A SECOND SHEET —

THAT WE CAN AFFORD?

Society proposes $2.25 million ‘bare bones’ rink

By JEFF NAGEL

A... CHOPPED DOWN
proposal to build a second
sheet of ice tabled at city
. council last night will not be
quickly dismissed,

The Second Sheet of Ice
Society is proposing what it
calls a $2.255 million “bare
bones’’ rink that it believes is
now in line with the city's
wishes,

It’s less than half the price
tag of the society’s previous
proposal for a $4.7 million
arena — an option that was
abruptly shot down by council
and stalled the second sheet
drive for months.

“These prices are fairly firm
and we are quite confident

about them," the society’s ~

Vance Hadley told councillors
at a recreation committee
_ meeting Friday.

Hadley is pushing for coun-
cil action quickly.

Second-sheeters want lo call
for proposals over the summer
and then hire a professional to
review the proposals so all is
in place for a fall referendum.

Hadley also says council’s
actions will dictate the success
of the Rick and Paul King ©
Foundation fund-raising drive
for the project.

“I believe donations: are
waiting,’’ he says, adding he
knows of companies and con-

_ tractors prepared to donate ei-

ther money or work.
“Tam very confident we are
going to raise between

$500,000 and $1 million,’”

The new proposal is the pro-
_ duct of months of work by the
Second Sheet Society and city
councillor Rich McDaniel.

McDaniel travelled to
several B.C. cities while on
personal business to inspect
similar rinks, collect plans,
and explore options.

McDaniel, who chairs the
city's recreation committee, .
calls the proposal credible and
says it has at least a chance of
success of getting taxpayer
support.

“It’s a hell of a lot better
than $4.7 million,” he said,
- ‘What I see here is a plan
‘where they’re trying to keep
the price low.’’

“It’s certainly the best at-
~ tempt at getting something to-
- gether in the last four years.”

He said the building would
mean more space for non-ice
users as well.

‘Tm prepared to support
~ it,” he said.
Councillors Val George and
_ David Hull — who both
reviewed the plan at Friday’s
committee meeting — were
cautiously optimistic about it.
~ “Pm generally supportive,’’
| George said. ‘'Ultimately it
- will be up to taxpayers of Ter~
_ race in a referendum,”?
- “Hopefully we can get a
council commitment fairly
quickly,’ he added.

“This is what we’ve been

waiting for,’’ said Hull, ad-

‘ ~-ding it’s now up to council to

make a decision,

He said he favours a most
basic option so voters and
users get what they expect,

oy ,

— Report t

"- THORNHILL shoukin’t be dis-
counted as a poiential site for the
proposed second sheet of ice,
says Peggy Julseth, Thomhill

‘grea director at the regional dis-
. trict.

Julseth noted the Second Sheet
Society’s report and proposal to
council only considers the pos-

_ sibility of locating the new rink
adjacent to the existing arena.
"7 think both scenarios should
be looked at thoroughly,’ she
sald. “There ate also available
lands in Thornhill at no extra cost
to taxpayers near the Thorahill
. Community Centre,””
~ Locating the new sheet in
Thomhill would more fairly dis-
tribute the ‘recreation facilities,
: But councillor Rich McDaniel

says. the cost of operating. a |

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SECOND SHEET of ice, at left, would be built adjacent to the north side of the existing Terrace
Arena. Dressing rooms from each rink would back onto each other, allowing convenient access be-

tween the two. Adding $140,000 to the $2.25 million

‘bare bones’ design would make the building

large enough to house a jeisure sheet of ice (bottom lett in diagram) but would not develop it yet.

Rich McDaniel

“*A lot of the people in town
are a little bit jaded over the [i-
brary project,’’ he said, noting
the library expansion was cut
down from what taxpayers
voted for because of cost over-
runs.

A substantial comfort margin
should be in place so the same
thing doesn’t happen with the
second sheet, he said.

Hadley said increased opera-
ting costs should be somewhat
offset by increased use.

“I firmly believe the in-
crease will be at least 50 per
cent,’ he said. “‘We'll have
1,500 people in the arena —
not 1,000.”’

McDaniel noted the last time
the second-sheeters were he-
fore council they were asking
for a major outlay of money to
hire an architect.

Under the new plan, he said,
there will be no immediate
outlay of city money.

