A: -piece of mail, from the
Cariboo . sparked considerable
debate among directors at a
meeting of the Kitimat-Stikine.
-. Regional district board Sept. 16.
Quesnel mayor Michael

- . Pearce is soliciting the support

of municipal:.councils and re-.
‘gional district ‘boards through--

out the province to. petition:

against the federal government’s

nine percent Goods and Services °
- Tax. According to Pearce, most

municipalities“agree that both
the Union of B.C. Municipali-

ties and the Federation of Cana-

dian Municipalities should mon-
itor the potential effects of the
proposal. and be prepared “to
‘oppose anything that will nega-
tively affect Canadian munici-
_palities and their citizens.
‘Further to that, Pearce says
that. many boards and councils

“have said the proposed tax.

_ should be scrapped altogether | -
and that the federal government
should be reducing rather.than
increasing spending and taxa-
tion. In light of this, Pearce asks
councils, boards or their individ-
ual members to sign.a petition
requesting. that the federal gov-
ernment abandon their pro-

posed Goods and Services Tax

and consider other means for
reducing the deficit — primarily
through decreasing government
spending. ~ ~~ * "
The Regional District of Kiti-
mat-Stikine has voted, with
‘ some opposition, to endorse the
Quesnel petition but Terrace city
council has not. At their Sept. 11
- meeting, council entered into lit-
- tle discussion . before. simply
receiving. Pearce’s' letter for in-
formation only. At the regional
district level, however, there was
considerable discussion.

The stage was set by a motion
from Kitimat director John Le-
Sage supporting the motion, to
which board chairman Jack Tal-
stra replied in surprise, ‘You
- guys want to support that?’’ He
explained later in the discussion
that he believed the federal gov-
‘ ernment would simply come up
with a different plan if they were
forced to scrap their proposed
tax but at the same time admit-
ted that a new proposal could be
better than the present one. Tal-
stra also pointed out that only
one premier, Bill Vander Zalm,
was lobbying for a 15 percent
cut in federal spending as an
alternative to the new tax.

Stewart director, Andy Bur-.

ton. said that he, like most

people, doesn’t like paying taxes
of any sort, He added, however,
“The bottom line is, if you want
the services you have to pay for
them... It’s a very complex is-
ue.”” He pointed out that a
similar tax in New Zealand was

working and in response to fed-

eral spending suggested, ‘“We
should look a little closer to
home first.’’

Terrace director Bob Cooper
also opposed the motion. but
only in part. He said he felt the

_- proposed nine-percent ‘tax rate

. will be too high byt at tbe same

time -believed there is “some |.
OA.

balancing going on’? and: the
nine peicent may be negotiable
in order to make the tax accept-

_ able..In some cases, he sald, the .

spi imeesmmnreygeommecten fe oe egg po ore tide dean get aera area armed oer mine imine 2 ke inane hati Maat pn en anne tg HS

Tax gets two strong”
‘supporters on. n board —

price .of . manufactured goods
would drop. For these reasons,

ment’s proposal thrown out.

Other directors, however,
were in.favor of endorsing the
petition. and: having the tax
scrapped. One point brought up

by Les Watmough was the fact

that American tourists would be
able to purchase Canadian
goods at a lower cost than Cana-
dians. All they have to do, he
explained, was save their re-
ceipts and mail them in for a
refund, This quirk in the pro-
posed tax law was. confirmed by

stra, -.

"Harry Nyce, representing the
Nass Valley, pointed to a more

-obvious problem, If the tax is -

imposed, he said, everyone is
going to have to ‘“‘catch yp”’.
Industry, manufacturers and

unions will all be looking for

more money to cover higher

Referred to

The following items“were re-
ferred to committee by Terrace
city council Monday night and

may be. discussed at the next:

committee meeting. The general

-public may attend committee
_meetings with the exception of
‘cases where the agenda contains

property or personnel items.
For more information contact

‘Denise Fisher at 635-6311.

(Note: dates or times may be
changed for the convenience of
committee members.)

Finance, Personnel and Ad-
ministration, Tuesday, Oct. 3 at
12 p.m, (1) A report from the
executive of the Terrace and
District Chamber of Commerce
which concludes that Sunday
shopping in Terrace has great
economic benefit and asks that
council not pursue adopting a
bylaw which ‘would’ regulate
Sunday business hours.

Planning and Public Works,

Wednesday Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. (1)

A letter from Terrace resident
Bob Jackman asking council to
address commercial traffic

-problems on Medeek Ave. and
_Kenney St. Jackman asks that.

council consider rerouting com-
mercial traffic from Medeek to
Braun and Keith, change the
stop signs at the Keith/Kenney

‘intersection to make Keith a

through-street which could help
alleviate commercial congestion
at the Hwy. 16/Kenney intersec-
tion, There is also a request that
the Ministry of Highways install
a traffic light at the Keith/Sande
intersection to facilitate left
turns onto the Sande Overpass.

