A2 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, September 15. 1999 fi nish SKATE PARK workers were husy last week com- pacting gravel in the hopes of finishing the venture be- fore winter rains and snow hil. As of Sept. 7, the park’s retaining wall was buill and ready to go but drainage wark, wall backfilling and soil compacting for the base was still underway. The park base also needs to be paved before ramps, pyramids and jumps can be installed, Skate park arganizers are confident the park will be ready for use before winter COUIGS,. Landscaping will have to wait until next spring, says park contractor Gordon Lee. Local skalers are more (ban anxious to have their park up and running, said cily councillor Rich McDaniel. The park is being con- structed in a hollow just off Paul Clark Drive below the arena. SKATE BOARD workers are confident the facility will be finished before winter hits town. A retaining wall has been completed but the base needs to be paved. It's going up near the arena on land provided by the city. Cash and kind contribu- lions of more than $200,000 have been received so faz. The effort to construct a skate board park began after city councillor Rich McDaniel held a serics of sessions with young skateboarders, Worried about moving ‘ond set up 5 costs? Well stop worrying! We are offering 0% interest and no payment for the first month on all new mortgages’. See us lor a pre-approved mortgage’, but hurry, this is a limited time offer. Terrace & District Credit Union Terrace’s only home grown financial institution *vdien buying a hema ond O.A.C, ets Sh Ris Terrace & District Credit Union 4650 Lakelse Ave, Terrace Phone: 635-7282 We belong to you: ihe credit union advantage: we are a profit sharing, member owned institution... What do you need? Need to find God? Need a new Start? Growing weary, need to be refreshed?” Need to be healed? Need to rekindle your Passion for God? Or do you just need more of God? Model sought to review oil drill ban NORTHWESTERNERS SHOULD know next spring how . the decision will be reached to keep or lift the moratorium. on oil and gas drilling off the coast. But first Northern Commissioner John Backhouse wants lo expand the number of people, groups and governments being asked for their opinions. Backhouse was commenting on the results of a study done this past summer of norlhwestern opinion regarding the moratorium. “We found there was a high level of support to develop a pracess to reach a decision on the moratorium,” said . Backhouse. “However, the study acknowledges. there : are wider in- lerests, national and international, to be considered j in this . issue.’” Backhouse did say the consultants hired lo do ihe study would have also run across strong opinion on the north- west to lift the moratorium right away. “Pin sure they did,’’ be said. The development of drilling technology, combined with the prospect of substantial amounts of oil and gas off the north coast, has caused business groups and others to ask for a lifting of the ban to allow exploratory drilling. It's been in place for more than 20 years. Backhouse found encouraging the high number of north- westerners who appreciated being asked for their opinion. At the same time, Backhouse said it will be his jab to come with a way to make a decision that is fair not only to people in the northwest but to others who will want to be- came invalved. While no list has been made about who will be con- tacted, Backhouse did concede that it will probably include environmental groups. Already, Jim Fulton, the former NDP MP for Skeena and now execulive director of the David Suzuki Foundation, has come out against any lifting of the drilling moratorium. Backhouse wants the consultants who will talk to other players to finish that task this winter so he can present the decision making structure to Premier Dan Miller next spring. Backhouse said a key player in the expanded inquiry will be the federal government because it has jurisdiction over fish and ocean waters. “This is such an important issue that we can’t consider it to be just a northern issue,’’ said Backhouse, And there is considerable support by northwesterners for reliable and accurate information, he said, Backhouse said the system on how a decision will be made must be impartial and objective so that various groups and people do not feel there is a bias, Yet he admitted pro and anti drilling groups will un- doubtedly square off. At the same time, Backhouse said he’ll have to consider his own role in what happens next. Although Backhouse is looking for a decision making model (hat’ll appeal to all groups, his job is also to act as an advocate for the north, , While there may be economic and other benefits to the northwest by lifling a moratorium, there are also benefits by keeping it in place, he said, Gathering information will include what happened in Newfoundland when the Hibernia field was developed and in Scotland when the North Sea ficlds were drilled, From front ourplus forecast the district’s enrollment Transformed by the Presence, Passion and Power of God an inspirational evening that could change your life fore ver . with special guest speakers Ken Parker & Rick Parkyn 7:00 PM, Sunday Sept 19" At Evangelical Free Church 4640 Park Ave., Terrace, BC possible, numbers are expected to decrease by 250 to 300 stu- dents, That means, under the cur- rent fiscal formula, the dis- trict will lose $2.5 million in operating dollars. To censure the district docsn’t run into fiscal prob- lems when this occurs, Sharon Beedle, acting su- perintendent, sald.the. dis- trict is beginting to eliminate staff wherever . The board will have to manage within its means, she said, She added that the board may have to lock in other areas for cost savings -1o maintain a surplus. To ensure the district retires its deficit, the educa- tion minisiry bas asked the board ta send monthly deficit updates and plans on the improving ils’ fiscal siivation. - “Sponsored by Terrace Full Gospel Christian Fellowship For information call Pastor Mike Rosenau 638-1270 Free admission - Free-will offerings will be taken The Full Gospel Church meets every Sunday 6:30 PM at Zion Baptist Church on the corner of Keith and Sparks