GUMBOOCi DANCE performed by Pearson College students
was designed to bring awareness to the Second Annual
First Nation Education Week celebrations, March 5 at the
Lauwelnew School! in Brentwood Bay. The performance
was dedicated fo schoo! board chairman Philip Paul, ‘for
what he has done for natives in this country.’ The dance
originated with black South African miners and was
performed by leader Ed Mensah from Ghana, with stu-
dents from Swaziland, Kenya, Uganda, Fiji, Sierra Leone
and Lesotho. Students from 80 countries attend Metcho-
sin’s Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific. cienn werkman photo

sidney’s spring
clean-up could
be on user-pay

With upcoming budget discus-
sions very much on their minds,
Sidney Town councillors carefully
considered the cancellation of the
spring clean-up before eventually
adopting a compromise — that
council staff look into the feasibil-
ity of introducing a user-pay sys-
tem for the clean-up.

Contributions varied from those
that held the clean-up. was an
unnecessary expense on some-
thing householders would come to

do themselves and others that
maintained Sidney's image as a
beautiful seaside town was on the
lines =~

In the short run, council staff
will consider how long such a
user-pay system will take to imple-
ment, and if that it can be done for
this year’s clean-up.

What is beyond doubt though is
the council’s clear signal to the
public that in a time of budgetary
cutbacks, such a service cannot be
provided free.

The cost of this year’s spring
clean-up, should it proceed, was
estimated by council staff at
$16,136 — an increase of $2,000
on last year — in a cost analysis
furnished to council members.

A motion by Ald. Dave Goulet
that the clean-up be canceled was
seconded Ald. Bob Jones who said
that there was going to be a tax
increase this year, it was council’s
responsibility to keep that down
and the clean-up “is not an effec-
tive use of limited resources.”

Ald. Ted Daly asked what would
happen to “lovely Sidney by the

“if the clean-up did not go
ahead, speculating that junk would
pile up in house-holders’ yards,
find its way into Reay Creek or be
dumped at night in vacant lots.

Ald. Don Amos, while support-
ing the cancellation from next year

~ of the clean-up scheme — from
which, he proposed, only about 20
per cent of people benefit —
reluctant to do so this year because
householders would already have
things kept aside, believing that it
would go ahead as usual.

_ A compromise was suggested by
Ald. Brenda Harfield who sug-
gested that as she was willing to
pay for the removal of items, so
might others and staff could inves-
tigate the best means by which a
public contribution could be col-

Se sirually, the council passed a
motion from Ald. Ted Daly that, if
practical, the clean-up proceed
_ using a user-pay scheme this year
and if that was not feasible, that
the charge be introduced next year.

At atime like

A proposed agreement between
the Town of Sidney and the Saa-
nich School District for joint con-
trol of playing fields has been put
on hold due to budget constraints.

The agreement would have
given community groups access to
fields at district schools.

The Town and district would
have split the maintenance costs,
with schools having access to the
fields until about 6 p:m., and
groups registering to use them
after that.

However, Sidney council last
month pulled the plug on the
proposal for this year.

The cost, plus uncertainty over
the Town’s involvement in other
field projects, led council mem-
bers to defer a decision until
budget deliberations in 1993.

“I do not want to see it die,”
said Ald. Bob Jones, who brought
the matter forward for considera-

tion. :

As you watch the game tonight, we don’t want you to
worry about the complexities of supplying electricity to
the four comers of our Province. Or finding better routes
for our power lines. Or predicting the weather to ensure
adequate water levels in our reservoirs. Or handling the

ted emergencies that happen during major storms. We don’t

TheReview Wednesday, March 25, 1992 — A19

He said he hoped it would be
feasible in better financial times.

The proposed agreement is
based on one in place in Oak Bay.

It would give Sidney access to
about five hectares of additional
recreational space.

But the Town would have to
maintain the fields, located at
Greenglade and Sidney Elemen-
tary Schools and North Saanich
Middle School.

The proposed maintenance cost
of $36,910 would have been split
both ways, but new equipment
worth about $20,000 would have
been needed to adhere to the
maintenance schedule, parks
superintendent Jonathan Kelly
said in a memo to council.

In addition, he says some money.
would have to be spent to upgrade
the fields — installing lights and
imigation, for example.

Kelly also writes that “the deci-
sion to enter into the proposed

Joini use agreement held because of money

agreement should not be made
without reference to other pro-
posed projects under consideration
at this time.”

The Town may be asked to
maintain a proposed five-diamond
baseball complex being developed
by Sidney Little League on land
leased at the Victoria airport, notes
Kelly.

Also, the Peninsula Soccer
Association has proposed to
upgrade and renovate Iroquois
Park, writes Kelly.

These proposals, plus the school
district agreement, “are all aimed
at addressing the same need for
additional recreational land and
sport fields,” writes Kelly.

“To take these projects on
piecemeal might run the risk of
committing the Town of Sidney to
too great an expense without
addressing the most urgent needs
first.”

his, the last Ss
~ you want to think about is Hydro.

even want you to worry about the extra load on our sys-

tem caused by 150,000 new customers added in just five

years. Or by our concern for the environment that keeps

us from building new facilities unless theyre absolutely

necessary. But we do ask your help. Whenever you use

electricity, please use it wisely.

BC hydro

=e