‘Changes possible

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Merged fire departments and new

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WEDNESDAY: NOVEMBER 4, 1998 |

93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST VOL, 11. NO. 30.

Modest wood facility propos

A RICHMOND-BASED value-added forest products company is promising to hire 14 people here in return for securing asmall timber licence,

+Classic Doormart Inc. makes doors, door parts and windows and will use the wood from the licence here to trade with focal mills for the kind of wood it needs for its products.

<The company says the jabs should be in place by 2000 and that it will spend $300,000 on a plant in the area to sort

Richmond plant,

‘We've looked at some property in Thorhill and we want to take to the people at Kitsumkalum,”’ Classic vice president Terry Bajwa said last week.

Classic is alsa spending $200,000 to expand its Richmond plant in anticipa- tion of getting wood from Terrace.

The company’s timber sale licence is for 255,000 cubic metres over five years and comes from the forest service’s small business program.

and to trade it for suitable material from local mills.

“We would need ta get rid of the pulp portion in any log and we would have a culling line in Terrace as well as a sort- ing facility,”’ he said.

Bajwa did caution that the ultimate success of Classic’s plan is based on lo- cal mills being open in order to make wood trades and purchases.

“‘What’s going on now with the forest industry won’t be that way for ever. It’s

“But the government-has to do some- thing, for instance with stumpage fees. It would help the big mills.”’

A provincial government press release indicated 12 jobs will be created at Rich- mond and that another 11 on top of the 14 destined for Terrace is possible if a second shift is added.

Classic Doormart has been around for nearly 14 years, starting out as a maker of doors and windows from parts it bought.

the parts as way of gaining more income aud value, said Bajwa.

Steve Willis from the provincial forest - service said small business — timber licences such as the one granted Classic hinge on the applicant being ; a value- added manufacturer.

“These are larger volume and for longer terms than other small business licences in which logs are cut and sold,”? he said.

“'The idea here is to create jobs on the

what itlogs and produce raw stock for its

Bajwa said the idea is to use that wood

a matter of timing,

» said Bajwa.

i,

HISTORY WAS made Oct. 30 when the advanced poll for the Nisga’a treaty was held in Terrace and seven other locations. That's translator Larry Derrick with district referendum officer Daphne

Nisga’a treaty vote to take place

REFERENDUM OFFICIALS, voting officers and translators are readying themselves for a long two days Nov. 6 and 7 as the Nisga’a vote on accepting or rejecting a land claims treaty with the federal and provincial governments.

Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days in eight locations, including Terrace.

A ‘yes’ vote to ratify the treaty must be carried by 50 per cent of all eligible voters plus one.

Those eligible to vote but who do not cast a ballot will be considered as having rejected the treaty ini- tialled Aug. 4 in New Aiyansh,

More than 1,700 Nisga’a registered to vote in advance of the polling dates.

NISGA’A

[ = ¢ “4 te Be or]

says Nisga’a treaty referendum commissioner Corinne McKay,

That’s because Nisga’a who didn ( register can do so at the polls.

“These registrations must be ‘approved by the enrolment committee and only after approval will the votes then be counted,” said McKay.

The treaty provides for cash compensation, fee simple ownership of land and self government.for the Nisga’a,Of the Nags Valley.

McKay aid the. education and awareness cam- paign leading. up to this week’s referendum has been exhaustive,

"we" vé done advertising and have sent out notices. There have been meetings in the commu-

Stevens at the Terrace voting location. The regular polls take place between,§ a.m. and 8 p.m. Nov. 6 and 7 at the Nisga’a Tribal Council offige in the Anglican annex at 4506 Lakelse Ave.

‘the federal government and private corporations

nities,” she said.

“We've sent out so much information — the treaty, the appendices — it’s at the point the people might be overwhelmed,” McKay continued.

Should the Nisga’a ratify the treaty, Nisga’a Tribal Council president Joe Gosnell is off on a two-week speaking tour of Eurape.

Accompanied by a senior federal land claims official and an assistant, Gosnell is scheduled to make stops in London, Cambridge, Frankfurt, Bonn, Vienna and The Hague to explain the treaty.

The tour is, in the most part, being sponsored by

with the Nisga’a picking up a small portion of the costs.

