es HE PEOPLE SPEAK Pee poke ee Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 18, 1992 — Page AS End urged to sewer problem Dear Sir: 1 am writing this letter to clear up some of the misinfor- mation that is circulating con- cerning the sewage problem in the Bobsein/Queensway area, _.’ Firstly I-would like to state ~~ adamantly. that we do have a. -very serious problem but are not . polluters by choice. : Although some of the systems are older many of them have “been updated to present stan- dards and still they don’t work. This subdivision was given the go ahead in Jan. 1966, At that time the public health - department described all of the problems that we are now faced with. However, -the provincial government, [ believe in the ‘form of the Department of Highways, overruled public health and the subdivision went ahead. - You must realize there were no ‘regional districts in 1966. Come visit Bobsein ‘please Dear Sir: Local government officials here have been telling municipal affairs minister Robin Blencoe in Victoria that the Bobsein/- Queensway area has a severe sewage problem. “-»-Mr. Blencoe doesn’t seem to -be listening. Perhaps he doesn’t believe his local advisors. “1 feel that Mr. Blencdée should personaly’ ‘ihspeet ihis ‘ared ‘and put his five Senses to work. Bill Clark, Bobsein Crescent Dear Sir: We would not be asking for help in fixing our long running sewage problem in the Bobsein Crescent/Queensway St. area if “it were not an urgent health and welfare concern to all our local residents. ‘We need financial assistance from any and. all forms of government to install a good, ’ safe sewage system now. We cannot afford to wait an other. one, two, three, 13 years ta-resolve this problem. - We all hope and pray that our “government can find it in their hear. and their budget to come ~up witha fair and quick solu- tion to our long time problem which only gets worse day by day. . ‘Tm just a local resident of Bobsein Crescent, trying to get our quiet neighbourhood some _. of the safe health standards that “most all. Canadians have to come to know and expect at a réasonable cost to all involved, Dennis Spencer, Bobsein Crescent Since that time this problem has been studied to death by a variety of administrations. The results of each and every study has come to the same conclu- sion, The only feasible solution is.a community sewage disposal system. This agrees totally with what the local residents have always said, Herein lies the problem. The funding available from the pro- vincial government is so low that each household is facing an increase in yearly taxes of bet- ween $1,200 and $1,800 per year. This would put the taxes on my home to between $2,050 and $2,650 per year. This, by the way, is on a home that is valued at $40,000, As you can see this is totally preposterous, Mr. Robin Blencoe, Minister of Municipal Affairs, has repeatedly stated that the solu- tion lies in amalgamation with Terrace and has actually gone s0-far as to strike a commitlee to study the proposal, Again this idea is patently ridiculous. Why, in his wildest imagination, he would think that. the good people of Terrace would take on this enormously costly problem is beyond com- prehension. oo Further: to’ this, the time frame involved in this ridiculous idea of amalgamation is twa to three years. Our problem is much more immediate. We at present have one family facing possible eviction from their home on an almost daily basis and we have been tald by public health that all are targeted for testing, As a result of this all of us, who have sank all our available finances in these homes, are liv- ing day to day with a gun to our heads. One question that begs to be dividually, asked is why, when the public health department: and the residents concerned have exact- ly the same goal-in. mind, is public health taking such acom- bative stance with the residents? Their present stance.is that the. - residents must fix’ this in- The plan they. have proposed to one resident is to raise his property level by.an-average of 29 inches, put in a new tank, a pumping ‘station, 400 feet. of drain pipe and cover it all with. dirt that will hold the water till - it evaporates. I spoke to a local contractor who surveyed the site and gave an estimate approximately $10,000 for this system, He also stated that he would refuse to guarantee that the system would work for even one day and that even if it did work the best the homeowner could expect was one year until the ground was so HOMEOWNER David Giesbrecht points to raw sewage from failed septic systems along Bobsein Crescent that spilis into this kak kkk Dear Sir: For many years I have taken the laundry to a laundromat to be washed because of the sewer and drainage problem we have. [it is such a ridiculous situa- tion, not to speak of the in- convenience and time consum- ing matter of taking the laundry to be washed somewhere else, especially when the washing machine is hooked up and can’t be used, Margaret Faber Bobsein Crescent kKkkkk* Dear Sir: My name is Cliff Daugherty, i'm really concerned about my family losing our home. My dad has plans of retiring and if we have to move, May dad may have to keep working, ‘Cliff Daugherty, Thornhill, B.C, kKKa kkk Dear Sir; I am very concerned about the problem we are having, not Chris Clark just for me but for other kids in the area. Bobsein, like every other street, has kids playing sports for a major. part of the day. And out of all that time, the ball will end up rolling into the ditch a couple of times. Someone has to go get that ball. Not only the person wha gets the ball makes contact with the sewer but. the people who kick it the first three or four times. Those are the people who saturated the sewage - would again be leaking into the dit- ches, This proposal, by the way, is for the home owner who has the largest. lot.in'the area, All the -otherlots. ar. too. small for this solution. So where does all this leave us the residents?’ On one hand we have a: provincial government essentially refusing to help us clean-up a méss that is really of its doing and on the other hand the public:health department is essentially trying ‘lo evict us from our homes, Meanwhile back: on Bobsein Crescent, in the real world, the residents are still living in ‘‘third world conditions’’, _ Sincerely, . Rick Hawke, Vice President, Bobsein/- ° Queensway Action Group Queensway Ave. ditch. So far Victoria has came up with no solution to the sewage woes of residents there. Dreams and reality expressed | catch the spray off the ball, Within half an hour every one playing will have a bit of sewer on them. Getting wet isn't what bothers us, it’s the fact we're getting wet with germs and bacteria which can cause diseases. That's what bothers us. I just wish we could get a sewer system in place. Jeremy Hutter Bobsein Crescent kKkkkk* Dear Sir: I am a resident of the Bobsein Crescent subdivision. The feelings expressed in this letter are typical of what I have lived with each and every day for the past month. [ sit here at midnight putting pen to paper. Two hours have passed since my head. first hit my pillow. Thoughts of whal to do drift in and out of my mind. It's been one month since my neighbour was presented with a cease-and-desist order from public health and every day since has nightmare, Every waking moment of every day, the terror, frustra- tion and despair fill ‘my heart. been a_ chaotic ‘At night, when all is still, m mind trembles with the fear of whal tomorrow will bring. - Will it be my family next? Will everything we worked so hard for be snatched away from us in one fleeting instant? I think back to 12 years ago. I recall a young couple just begin- ning a journey, filled with hopes and dreams, building a life, building a home. I think about all the sacrifices along the way. | hear the voices of my children playing in their home, their yard. Echoes of the past. The joyous times and the nal sa ‘joyous ones. They all happened here in my home. No, I can’t give this up. As | once again lay my head to my pillow, I will dream of a bet- ler Lomorrow. A \ glimmer of hope. Chris Clark, . Bobsein Crescent Briefly lona chosen THE AREA’S former member of parliament will be the first chancellor of the University of Northern B.C, Iona Campagnolo, Skeena MP from 1974 to 1979, was elected to the honourary, three-year post by a mail-in vote of the university's con- vocation. Campagnolo got her start with Skeena Broadcasters, working there as sales manager from 1966-72. She -was- elected to parlia- ment in 1974, serving one term in Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government. She was president of the Liberal Par- ty of Canada from 1982-1986. Campagnolo now heads her own company, called lonasphere Co, There were three other candidates for the position. Officials said 4,028 members of the convocation were eligible to take part in the election. A surprisingly high 2,419 convocation members — 61 per cent of the electorate — voted. The chancellor is an un- paid honourary position that includes the responsibility to represent the university, at- tend board of governors meetings, award degrees, and raise money. Steelhead drive AN INTERNATIONAL drive to save the Skeena River's prized steelhead has moved into a new phase with the opening of an office in Smithers, The Wild Steelhead Cam- paign office will be open from 8:30 a.m, to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday at 1175 Main Street in Smithers, A project of the Steelhead Society of B.C., the cam- paign is raising money for production of a video on the Skeena’s declining fish stocks, ; Some filming has already taken place and organizers ‘hope! to release’the video" by the end of this year. The project is also being backed by the American- based conservation group Trout Unlimited. One of the campaign’s fund-raising projects is a trip for four anglers on the upper Skeena with two. high profile American steeJheaders, The four winners will be accom- panied by local guides and steelheaders Lani Waller and Trey Coombs, They’ll fly in to three rivers — the Babine, the Bulkley and the Kispiox — during the five-day trip this fall. The 1,000 tickets printed are being sold at $100 each to help finance the video pro- ject. Done deal NORTHWEST COM- MUNITY College instructors and support staff have voted 86.5 per cent in favour of a two-year contract giving in- creases of about 8.5 per cent. The contract for the 115-member bargaining unit of the B.C, Government Employees’ Union is retroac- tive to Oct. 1, 1991. . Pay equity adjustments costing 2.46.per cent of total payroll will be phased in over two years, Union spokesman Wiho Papenbrock said the agree- ment is in-line with other re- cent college settlements. He said it also gives major improvements ‘in faculty workload and job security rights. . The Start is for people ‘L learning how to read. It's a The people on Bob- sien Crescent have a problem. Sewage leaks into a ditch. The government wants the problem fix- ed, The people say it will cost a lot of money. MESS They want government to help. But the government won't give the people enough money. The people say they might fight the govern- ment, They could take the government .to court. the Spring Spring is here. That means cleaning up outside. Gordon McIntyre works for the city. He was busy last week on the arena hill. He cleaned up a lot of leaves. Soon there will be flowers on. the arena hill.