“This is not costing anybody
anything right away”
McDaniel said. ‘‘We don't
need to hire a professional un-
til after the proposal call is
made and proposals come
back,’”

THE PROPOSAL:

mf Approve, In principle, construction of a 200 x 85-foot
regulation Ice surface with seating for 200 on the same side
as the player benches, at a cost of $2.25 million.

Wf Call for proposals to design and bulid the structure for a
fixed cost to the city. .

8 Hire a professional to review the proposals and make any
necessary modifications.

mg Determine a final cost to taxpayers and go to referendum
on that price. The Society wants a September referendum,
but others suggest posing the question at the same time as .
4 possible Thornhill-Terrace amalgamation vote — likely No-.
vember at the earllest — would save money. ‘

THE PROBLEMS:

# Getting a yes vote In the referendum will be hard enough
ln Terrace alone. To succeed, the project will likely need ma-
Jority yes votes In the Thornhill and Lakelse Lake areas of
the regional district as well. Second-shesters also fear as-
king the question atong with a restructure vote. They envi-
slon cynical voters saying No to amalgamation and then
ticking the same box for the second-sheet proposal.

m Upgrading the existing arena to building code —a cost of
some $444,000 — Isn't included In the proposal’s price tag.
Second sheeters belleve they can avold that cost now by
separating the two bulldings.

THE TIMING:

i The goal is to have the new sheet in place when Terrace

- hosts the 1997 Northern B.C. Winter Games. That depends

on going to referendum and awarding the contract this year,
and building the second sheet In 1996. Any muddying of the
waters by seeking government grants or negotiating with
the province over restructuring could throw the schedule.

THE ‘BARE BONES’ DESIGN:

m@ A $2.255 million, pre-engineered, 27,000 square-foot steel
structure designed for Terrace snow load requirements.

g A separate Ice plant and four concrete block dressing
rooms of 360 square feet each and a referee room.

@ Floor to near-celling windows on the west wall for Iight-
Ing, Internal atmosphere and external aesthetics,

THE ADD-ONS:

w Adding a 50 x 85-foot lelsure sheet would expand the
bullding to 34,000 square feet and Inflate the price tag by
$400,000 to $2.655 million. But the city could make the bulld-
Ing blg enough and leave developing the sheet to later by
adding Just $140,000 to the basic design.

W@ Not Included In the basic design, but Identified as pos-
sible options for community fund-ralsing are: a score clock
(est. $15,000), second Zamboni (less than $100,000), an Ice
pit for snow disposal ($30,000).

gnores Thornhill option

Thomhill rink would be much
greater than the side-by-side op-
tion, where the two rinks could
share staff,

“It would require its own full
complement of staff and employ-
ees,’ McDaniel said. ‘“‘Are the
taxpayers prepared to spend a
quarter million more of their
taxes on wages each year?”’

He said he's convinced the scc-
ond sheet has to be adjacent to
the arena.

“Its more convenient to have
them both in the same place,’? he
said, ‘‘We're not being selfish
about it, we're being sensible
about it.’

But Julseth suggests a Thornhill
rink could pull in more skaters —
and revenue — from people who
don’t now make the trip to the

arena.

Thornhill schools, in particular,
could make much greater use of a
Thornhill sheet, she said.

Julseth said she couldn't sup-
port any proposal until both siting
scenarios arc considered and until
it’s clear exacily how the project
would affect the Thornhill tax
bill.

Another factor, said Julseth, is
the proposed Greater Terrace
restructuring.

A second sheet of ice in Thorn-
hill — or a grant towards its con-
struction — could be a sweetener
to persuade Thornhill voters to ei-
ther amalgamate with Terrace or
incorporate, she said. —

"It could be an item for the:
wish list for negotiating with the:
‘province,’’ she said,

Peggy Julseth

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 24, 1995 - A5

CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD

The Mail Bag

Principle ignored by Feds

Dear Sir;

Federal Indian Affairs minister Ron Irwin's observation that the
provincial governments would like to see a settlement {a the
Nisga’a Jand claim makes sense,

He further says, ‘‘they’d like to have the broad principles in
place,”” Wouldn't we all ‘in an open, equitable manner’?

Will apartheid, separation on the basis of race that centers the. .
department of Indian Affairs, be part of the parcel? 7

Minister Irwin appears to disregard this basic principle: moves
from situational observation to sophistry when he calls the oppos-
ing views ‘‘paper tigers??.

