one
minutes of discussion, allegations,
facts and non-facts, the decision
was made. There will not be, and
probably never will be, a commun-
ity regional correction centre in the
Kirkaldy subdivision. —

Mike Robinson of the B.C. Buil-
dings Corporation and Rob Watts
representing the Terrace Regional
Correction Centre were the first to
address the regional district board
Saturday morning. Using concep-
tual drawings, they described the
project and what it might mean to
the residents of Copper Mountain.

A9,600 square foot, single-story
main building housing 24 to 30
local inmates, a 1,400 square foot
workshop, a 2,150 square foot
woodshed, a log storage area, 4
wood cutting area were the main
features of the project, all located

Deadline March 1/91
For information call 627-7982

ona 22.5 acre site swrounded with
a buffer of trees and recreational
areas,

Noise would not be a problem.
The inmates would be
behaved; a 13-year unblemished
track record is proof, the pro-
ponents said. And the. need for
locating in a community. setting
should be obvious to everyone.
Being in a community setting is
the prime reason the inmates’ track
record is so good.

The new centre would be a
much-needed replacement for the
old Blue Gables Motel presently
being used as a community correc-
tion centre; a site which offers an
inadequate, older building, only a
few thousand square feet of log
storage and workspace, much of
which is often under water, and for

well .

Nursery as well.

Then it was the residents’ turn.
Representing 300 of them who had
apparently signed a petition were
Copper Mountain residents
Jeanette Anderson and = Allan
Grier. Anderson thanked the
poard, indicating they had
addressed one. of their concems,
road access to the correction
centre, But she noted that the road

was a “proposal” and not @

"guarantee".

With that matter settled, there
was the bottom line. "Our issues
are very real," said Anderson. "We
simply don’t want the facility in
our area." The reasons? Noise,
traffic, logs, loaders and chain-

outdoor recreation, a lone basket- —

ball backboard attached to a power
pole. ,

And there was a plus that was |

hoped to provide added incentive
for Copper Mountain residents to
warm to the project, an alternate
access route that would not only
direct any additional corrections
traffic away from the subdivision,
but also traffic from a gravel pit,
paving plant and the Thornhill

May 2; 3&4

in Prince Rupert, B.C.

Terrace Review — Wednesday, February 20, 1991 A3

saws. And besides, the land,
according to Grier, had been set
aside for residential use.

This latter claim was soon dis-
proved. Regional district planner
Tosh Yamashita explained that the
land, unlike that located to the
south of the subdivision, was not
residential. The land where the
correction centre would be sited is
Unspecified Public Reserve, a
designation given to land where
the type of any future development
has not yet been decided.

And then it was the board’s tum.
Pete Weeber began with a motion
to give a rezoning bylaw the first
two readings and set a time, date
and place for a public hearing,

ctions relocation bid defeated -

according to standard procedure.
Kitimat director Ray Brady then
took a different approach.

"It seems to me the public pro-
cess has already taken place,"
Brady said, referring to a meeting
of Copper Mountain residents last
week on the subject of the correc-
tions proposal. "I say oppose this
and let them look elsewhere."

The scene had been set. Director.

after director agreed. Thornhill
director Les Watmough said, “At
the public hearing level it will
probably fail,” and, ",, Hit the two-
headed calf on the head now rather

than taking it to the vet and trying |

— Continued on page Al4

Te ae "
i ae + a eee wa .

Send in the clowns — and the

skiers. The grand opening of the Shmaes Mountain Ski Resort

tenes cones

last Saturday was celebrated by about 600 guests, skiers and non-skiers alike. Among them were
the A & W Rootbear, Heather Graydon and two of the clowns from Heather’s Balloon Magic who
painted faces and skied throughout the day.

‘ay,
Mog *"ean,
: *

The Northern B.C. Winter Games committee
3 placed their trust in us! 8

p you could be using THIS! |
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