Mother urges council to make informed decision THE BROMLEY affair puts Veralynn Munson in mind of the story of the scven blind mice and the elephant. ~’Munson’s son Isaac atiends the Discovery Daycare tun by the ': couple, “ He.could therefore be one of the ~<"ghildren affected if the Bromleys "> are “foreed':to cut their enrolment ~ toelght from 16 kids. — “Explaining the above tale to . “eouneil last. week, she told how “six. of. the blind mice each _, touched one part of the elephant, >: Because ‘they could only feel _- that one part, each made a wrong guess at to the creature’s identity. - Putting together each piece of jnformation the others provided, the seventh worked out they had -, ome across an elephant. ~". Similarly, Munson said, the controversy over the Bromley’ s ‘request to mun a 16-child daycare “in an’ RI residential zone was only one part of the elephant _. = We are looking at a much . broader issue,” she said, that - being daycare as a whole. _ Tt was also an issue “‘riddled with misinformation.” For example, fears had been ex- pressed permitling the daycare on Hamer would open the Hoodgats to home-based businesses in the residential neighbourhood, However, the city’s own 1991 by-law clearly drew a distinction between daycares and businesses. Therefore, a council amend- ment to that by-law to allow 16 child daycares in RI areas would in no way give a green light to other enterprises. Munson was also puzzled why, at the Feb. 7 planning committee mecting which considered the is- sue, this concern hadn't been al- layed. ; “*That fear could have been al- layed in short order,”* she pointed out Similarly, fears neighbourhood property values would be reduced also seemed to be unfounded. Munson noted the local Assess- ment Authority office had denied making any such claim. Nor were those claims sub- stantiaied by the experience in other neighbourhoods where Veralynn Munson daycares were located, Having come away from the planning committee meeting wanting to know more about both sides of the issue, Munson said she had undertaken a door-to- coor canvas in the Horseshoe area. Of the 84 homes she called on where there was somcone home, / THE HOUSE that Sharon and Mickey Bromley built Is in the centre of a storm over daycare zoning ragulations. Although the 4700 block Hamer structure laoks like an ordinary house from the out- side, the double garage doors are a mere facade, concealing the proposed daycare facility. Let residents decide HOLD A referendum on ang changes to the cily’s policy on -- daycare locations. - That was the demand from some residents al last week’s public forum on daycare issues. «At issue is the idea of allowing daycare’ centres in R1 zones to fake 16 children instead of the current limit of eight, “If the majority of (he people in an area want the zoning changed, then I think the door is opea,”’ : vai Ed Papais. . argued thal such a pferendun should only be pul ta people in. R-1 zoned areas be- -- cause “‘those are the people who ' would be most alfected,’” _ Mickey, Bromley, the daycare . operator whose plan for expan- -- sion set off the latest row, argued that. all. residents. should be al- lowed to vote. -“Tt affects everybody in ihe communily,’” he said. ‘It’s aso- cial issue,” About 25 people showed up for the mecting, which was inlended . to work towands the creation of a ~~ community child care plan. But. Rita Kerr-Nielsen sug- gested most of the people there were ecilher bureaucrats or else daycare operators or workers. The number of ordinary peaple was not sufficient to base a com- muuity plan upon, she said, “It’s too few,” she said. “It’s: not right to say this is the public’s opinion.’’ Gayle Short, who is working with Mclissa Munn lo prepare ihe plan, says they will also base. the plan on last year’s needs study that drew responses from nearly 200 people. **T don’t know what il takes to get parents out,’? Short said, ad- ding a reminder was sent to 600 parents via the schools in advance of ons of those meelings. Allowing daycares to expand to accept 16 children would permit hiring two or more staff members tach, said Tracy LeBlond. She had tried to run a daycare but gave up, in part because of the burnout and isolation from working alone, without other adults. ‘We have to change this or else we're going to keep child care in the black market.?” She said she too was Frustrated by the low turnout for the meet-_ ing. . Short and Munn also organized a series of neighbourhood meet- ings for the horseshoe, south side, bench and Thornhill. : The horseshoe area meeting drew about 20 people, most of whom were child care providers. Only one person turned out to the other three meetings, Expansion would make running daycares more economical and might encourage some of the presently illegal daycares fo get licensed, she added. Onerous licensing restrictions and building code and fire code requirements already make it dif- ficult’ to. run a legal, . licensed daycare, she said. She says she used to take her children to an illegal daycare with a dozen children in a basement 41 had signed a petition in favour of allowing 16 child daycares in their own RAL neighbourhood. She also pointed out seven of those individuals lived on the 4700 block of Hamer, the same block the Bromleys are moving to and where opposition was sup- posed to be unanimous. Only nine people were opposed and the remainder were cither un- decided or declined comment. Munson found one consistent theme, however: ‘‘People were hungry for information.” That’s something she is afraid is missing, even. among city fa- thers. ‘Is council and the plan- ning committee fully:informed?”’ she wondered, Emphasizing the need for daycare was not going to go away, Munson urged council to delay a decision until its members had become. familiar with the contents of the recent child care needs assessment carried out by the Women’s Resource Centre, “What we need is a creative plan..dealing with factual in- formation,” she said. An example THE BROMLEYS’ new home on Hamer should serve as a model to all daycares in residential areas. So says Norm Taylor, who is .. how putting the finishing touches to the house. From the outside, he points out, - “Ttlooks like a beautiful house.’’ That’s because ihe daycare por- tion is located behind a set of double garage doors. He suggests that combination of attractive house and readily avail- able daycare would likely push Up surrounding property values, From the point of view of any- one running a daycare, the design also makes the house very sale- able in the future. Thats because the daycare is separate From the living area, Rip out the wall behind the dou- ble doors and the front part of the daycare is quickly tumed into a garage, while the area to the rear _ becomes a workshop. ‘All that, he says, can be done for just a few hundred dollars. “More daycares should be going this way,”’ Taylor suggests, adding, ‘*These people should be conimended, not fought.”’ issue with poor exits eating Kraft din- ner. ‘*Where are the kids that aren't being cared for legally?”’ Bromlcy said illegal daycares are a product of need and the dif- ficulty in running one legally. “They're out there because there’s a need for them,”’ he said. “People are desperate for places they can take their children.” "We have to change this or else we're going to keep child care in the black market.’ Tilegal daycares can be farced to get licensed or shut down if they’re reported. But in practice, says community care licensing inspector Darlene Westerman, people don’t report illegal daycares. “If you report on your own caregiver, where do you go for car?” she asked, *‘People just don’t report. If they don’t like it they move their kids somewhere else.’’ Short said the goal is to have . the plan drawn up by the end of March and submit it to the city. - Anyone wanting to make sub- missions can contact Short or Munn at 638-1113, _ Temporary solution said possible David Hull THERE MAY be a way to telp ihe Bromleys out in the short lem, says one city councillor, David Hull was one of five councillors who voted agalnst amending zoning by-laws to al- low 16 child daycares in Ri Breas. However, if the Bromleys were to relurn with a request for a temporary permit, ‘They. would certainly have a sympathetic car,”’ Hull said Friday. He cautioned the emphasis would have to be on lemporiry, the permit belng for ‘ta few months’’ only. That would give parents enough time to find alternative. daycare for the children displaced from. Discovery Daycare. AS for ihe allermative of a spol rezone — giving the Bromicy home.a zoning different from the rest of the street — Hull said he was totally opposed to that kind of device being used. “Spot rezoning is the worst ex- ample of community’ planning,”’ he maintained.” Conceding the Bromleys were ina very difficult situaion,, Hull added, ‘I’ve learned a lot.on the issue over the time it’s been : going on.’’ The need for. child care places In Terrace was not something that was going to go away and would have to be addressed. . However, he reponied concerms over allowing 16 child facilltics : inR1 zones. Although the province says daycares are not to be classified as businesses, he said the effect would still be to allow ‘home- based activities’ in those neigh- bourhoods, The planning commiltec will be tackling just that issue next week as a result of a memo from permits director Bob Lafleur. “3 you may be aware there is an ever increasing number of businesses: trying to make a start as a home occupation,” he poltried out. Asking counell tackle the issue, Lafleur added, ‘We must ensure tegulations do not unnecessarily - Inhiblt business development, but at be same time limit its Impact On residential areas. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 23, 1994 - AS AAA A CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Complaints called whining Dear Sir: Re: *Clalms talks worry mayors’, The Terrace Standard, Feb. 9, 1994, As someone who has been involved in the Nisga’a third party ad- visory process from the beginning, and who was also at the recent meeting wilh the federal and provincial negotiators, I take strong exception fo the comments made by Andy Burton qwho looks suspi- ciously like Don Ryan). At the ‘meeting Mr,.Burton asked for a seat on the negotiating team and/or observer status. Mr. Burton needs a reality check. He is the mayor of a rather remote and smallish municipality and he has a place on the third party advisory process where he can address the concerns of Stewart. If he came to the meetings prepared (I suggest reading the ap- propriate sections of the Canadien constitution for a start) he might find that the meetings have become an effective forum for the airing of: concerns about the treaty process. As Canadians we are represented by the federal and provincial governments, who we quite effectively ‘*consult’’ with every four ar five years. Additionally, Mr. Burton's comments about ‘‘cozy Little situa- tion’? and “expense accounts” are in poor taste, insulting, and un- warranted, The federal and provincial representatives that J have met are honest men and women trying to do an incredibly difficult job. I’m sure they would rather be at home with their famillics than participating in endless meetings with ill-prepared and ill-willed municipal politicians. They certainly don’t deserve to be insulted by small mayors for trying to da their jobs. As to the Nisga’a not wanting to re-open the framework agree- ment; Why should they? What would Mr. Burton’s and Mr. Tal- stra’s reaction be if, after a treaty was negotiated, the Nisga’a wanted to re-open because they didn’t like something their repre- sentatives, if we have a problem with what they negoliated we should take itup with our MPs and MLAs. I wonder what the Nisga’a must think about this; we don’t even have a trealy yet and we are trying to renege. I find it somewhat humorous that the mayor who has fo have an in camera mecting to name a street wants open meetings, and has decp suspicions about what’s going on. 1 think those mayors who want openness should put their own house in order before they demand that of others. That same mayor should also stop asking for funding for econom- ic studies. Those are my pockets you are digging in, Jack! Want to know the economic contribution of the native community? Go to the mall on Saturday! As someone who has attended the majority of meetings | would . like to point out that these mectings are very poorly attended by mayors; even though at least five mayors are represented on this process it is rare to get a majority of them at any meeting. In light of their poor attendance record [ find their complaints mere whining. “Bruce Hill, Terrace, BC, Churches get thanked Dear Sir: I want to thank the Christian community of Terrace forits recent week of prayer, centering on Christian unity. It started Yan:.20, at the: Pentecostal church,. continuing for-6idays during noon hours at the Christian Reformed, Anglican, Zion Bap- tist, United, Lutheran, and Salvation Army, with the final meeting at the Roman Catholic Church Sunday evening. I enjoyed other church traditions and at the same time experienced the central focus of Christianity — that being — The Risen Savior Jesus the Christ — Why a Savior — To Rescue us from our own sins, A Protestant minister ministered God’s work in our local Catholic church. Wow, isn’t God good, For me, the real thrill of the week was a Catholic Mass on Satur- day night. The priest raised up the week in thanks to God, In Mass, he raised up Reverend Bill Glasspell’s message, given at the Salva- tion Army. That message came through clear all week long. Areal simple message. Every Christian is a Christianl! Unique, Diverse, each one dependent on Christ our Risen Lord, and needed in Christ’s church. May God Meet Us May We Accept His Intrusion - yo AL May G God Have inde ” THE START IS FOR PEOPLE LEARNING TO READ The Start A place to stay THERE'S GOING to be a new place to stay. It will be for people from out of town who needed to go into the hospital. They used to stay in the hospital even after they became better. But that cost too much money. Now, the people will be able to stay for awhile in the building where nurses used to stay. It is being fixed up by the Elks and the Royal Purple. The Elks and the Royal Purple will then rent out the rooms. Each person will have a room. And ihey can eat medls at a restaurant across the street. The building should be open by early summer. Snowboarder in trouble A SNOWBOARDER ALMOST died at: Shames Mountain. He took a jump and then landed on his head, He got stuck in the snowbank and couldn’t get out. His arms were pinned to his side, and he was unable to move them. He was trapped for 45 minutes until two skiors found him and dug him out. The snowboarder was rushed to hospital He spent two days there. _ He had been skiing in between the runs, a It can be dangerous to ski alone. If you. ki ‘in off the trails, you should have someone else with you. ME