The appearance of strength within a reality of weakness is how I
view the government's position, a
Sincerely,
William Hayes,

Terrace, B.C.

Reform leak stunt maddening
Dear Sir: ,

The Vancouver Sun, dated Thursday, May 4, 1995 has an article
in it with the headline ‘‘Nisga’a settelment rushed - Leaked memo
shows B.C. pressuring treaty negotiators.’

T am an ordinary citizen like yourself and I have sat back and
said nothing when headlines read of land claims negoliation pro-
cess and the secret behind them.

This is the latest stunt pulled by the Reform Party and it makes
me mad as hell that they can feed people news that would make
them angry, disappointed, curious, or whatever someone feels
when they read the papers. When will they stop? ,

Their tactics of feeding the public with all this information
“4nformation” I may remind you that was supposed to be only
heard and seen by the negotiators, is effcctive in some ways.

Tt gets the people thinking. That is good! Because we, the |
Nisga’a, have waited for a land claim settlement for many, many
years and itis about time something was done about it.

In the article it mentions the main problem is that the value of
resources lands has skyrocketed in the past year duc to a ‘more
than doubling of provincial stumpage fees,

I like that statement because it is truc. There is not enough
money the provincial or federal governments can put together to
pay back what they took and still are taking, that can replace what
has been arid still is being extracted from our beautiful home land.

a _— . Tina Bolton,
_ Terrace, B.C. °

Angler comment puzzling
Dear Sir: — :
It was interesting to see the Skeena Angler (See What?, March
22) devote a column to arguing that all decisions made by -
politicians are inherently political. (‘The day politicians start
making personal decisions over political ones is the day they
should be defrocked.’') a "
Funny...J don't remember him making this argument when the —
1987 Settlement Agreement that allowed Alcan’s Kemano Com-
pletion Project to proceed was being denounced by his fellow
KCP opponents as a political decision.
vee ’ Sincerely,
Vickey Hume,
Terrace, B.C.

Cassiar proposal appalling
Dear Sir:

The Steelhead Society of B.C. is appalled at the recent proposal
from the Cassiar Forest District for a six-fold increase in the an-
nual allowable cut in that area.

With British Columbia presently having to defend its forest
practices to the global community, that proposal is ill-timed and
ill-conceived. 1

The proposal has been condemned by the Ministry of Environ-
ment on several counts. The numbers used in the socio-economic
portion of the proposal are greatly inaccurate. Additionally, the
proposal has not properly taken into account either the long term
impacts of deforestation on the other values provided, or oi the
existing economy, ,

The Cassiar is justly famed for its fishing, hunting, and majestic
scenery, The foresters’ proposal does not stand up to even a ‘cur.
sory review of its assessment methodology and techniques,

In his comments on Rob Brown’s recent column in the Start-
dard on the issue, Cassiar Forest District manager Gary Milten-
berger demonstrated that he does not, or refuses to, understand
what is fundamentally wrong with B.C.’s timber industry.

Yes, there is over-capacity as far as sawmills are concerned, but
that does not mean there is no opportunity for change, or even
growth.

Instead of liquidating the forests of the Cassiar to feed mills that
were designed to cut low value products, mills that minimize pro-
duct input, we should be encouraging production in the Cassiar
that results in maximum value.

Surely Mr. Miltenberger realizes the substantial economic ad-
vantages of shipping to market finished products, as opposed to
raw logs, from the remote Cassiar area.

Summing up, the proposal to increase the cut in the Cassier
doesn’t stand up.to even the initial peer review by Mr, Milten-
berger’s colleagues. The proposal is an embarrassment, and
should be withdrawn.
oe Bruce Hil,
President,
Steelhead Society of British Columbia,

THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ —

The Start

Flaherty fantastic

TERRACE HOCKEY fans had more than the
Vancouver Canucks’ seventh game win to cheer about
Friday night, — cist

They could also celebrate San Jose Sharks defeat of the
Calgary Flames in double overtime. That’s because
there was a local connection in the form of Shark goalie
Wade Flaherty, a Terrace Minor Hockey product.

Flaherty kept San Jose alive in the first overtime
period, stopping 17 shots including two breakaways by
Robert Reichel. .

It was Flaherty’s second start for the Sharks and
second victory. . oe