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A6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 1, 1994

TERRACE STANDARD

Busintss REVIEW.

B.C. gov’t
cleaning up
its vehicles

THE B.C. GOVERNMENT is
taking small but steady steps
toward cleaner air.
: Of the 700 government vehicles
in northwestern B.C. about 18 op-
erate on allernate fuel, said Ray
Brochy, government vehicle man-
ager for northern B.C.

He is awaiting the approval of
20 more vehicles for natural gas
conversions.

“Our main objective for start- —

ing to go to alternate fuels is en-
vironmental reasons, plus reduced
cost,’* Brochu said from his
Prince George office.

, Five ministries currently use the
vehicles converted to natural gas
OT propane, including transporta-
tion and highways, atlorney gen-
eral, environment, forestry and
health

‘Seven of the 18 government
vehicles are fueled by natural gas,
while the other 11 run on
propane.

Ken Merry, marketing manager
for natural gas dealer Farwest
Fuels, would like to see even
mote government support.

*In Ontario, if you convert a
brand new vehicle to natural gas
within 30 days of purchase, you
don’t have to pay provincial sales
tax on the vehicle,’’ said Merry.
“If B.C, would support it like
that, it could really go.”

Natural gas and propane burn
cleaner than gasoline or diesel,
making them common alternative
fuels used to reduce vehicle emis-
sions,

Burning a litre of natural gas
produces 70 per cent less pollu-
te than burping.#.Jiire of gaso-

e, according to Merry.

4 ‘*We put our buses running on
natural gas in the garage and our
mechanics can be in there 15
minutes before the carbon

Z

monoxide detector goes off,’
said Merry. ‘‘Burning gasoline, it
goes off in 30 seconds.”

He sees natural gas as the more
efficient alternative fuel as it is a
basic fuel, as opposed to propane
which is derived from natural gas.

Running natural gas through a
drying process to remove any
water is all that is done, Merry
said.

Pacific Northern Gas subsidizes
conversions of vehicles to natural
gas.
Farwest has converted about
175 vehicles to natural gas in the
last two years, 80 of which were’
in 1994, said local Farwest man-
ager Dave Storey.

Since 1984 Farwest has con-
verted 1,500 vehicles. More than
half of those vehicles remain in
the northwest, consuming
200,000 litres of natural gas a
month.

Northwest B.C. has the highest
per capita use of natural gas in
North America, Merry said.

Although statistics were not
available for propane use in
northwest B.C., said Premier
Propane manager Paul Hibby, the
Vancouver area selis over 10 mil-
lion litres of propane per month

“Especially in Western Canada,
propane is a popular fuel,’’ said
Bibby. ‘It’s clean burning and
there’s an ample supply.’”

He said propane is a better
choice than natural gas because
propane is far more accessible.

The average pickup gets about
130 miles per tank of natural gas,
forcing users to make sure there

«ds natural gas available when

travelling.

While the number of nozth-
western B.C. communities selling
natural gas is growing, said
Storey, users still must switch

The residents, statf and management of
Terraceview Lodge

would like to express sincere appreciation to everyone in the community

who contributed to the

Terraceview Bus Fund

through personal donations, memorials, and support of fundraising projects.

7 Aspecial thank you to the Skeena Valley Rotary Club and to other groups @
mB who donated funds — Seniors Lottery, Fabricland, Snowmobilers
= Association, Skeena Valley Quilters Association, Kinsmen Club, Legion
Ladies, Skeena NDP Association.

m The 16 passenger, wheelchair equipped bus has been ordered. Terraceview .
| Lodge residents look forward to its arrival in June.

Lapointe Engineering Ltd.

have joined their firm.

with him aver

Drago Grabovac, P. Eng. has joined
Lapointe Engineering Ltd, as their
Senlor Structural Engineer. He brings
twenty years of
experiance in structural design, project
management and construction in
Canada and the United States

Out & About

Deen 0 eee ane: Sarees 14 Beno.cy z ris tae Be
ALTERNATIVE FUELS are making the atmosphere cleaner and

are cutting down an expenses. Robin Freeman, who has run his
truck on natural gas for six years, estimates his conversion cost

was paid off in the first two years.

over to an extra gasoline tank to
make it from Smithers to Prince
George.

Propane is sold in almost every
northwestern community, said
Bibby.

