Standard, Wednesday, March 6, 2002 Mayor worried about SCI buy TERRACE MAYOR Jack Talstra was the only northwest leader to stand up in court last week to oppose the sale of Skeena Cellulose to NWBC Timber and Pulp, The deal to sell the company for $6 million was ap- proved by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Donald Brenner Feb. 27 following approval by treasury board and cabi- net. Talstra said he has doubts that NWBC can get the money it needs to properly run the company. NWBEC president Daniel Veniez said $75 million has been raised and he’s working to raise a total of $150 million he says is aceded to carry out upgrades and re- launch the company. Veniez wants northwest residents to invest $15 mil- lion and he has taken out a loan guaranteed by the City of Prince Rupert for $1.5 million, “It seems to me the Veniez bid lacks financial viabi- lity,” Talstra said. “He is continuing to look for capital. He may very well find capital in the next moth or so. If he does, that’s great. The City of Terrace would work with him in every cooperative manner that it could.” “But we don’t want to be back in front of the courts Iwo. years from now rehashing this whole thing all over again. Now is the time for us to practise due diligence.” Tf NWBC doesn’t have enough money, he said, it would be better to deal with bankruptcy now rather than later. “We were badly burned three years ago and our community suffered. Now we’re burned again. It’s my duty as mayor to make sure those tragedies don’t happen again. We must be diligent to never again have the same situation,” said Talstra. He had urged the judge to put SCI into bankruptcy if he had any concems about the NWBC proposal. stand the logic and reason behind anyone wanting to put the company into bankruptcy.” He said it would mean a liquidation of the pieces of the company and nothing for unsecured creditors or towns owed property tax. Veniez said Terrace’s opposition won’t affect NWBC's relationship with the town. The city is seeking legal advice as to whether it must accept a property tax repayment plan laid out in court last week. It would repay towns their back taxes in full, but stretched out over eight years, with more than 60 per cent being repaid in the final two years. The $2 million to be offered to settle debts SCI owes to unsecured creditors is now expected to translate into _ 11 cents on the-dollar, down from 13 cents. That may continue to fluctuate as claims are tallied up and either approved or rejected by the courts. Those creditors are expected to vote on the offer April 2. That's the next and likely biggest hurdle remaining for the sale, which is scheduled to close April 26. THINK YOU'RE THE ULTIMATE LA-Z-BOY MacKay’s Funeral Service Ltd. Serving Terrace, Kitimat, Smithers é& Prince Rupert 24 HOUR CRISIS LINE | 1-888-562-1214 Monuments Bronze Plaques Terrace Crematorium ° Concerned personal service in the Northwest : since 1946 TEEN CRISES LINE 1-888-564-8336(TEEN) 4:00-11:00 p.m. 4626 Davis Street _ Terrace, B.C. V8G 1X7 fh Funeral Service «= Plone 635-2444 © Fax 635-635-2160 Assodation 24 hour pager * aa Want A ‘Did you see a photo in the paper that wed e Hate Photo? .= TANDARD & you want a copy off The Terrace Standard along with : Northern Photo Ltd. By7" now provides this service. Come into our office located at 3210 Clinton Street and inclicate the photo of your choice and size. A" x6" B'y7" Other sizes available. Phone for pricing, Price includes printing fee from Northern Photo and purchasing fee fram the Terrace Standard. All photographs are copyrightad to the Terroca Standard. “Bankruptey is not the end of the world. It’s merely a means to look at different opportunities.” Talstra was was frustrated with the government's pat- (Note: 90% of photos taken are digital phatas of high quality jpeg. Black and white prints alo available from block ond whita negatives.) tern of engaging in exclusive talks with bidders, rather than wide-open negotiations. That wasted time while the government negotiated with Mercer late last year, he said, and it has sidelined Forest Capital Ltd., another interested suitor, while talks proceeded with NWBC. Forest Capital had indicated it would pursue SCI in bankruptcy and believed much of its tax losses could still be preserved, Talstra said he wants to see Veniez’s business plan, which has probably been evolving through the sale nego- tiations. Veniez was astounded by Talstra’s opposition. “It doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said. “I don’t under- From Page Ai Consultants cut health costs second consulting one to be awarded by the Northern Health Authority. It has also hired a subsidiary of Marriott, the hotel and accommodation services company, to give advice on how to save money in laundry, housekeeping and food service areas. “They’re the experts; I’m not,” said Warwick of this second: contractiit i+ agi 7 bayer shasicogp gab d : ' “We 'could have ‘chosen’ to’ make ‘arbitrary’‘cuts,; but we, chose, ,to,.bring, in.people, who know. .what .they’re doing.” Warwick said $50 to $60 million a year is being spent on support services and that money saved there can be used elsewhere. He’s told his senior managers he wants 20 per cent cut from non-direct patient care budgets over the next tliree years. The arrival of the Marriott subsidiary has drawn the attention of the Hospital Employees’ Union (HEU), whose members handle food, laundry and housekeeping services, ; HEU business manager Christ Allnutt called the move akin to putting a fox inta a chicken house given that the Marriot! subsidiary does provide these kinds of services to other health care facilities. But Warwick said it is far too early to raise the mat- ter of contracting out. “We're trying to minimize the impacts on staff and service delivery,” he said, LEE Sharing of services between hospitals isn’t new in the northwest. Kitimat General Hospital has been doing the laundry from Mills Memorial and Terraceview Lodge for years. The capacity in the old hospital was 600,000 pounds a year. That rises to 1 million pounds in the new Kitimat facility to be opened next month. And at Mills, a “cook chill” food system has been in place for several years. Food can be cooked and then chilled and stored for several days. That's lead to speculation the kitchens at Mills Mem- orial could also feed patients from other facilities. Mills already feeds patients at Terraceview with the system. “SIERRA CLUB COAST MOUNTAIN GROUP ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Saturday, March 16, 2002 at 7 p.m. at Knox United Church Members & non-members are invited to hear Laurie Gallant speak on recycling. ‘latest ‘recliners styles,“ plus: one lucky’ customer: PROVEIT AND WIN RECLINER! Start working on your LA-Z-BOY athletic skills, the National LA-Z-BOY Recline-A-Thon Sportin Games are coming soon. Win it all and you'll win yourself a new LA-Z-BOY recliner alon with enough bragging rights to annoy all at your friends. During the LA-Z-BOY National Recline-a-thon Event, you can save on-all. the will have the chance to win their chair purchase FREE! — Stay tuned for the full details of this exciting event in the next edition of the Weekend Advertiser. 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