Warning issued Record intact. Moving in Ensuring pleasant views fron.) highways couid hurt the foresty ive industry./NEWS AG a | Skeena girl basketballers | returned triumphant from an Alaskan foray./SPORTS A11 The first tenants take up | residence at a local housing | project.CcD/COMMUNITY BL WEDNESDAY JANUARY 4, 1995 ee ee ee _ STAYING ALERT at all times is one of the four rules of the road veteran driving instructor Al Tomas (above) says Tomas drives message home SLOW DOWN. Drive to the conditions. Be alert. Make sure your vehicle is roadworthy. Drivers on the north’s winter roads have heard all this before — probably to the point where the message fails to sink in. But for veteran driving in- structor Al Tomas, it’s a way of lile. “Check over your left shoulder. Drive with the door locked and the headlights on,” says ‘Tomas as he prepares to pull out {rom the curb on a tour of area streets andhighways. “*¥You can’t afford to be lazy. You have to be alert with all of the conditions no matter the time of year.”’ That advice is even more im- portant in the winler when road conditions make driving slower a must. It takes longer for vchicics to slop on snow and ice and ex- cessive speed can lead to skid- ding and loss of control. “If you just touch the brakes, you can lock your wheels, It’s neatly impossible to prevent that kind of skid,” says Tomas. There’s nothing wrong with driving slower, even if it means afriving at a destination a couple of minutes later than normal, he adds, ‘‘Be patient. Give yourself plenty of time.” Tomas advises drivers going on longer winter trips to make sure they have plenty of rest and to stop every ance in awhile to take a walk and to getsome fresh air, Although not a regular coffce drinker, Tomas takes a thermos full of the liquid on long trips should be every driver's watchwords, They apply all year round but are especially important in winter conditions. obscured by high snowbanks as it does to stopping and look- ing at intersections. “Always take a look around, If youre not looking, you could be at St. Peter’s feet the next minute,’’ Tomas says. ' Tomas advocates following the ‘two second”? rule when travelling behind another vehicle. “Fix your eye on a landmark and when the other vehicle passes it, count ‘onc thousand If you’re not looking, you could be at St. Peter's feat the next MINULE.s.cereseerree TOMAS. to help him stay alert, That word ‘‘alert’’ is a con- stant refrain and forms the first rule of four that Tomas has. The others are recognizing hazards, being prepared and acting on time.: “Good observation is more than 80 per cent of the safety that's required,” notes Tomas. “You have to watch the other driver and anticipate.’’ That applics as much to slowing down on comers that other vehicle poses a and onc,’ ‘one thousand and two.’ a] This applies for any speed and will give you time to act if hazard. ‘And should another vehicle be following you toc closely, Tomas has a solution. ‘Just touch your brake very lightly. Your brake lights will go on even though you aren’t pulting pressure on the brakes. Sure, the other driver may swear at you. No question about it, but they'll know not ta drive too close,”’ he says. There’s also nothing wrong with slowing down and letting following vehicles overtake you when on winter highways, Tomas adds, Instead of relying on brakes when going down hills in the winter, Tomas advocates put- ting the vehicle into a lower gear. His caution here is to be careful because too low a gear can ruin the transmission. When parked on a hill and to move forward, Tomas says drivers should choose a low gear and be ever so gentle when accelerating. His advice even extends to the little things — such. as making sure there’s no snow stuck to the bottom of your footwear when you climb into. a vehicle. That snow is slippery and your foot can easily slip off of the brake or gas pedal. Tomas adds that good brakes and good winter tires are es- sential for driving during the winter months. City to go to rural tax well IT’S A CASH GRAB and there’s probably not much Thomhill tax- payers can do about it Terrace city council is planning to ask Thornhill, Lakelse Lake and other rural taxpayers to start sharing in the costs of supporting local community organizations, Councillor David Hull last week presented council witha list of grants the city made to various organizations in 1994, Regional district taxpayets al- ready pay part of the cost of oper- ‘ _ ating the library — which ac- counts for more than half of the $600,000 in grants on the list, But the Chamber of Commerce, the Terrace Beautification Society, Terrace Victims As- sistance Program, and olhers, are supported by the cily but not by the rural area, Those city grants total more than $130,000 and Hull plans to demand: regional district tax- payers help by kicking in some of that money, © And the city has a good chance of succeeding in the moncy grab. That’s because regional district directors from places like the Hazelions, Stewart and Telegraph Creek will also get to vote on the issue. Many of them resent the amount of the regional district’s time and resources that Thornhill consumes, And how | betier. to pressure Thornhill taxpayers. to either amaigamate or incorporate than Geo by giving away their money? “Thornhill may want to keep the status quo,” Hull said. ‘‘But you can’t have your cake and eat it too.’ The tople will likely be raised by Terrace’s representatives — David Hull and mayor Jack Tal- stra — at the regional district's Jan, 28 board meeting. Some city councillors have also suggested approaching — neigh- bouring native banda for tiller, contributions. KCP report to go to cabinet A 300-PLUS PAGE report on Al- can’s $1.3 billion Kemano Com- pletion Project could come before cabinel next Wednesday. Health minister Paul Ramsey — the province’s designated repre- sentative on the controversial hydroclectric project — said last week that’s the first day cabinet mets in the new year. “Tt will take some time to ana- lyze the report and its recom- mendations,’ Ramsey told the Standard, adding, he hopes to telease it to the public and inter- venors as soon as possible after it’s reviewed by cabinet. “The goal here is to get it to cabinet and to the public as quickly as possible."’ The report and its recommenda- . tons are the product of more than a year of work by a B.C. Utilities Commission panel that toured the north probing the project’s im- pact. ° The project consists of drilling a second tunnel through Mount Dubosc, allowing more water from the Nechako reservoir to tum turbines at Kemaneo, Alcan will add nearly 300 megawatts of capacity to ils Kemano generating station, The central issue to be ad- dressed by the report is whether or not fish stocks can survive the dramatic reduction of water levels that will occur. in the upper Nechako River. Economically, the — project’ means business for Terrace. and Kitimat during the construction phase. About 800 workers were on the construction site until. the half- built project was mothballed in 1991. a, Beyond construction, however, there would be few if any new jobs added at the generating sia- tion. - When the province announced the revicw in 1993, Premier Mike Harcourt said scrapping the pro- ject altogether was not a consid- eration because taxpayers would likely have to pay hundreds. of millions of dollars in compensa- tion to Alcan. Liberal leader Gordon. Camp- bell in October pledged to scrap the hydroelectric “Project altogether ifhe is clected premier. Boom continues — THREE OFF the reel. For the third consecutive year, the value of construction in the city has topped $20 million. Permits director Bob Lafleur said ths final tally for 1994 was just a fraction below $22 million, That's nearly $1.5 million less than 1993, but it’s still shows: construction running at double - the rate of three years ago. © The residential sector led the way again, accounting for two of every three dollars spent in the continuing building boom, Single family home starts hit _ &5, three more than last year, 20 multi-family developments took place and even something as seemingly unimportant as garages accounted for close to one quarter ofa million dollars. How long can this go on? Minister says fears unfoundet SLAPPING preservation status . on large areas of the northwest does not necessarily mean smaller eco-systems jn the region will go unprotected. ‘That was the response last weck from provincial Forests minister . Andrew Petter to concerns raised by the Gerry Bloomer, chairman of the Kalum. South Community Resources board. In an article in the Dec, 14 Ter- race Standard, Bloomer. criti- cized the province for setting aside “immense protected areas” such as the Kitlope . and Tatshenshini-Alsek. Those decisions pushed the area of preserved land in the northwest above the govemment’s target of 12 per cent. Bloomer therefore feared it would now be impossible to get meaningful conservation measures taken on the numerous amall eco-systems identified by a board sub-committee, However, Petter pointed out the 12 per cent figure is a province- wide target, not. a Tegion-by- region one. : On Vancouver Island, for ex- ample, the area” set aside had slightly exceeded 12 per.cent. , And in other parts: of. the ‘pro- Vince, It would be ‘difticult’” to - tion .to, ‘satlsty’ ‘thos agreed | with a decisio 7 Lafleur says rising interest rates are the only thing that can. n stop the boom. There are some 1995 bankers: the planned Saan store; a 32 unit. motel; the Skeena-Kalum Hous- _ ing Socicty’s 18 unit addition,: . ‘And a-significant number of . sub-division: lots’ had been sold last year with the owners plan- ning to build this year. However, housing will. ‘still be the driving force and higher Inter- est rates ate ‘'the only ‘thing: that can slow things down?) nce | If they get .too high, he. “x- plained, potential home. builders - could find themselves.” dis-. qualified Grom getting financing, That aside, Lafleur says: he. . would be pessimistic if:he didn’t : . forecast this year will be as busy : | as last in terms of construction. oy achieve the fi igure because. of de- | velopment that had already taken ; place, le pointed out’. yo “Some balancing will have: fo. be done,” Petter said, repeating. . conservation decisions. would be - taken based on ‘‘how it Fits, into provincial goals.’? ..- . - Therefore, any decisions taken to date did not preclude prestrva- tion of conservation: of smaller areas in the northwest. or else where. : _ Petter also defended the Kitope and Tatshenshini decisions which — Bloomer . had. suggested were - driven by ! ‘political agendas’, The . Kitlope had. . involved “extensive. . public consultation’? and ¢ven the forest company i ‘n- © volved — West Fraser, —- had. agreed the area was. worthy: of” preservation, =.) & The. decision to. pieserve- shad : responded to: the views of people. ., living in thearen, he maintained. And..in: the case of, ‘the | “Tashenshini, he pointed out. in- dustry had argued a decision was | necessary to, end the, uncertainty: surrouriding the future of the area. ° “Decision making «is~ never". easy,” Petter ;noted,. adding ‘you | could neverdo: enough consulta: wh ‘diss ae