‘Natural gas is good for low
mileage vehicles for in-town
use,”’ according to Bibby. ““You
can never be far from the pump
with natural gas.’’

All the Terrace taxis run on
propane, said JCG Propane man-
ager Ken Weir. All but about five
Prince Rupert cabs are fueled by
propanc.

Bibby said a Vancouver cab
company tricd natural gas but
switched back to prepanc because

‘they couldn’t run a full shift

without refueling,

Movers in school

IF ROB Kirkaldy can help it,
broken dishes and dented ap-
pliances will no longer be part of
the moving experience for Wil-
liams Moving and Storage
customers.

Movers from the Terrace office
of Williams spent a day recently
polishing their skills with
Kirkaldy.

As the instructor of the only
training centre for movers in Can-
ada, Kirkaldy hopes to help them
become more efficient.

“Jf the assistants know what
they're doing, there are less prob-
lems for everyone,’ says
Kirkaldy, an employce of Wil-

| _ {gs pleased to announce that two additional engineers

Mechanical

experience

Lapointe Engineering Ltd. provides professional service in the disciplines of civil,
structural and mechanical engineering, as well as community planning. Thelr
strengths are now complemented by Drago *g and Jerry's expertise.

Jerry McKay, FP. Eng., has joined
Lapointe Engineering Ltd.

Coordinator.
. Industrial/commercial

Northwest Territories.

as a
Project
contribution is

project
tha

Engineer/
His

In Alberta and

322 Industrial Ave.
Kitimat, B.C,, V8C 2E9

Phone (604) 639-9252
Fax (604) 630-9255

liams for 18 years, now working
out of Prince George. ‘‘They look
more professional and it gives the
customer more confidence.”’

In a joint project between Wil-
liams and the Brotherhood of Ca-
nadian Movers union, a semi
trailer was converted into a port-
able classroom containing a TV
monitor and VCR.

There are also dishes and furni-
ture used to teach the more practi-
cal aspects of moving.

While the course is not yet
mandatory for employees, Wil-
liams strongly encourages them
and pays a day’s wage while they
attend, says Kirkaldy.

THE TERRACE and District
Chamber of Commerce is busy
tabulating the resulis of a
downtown parking questionnaire.

It’s preparing a submission to
city council but first wants to
know opinions of its members.

Ultimately, the chamber wants
to know if its members support
the idea of a parking lot in the
downtown area,

The questionnaire asks if lack
of parking is a problem, how
many employees bring vehicles to
work, where they. park and if
there have been any customer
compiainis,

The city has been contemplat-
ing some sort of parking facility
but no action has yet been taken.

kak kk

Twa local companies have been
awarded city gravel contracts.

Far-Ko Contracting- and BG.
O'Boyle. Lid. will provide road
building materials.

Far-Ko will supply an estimated
9,000 cum. of sub-grade ag-
gregate and approximately 1,000
cum. of bedding sand, both at
85.5 cents/cu.m. ;

O’Boyle got the nod for 2,000
cu.m. each of surfacing aperepate
and course aggregate, both at
$4.41 /cum.

Exact amounts depend upon the
size and type of capital projects
being undertaken by the city.

Last year, bids were invited and
contracis awarded, but council
decided it couldn't afford any ex-

tensive road work.
kk kkk

June 7 is the date of a Terrace
and District Chamber of Com-
merce dinner mecling featuring
provincial crown corporation rep-
resenlatives,

They'll be telling businesses
how ‘they can better have-the op-
portunily to secure public sector
supply and service contracts,

Anestimated 21 crown corpora-
lions will be represented,

‘Call the chamber office at 635-
2063 for more information.

Kaka

Commercial. fishermen will
have collective bargaining rights
under proposed changes to
provincial labour law.

The legislation, if passed, will
affect 15,000 commercial
fishermen, said labour minister
Dan Miller.

kaekkk

Scotiabank has a new student
loan program for post secondary
students. ,

Full time students can naw bor-
tow up to $5,200 an academic
year without a guarantor. The
loans will be made at market
tates,

Part time students can borrow
up to $2,600 under the same con-
ditions.

Interest payments will be re-
quired by full time students while
in school. Part time students must
make interest and principal pay-
menls while still inschool.

252 COIL

“UP TO 30 YEAR
GUARANTEE

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