Community. and Recreation
Services, Thursday at 1 p.m.

letter from ‘Minor:
. Hockey’s -Terrace. Summer
Hockey School. and -Summer
League chairman; Jake DeJong, —

. costs for materials and transpor-
tation, according to Nyce, and
Cooper : said he couldn’t support -
a motion.to have the ’govern-.

this is a cost that will ultimately
be paid by -the consumer, ‘I

; don’t think they’ve looked at it
_hard- enough,” he said, referring
a to the: federal government.

Two Kitimat directors also

_supported the motion. Chee

Ling said he was in favor of

leaving things just as they are, fim

and John LeSage, who made the

original motion, .said, “‘If we

.don’t vote this down they'll

figure they have a free hand,’’
He added that a show of opposi-

tion might force the government
--to have another look at their tax
. proposal and come back with

something more acceptable.
‘“*We need a (tax) increase... it’s
the nine percent I oppose.” Le-

_Sage’s motion was carried but

with opposition from Cooper
and Burton. Burton’s negative
vote was recorded.

committee

‘ requesting a reduction in the

hourly ice rental fee. The current

“rate is $67.50: per hour and
minor hockey has been advised a.

five percent increase will take ef- -
fect next year. ‘According to De-

Jong, the rental fee for a two-.

-week session in August came to
nearly $12,000. -

‘Tourism and Economic De-
velopment, Thursday at 5 p.m.
(1) The Ministry of Regional
Development’s ‘Strong Com-
munities in the ’90’s program.
The program is designed to
assist one community per year
in each of the eight development
regions to help imple-

‘ment economic development

strategies.

Referred to Administration:

(1) A letter from Bob Jackman —

suggesting that the city locate

garbage containers at both

shopping malls to reduce litter in
the downtown core. Alderman
Darryl Laurent describes the
suggestion as a reasonably good
idea at a reasonably good cost.
Mayor Jack Talstra, on the
other hand, reminded council
that smaller. downtown business-
es paid $200 each for existing
trash containers already located
downtown. Administration is to
investigate the idea and report
back to council. (2) Ald. Ruth
Hallock has asked city and re-
gional district administration to
discuss the cost of Sustut timber
access with Prince George log-

ging firms. According to Hal-

lock, access already exists from
the west and there may still be
an opportunity for Hazelton

and Smithers firms to-gain ac- .

cess to Sustut timber. Referring

to the high cost of access from.

Prince George, Hallock says,

“They shouldn’t be. throwing
good money after bad to access -
timber that was formerly ours.”” .

City bylaw enforcement officer Fem Sweeting spent some
time recently reviewing the bylaws with city administrator
Bob Hallsor. Sweeting will Initially be working a 14-hour
‘week examining parking problems, curb painting and other
detalls, and in a new weeks, she will be dealing with un-
sightly premises and Issuing tickets under the city’s
Nuisance, Noise Control, Street and Trafite, Parking and

Smoking Control: Bylaws.

Arena contract awarded

Terrace city council has ac-
cepted the recommendation of
Superintendent of Parks and
Recreation Steve Scott, and
Yvonne Hill has has been

awarded a two-year lease on the’
Terrace Arena concession at a:—

cost of $2,500 per year.
Scott says that invitations for

proposals to operate the conces-

sion were advertised last month
and Hill’s submission was the

only one received.

According to Scott, . ‘Hill's
proposal was a fair one con-
sidering the profit potential of

the concession. He ddded-that . — -

other alternatives, such as vend-
ing machines, have been con-

‘sidered and found to be less

profitable for the city. .

Hill operated the concession
last year’ and her new lease
expires Aug. 31, 1991.

City

provide this protection. .

Jack Talstra
Mayor

of Terrace
INCORPORATED 1927

. PUBLICNOTICE
MUNICIPAL LIABILITY _
INSURANCE CLAIMS °

Section 755.3.of the Municipal Act states that fnunicipalities
are not liable in any action based on nuisance where the
damages datise, directly or indirectly, out of a breakdown or
malfunction of a sewer system, a water or drainage facility or
system, or a dyke or a road. Nuisance actions are defined as
instances in which a home is damaged as a result of a sewer,
drainage or water system, or roadway or dyke, breaking
down and malfunctioning. It would be a basement covered by
several inches of water stemming from a drainage system be-
ing jammed by someone dumping garbage into a municipal
ditch, or it may be a home filled with backed up sewage.

In the past municipalities generally picked up the damage of
these costs or left it to the municipality’s insurance policy;
however, Section 755.3 now releases the municipality for
liability for nuisance actions. As a result most home owners
do not realize they are no longer covered under a municipal
policy and their own homeowners’ insurance policy way. nol
Residents are strongly. ureed to
review their insurance policy with their individual brokers to
ensure adequate coverage in the event of a Nutisanee claim, ,

Bide

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