It then began processing wood to make

Results may not be known until-early next week,

a

City hall sell plan won't work |

THE IDEA of moving cily hall te a new location — pos- ‘gibly to kickstart a future downtown revilalization — is no longer seen as viable. > That’s because it appears the city would have to give up ihe land city hali now sits on for next to nothing. : The present location was sold to the cily in 1960 by the Haugland family for use as a city hall for the low price of $10,000 — on one condition. « It can’t be used for anything other than municipal build- Ings, and if the city ever wants to sell the land it must first bffer to sell it back al the same price to Christian Haugland’s heirs. ‘ The land now is likely worth weli over a million dollars, rity planner David Trawin said, so giving it up for $10,000 and then having to spend large amounts to buy new land elsewhere doesn’t make sense. « “Ht pretly much makes it uneconomical to move city hall. [ believe moving city hall is a dead issue,’’ he said. > The possibility was raised in the spring at a session with a consultant hired to draw up plans for downtown revitalization along Greig Ave. east of Katum St.

* Moving city hall there was seen as one possible way to jncrease traffic in that area and recharge that part of town,

manufacturing end,”

Councillors worried about highway mall

THE FUTURE of small businesses downtown could be af- fected by a proposal from an unnamed developer to build a strip mall on Hwy16 West near Canadian Tire, say some city councillors.

The developer wants to change the zoning of an existing property from heavy industrial to commercial.

if granted, the proposal could result in an escalating trend of smail businesses opening on the highway on other land that is already zoned for commercial use, city planiité David Trawin told councillors last week. :

Those coiidillois responded by saying existing siall businesses in the downtown core would be hurt by any move to draw retail customer traffic to the highway,

“Taking business away from the downtown really needs to be looked at,’* said councillor Rich McDaniel.

Using Prince Rupert as an example, councillor Linda Hawes said the city should try to stop Terrace from being a place where founding downtown businesses were let down in favour of highway development.

Mayor Jack Talstra warned that developers could always choose other locations outside city boundaries, possibly in’ Thornhill.

But any move to limit business development would take place in the area where the city is growing the most, said councillor Olga Power.

“The strip mall on Keith Ave. didn’t deter from the downlown core,’’ Power added.

She suggested the city set up separate subsection zoning for major highway frontage.

City planners will go ahead with their attempts to redefine commercial zoning use.

City activity steady overall

THIS HASN’T been the kind of year as bas been experie- need in the past decade when it comes to building activity, but statistics show steady activity, says city building’ in- spector Paul Gipps.

‘We have 20 penmits for single family residences com- pared to 47 in 1997, If this was Kitimat, or Smithers or Prince Rupert, that would be considered a boom,’’ said Gipps last week.

Those 20 homes amounted to a value of $3.15 million and that’s just under half of the $7.58 million worth of permils issued to the end of October.

Still, the total figure falls way behind the $19,568 million for the same period in 1997 and the $23.8 million for 1996.

**¥ou have to consider what is going on. There is a lot of ‘uncertainty out there and people are holding back until they know what is going to happen, particularly in the forest industry,’’ said Gipps.

He did note that Terrace’s 20 homes stand out when compared to the 80 single family permits issued so far in Prince George.

“Usually Prace George has anywhere from 260 to 350 permits by now,’’ Gipps added,

He did say building permits show a number of people choosing to make minor renovations or additions to thelr homes.

And the 1997 figures were influenced in the new com- mercial category by the construction of the Canadian Tire and the Real Canadian Wholesale Club buildings.

After single family permit values, new industrial con- struction was the next highest figure at $1.473 million with - duplexes coming next at $474,000 and institutional addi. tions at $440,000.

kkakk

The number of active business licences is also holding its own considering the state of the economy, sald Gipps..

There were 1,291 licences at the beginning of January and as of the end of October, there were 1,252,

Numbers dipped for the first four months of the year and

- Meanwhile, Trawin says he’s close to sending to council ‘proposed new regulations governing the downtown area as a a result of the design Work of the consultant. -

IT LOOKS as if city hall is gaing to have to stay tight where it is — at the ne junction of Eby and Lakelse, A clause in the agreement whereby the city bought the land years ago takes away the economic viability of any plan to sell the property.

began climbing back in May. The city issued 118 new licences from January to the end of October while 178 lapsed during the same time period.