Meet the hopefuls district candidates exposed\NEWS A5 School district and regional Let there be light Terrace Little Theatre makes the. _ first purchase for its new . home\COMMUNITY B1 Sound concept WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 23, 1996 Need for in camera, says Hull Council mum on rink plan’ THE COMMITTEE that’s been pouring through proposals from private developers to build a second sheet of ice is going to make public its recommendation on whether to go ahead or not next Monday. But the details of those proposals upon which the committee is making its recommendation won’t be released just yet, says city councillor . and committee member David Hull. If the recommendation is to proceed, he said, council will stilt have to approve the Idea and begin final negotiations with the favoured proponent. That’s when the city would release a basic in- Bears target our city BLACK BEAR complaints skyrocketed last week as they came to town looking for a pre-hibernation snack -~ usually garbage. "It’s that time of year,’ says...conservation officer Martin Melderis, ‘‘We’re being inundated with com- plaints. : Terrace is the hotspot for bear activity in the north- west right now. White Kilimat has had 192 com- plaints so far this year, and Prince Rupert a scant 46, Terrace is up to 242 and counting. That’s keeping conserva- tion officers hopping, checking out complaint after complaint and juggling the city’s two bear traps, But all their efforts haven’t had much success, as their traps have been empty for a while. Melderis says that’s typical for this time of year, “When it comes down to a small piece of bait and a tree full of apples, the bears choose the apples,’” Melderis says. ‘“There’s a variety of things out there to choose from right now.” One of those choices has been garbage, “A lot of people seem to think that the bears have gone to bed already,’’ says Melderis. '‘They’re putting their garbage out the night before pickup, or leaving it out altogether,’’ Meleris says the hotspots change quite frequently. One area that's been a prob- ‘lem this year is in the neigh- bourhood around the new medical centre, “There’s lots of garbage strewn about the area,’ Melderis says. ‘‘Tt’s obvious . the neighbourhood,” dication of the concept it would be negotiating with the favoured proponent. Hull said it’s only proper that the detailed proposals be kept in-camera until there's a final deal. ‘I’m not a huge fan of In camera but this kind of stuff you absolutely cannot have in the open,” Hull said, He said the proposals and any ultimate deal involve financial negotiations, land dealing, and legal negotiations towards a contract. “This is one of the purest in camera items you'll ever see,”’ he added. In the event that the committee of city staff, counciliors and second sheet proponents recom- = Happy trails what’s keeping that bear in NEXT SPRING will mark the opening of a new first-class trall to the lava cone In the Nass Valley's Nisga’a It's going to be easier to hear music and words from now on at | the arena\SPORTS B7 mend against further negotiations towards a so- called '‘private-public partnership’’, then the detailed documents likely woulda’t ever be released, he said, : He said it may be that the cily simply isn’t big enough yet to support such a project. _ The group bas met with two developers — Edmonton-based Community Facilities Devel- opment Inc, and Vancouver-based RG. Properties. a a Most of the work of the committce has aimed at rejigging the two proposals so they’re more comparable. Hull described the exercise as a *‘glorified fact-finding mission,” Memorial Lava Bed Park. That's Steve Derrick working on the path, For more on the new trail sea page AQ, Band plans own gas station THE KITSUMKALUM band hopes to have its "own gas station open by year's end. But the proposed site on reserve land has made the major gas companies reluctant to be- come partners in the station. Chief councilior Steve Roberts expects the gas bar lo be a success based on two major strengths — key positioning as the westernmost fuel stop before Prince Rupert and provincial tax-free fuel sales to status natives, Because it's on réserve, status natives don't have to pay the 11-cent-per-litre tax on the fuel, They do, however, have to produce their status card and fill in a form every time they buy fuel, Apart from that, however, Roberts predicted the station will charge prices comparable to most other outlets in town, , But it's not the tax-free fuel sales that bother the major companies, says Robert. Rather, it’s the insecurity of investing in something thal’s on reserve land and can’t be owned outright. “They’re afraid of Indian reserves,’’ said Roberts, ‘*They want to do business with us, but they don’t want to invest in anything that’s going to be carried out on reserve.’’ He said they’re still in negotiation with vari- ous suppliers, and expects they’ll resolve the problem one way or another. He said it may be that the station will operate as an inndependent and that they’ll simply buy the gas from suppliers. ‘We bad boped to try to tie ourselves up with one of the well-known brand names for ease of ‘ recognilion by the motoring public,’ Roberts said, ‘“but so far that hasn’t happencd,”” Construction is presently underway to install necessary water and sewer lines. - __ Roberts says the above ground tanks and pumps are expected to arrive in six to eight weeks. "Tt all depends on what the weather does to us,’* he added. A 14- by 30-foot modular build- ing will house a convenience store, office, and public washrooms, Roberts hopes the gas bar. will create up to eight jobs for band members... The outlet will be right across the highway. from the entrance to the band's bodl launch area: - on the Kaluni River... agen ae . -perintendent 93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST VOL. 9 NO..28 AREA VOTERS trying to choose the right people to be their next school trustees and regional district represen- tatives have a chance to speak to and question the can- didates tomorrow evening. The Terrace Standard, in conjunction with local Toastmasters and the R.E.M, Lee Theatre, is hosting an all-candidates meeting. The meeling begins al 7 p.m. featuring first the regional district hopefuls followed by the school trustee candidates. Gordon Oates from the Bank of Montreal is moderating, In two weeks, Nov. 7, city voters get their crack at the cight people running for council and the two run- ning for mayor. This meeting also begins at 7 p.m. and there'll also be plenty of chances to ask questions. Trustees hit a big © brick wall By CRIS LEYKAUF ELECTIONS FOR the area’s new and larger school board could be dominated by one issue — whether Terrace su- Frank © Hamilton should take over as head of the merged Terrace and Kitimat school districts, Trustees from both districts who have been meeting for months tc =! oe. iron out details of their Stew Christensen enforced marriage don’t think they'll be meeting until after elections for the newly merged board take place next month. The trustees have been deadlocked for months on whether or not Hamilton should be nun the new district, Aud last week Kitimat truslees walked out of a meeting with their Terrace counterparts. “We saw no point in staying,’’ said Kitimat school board chair George Neumann, The two sides were supposed to meet with education labour lawyer Judith Anderson to discuss the new board’s obligations with contracts and severance packages, Neumann said Kitimat trustees were shocked when Ter- race trustees presented them with the agenda. The first item was a slatement by on bebalf of the Terrace board that they had unanimously declared Frank Hamilton should be superintendent and chief executive officer of the new dis- tricl. “We wanted to be open and up front about our posi- tion,’ said Terrace school board chairman Stew Christensen. ot Terrace trustees say that since Kitimat has an acting su- perintendent whose contract runs out Dec, 1, the day be- fore the new district officially comes into being, Hamilton will be the only superintendent with a contract. His con- tract rolls over each year, Terrace trustees also say there's little sense in paying Hamilton a severance package that could reach $500,000 should he no longer be superinten- dent, : ‘We're very satisfied with the work he has done and the results he has accomplished,’’ said Christenen. He was hoping the Kitimat team would agree to the statement, and - that Hamilton could then join the meeting. ‘We felt thoroughly betrayed,’’ said Neumann. ‘‘I just don't unde: tand this intransigent position.” He said he was even more surprised with Terrace’s posi- tion, given a recent letter from education minister Moe Sihota. ‘ 'T have become aware,’’ wrote Sihota in the letter dated _ Oct, 11, “that the Kitimat board and some members of the Kitimat and Terrace communities are very concerned about the process to be used in the selection of staf— There is a strong perception that the existing Terrace board would prefer to fill most positions with existing Terrace personnel with little regard for existing personnel in Kitimat.” Neumann said that before the Kitimat team walked out, they asked Tertace trustees to discuss Sihota’s letter. “They wouldn’! add it to the discussion,”’ said Neumann. “That's absolute garbage,’" said Christensen. ‘'We had no problem discussing the letter.”’ He said they’ve only discussed the superintendent's posi- tion with Kitimat, so therefore weren't talking about replacing any Kitimat staff. Since the meeting Neumann has been in touch with the education ministry, He says the ministry is willing to offer a facilitator, he but doesn’t see the point unless Terrace reverses its unanimous decision on the superintedant’a position. © He's waiting for a phone call from Terrace, ‘‘Stew shut “the door, It’s up to hint to open it," sald Neumann.