8 ~ Friday, October 18, 1996 ~ North Shore News wa SES PEIN UENS TNT TI Open letter to Mayor Murray Dykeman and members of North Vancouver District Council: Re: Aug. 26 council meeting and the Mosquito Creek Trail review, I have to congratulate you on your handling of this issue. Before you start patting yourselves on the back, how- ever, I suggest you read on. My congratulations are aimed at the complete mockery and disdain for the public review process, and a demonstration of the complete igno- rance shown regarding this issue by some if not all of the council members that night. The | first council member to oppose the findings of the committee regarding the Mosquito Creek Trail Joint Use Proposal was Coun. Ernie Crist. Coun. Crist, while seemingly hav- ing his own seif-serving agenda, out- did himself in this instance. His lack of knowledge and his distortion of the facts left me sitting in stunned amaze- ment. To answer a few of the uninformed comments made by Coun. Crist regarding multi-user trails, the follow- ing are a (very) few examples of such trails right here in our own city. aes r SEIT a ete ne nye Sate fates 2 ‘ ’ \ cesaabeemmaea ha tetadeattamaehedetanadiandarras de bteebames eaaealdimetatat oie at Loe TC ee 1, Stanley Park in the majority of the areas has in my experience as both a pedestrian and cyclist worked out quite well. 2. The False Creek path around the old Expo site, 3. Spanish Banks — Jericho. +. The University Endowment Lands. Maybe a little more personal research (on a bike!) by Crist might help his facts a little more. One further comment regarding Crist’s apparent shock that money for this project would be coming from what he thought was a pedestrian walkway fund. If Crist had read this report more closely he would have seen that over half of the money being spent, if pam- phlets were not inchided, was for pedestrian stairs at Montrayal. Coun. Den Bell, meanwhile, is of the opinion that om city streets are safe enough tor cyclists to travel and that using the Mosq:tite: Creek Trail is unnecessary. . As someone who has spent the bet- ter part of 23 of my 24 years on bicy-. cles I disagree. Cars on the roadways of the North Shore, including this so-called quiet area, mean they are far from safe for cyclists to travel on The average speed of cars on Delbrook is around 70 to 80 km/h at the low end of the seale, In addition to the high speeds reached by cars on roads and the con- sistent disregard for cyclists by drivers, dangers such’ as cars pulling out of blind side-streets and driveways before checking compound the dangers faced by cyclists. Before making statements about the safety of our roads, councillors should take to the streets un a bike, if they have one, and do a little personal research, Mayor Dykeman simply said noth- ing on this issue. Coun. Pat Munroe and Janice Harris, however, maybe deserve the most severe criticism of all. Coun. Munree’s support for the option outlined in the report was pos- itive. This soon changed when he real- ized that he was going to be on the losing side and he quickly withdrew his support. Coun. Harris had enthusiastic sup- port to start, but could say little in the report's defence when it was clear that other council members were opposed to it. That council members could come to the decision they did despite a report by a committee before them, written by people with far grearer knowledge than their own on this sub- ject, is anbelievabie. T have ridden up and down the Mosquito Creek Trail for many years. Never in the thousands of times using this trail have TI ever seen anyone, pedestrian or cyclist, injured from a multi-use collision. The only problems that I have ever expenenced on that trail stem from pedestrians who block the path and refuse to make room for cyclists travel- ing uphill! Irresponsible cyclists exist as surely as irresponsible hikers and dog walkers do. The sad part of your decision regarding this trail is that you have ler yourselves be duped by a few self- righteous people who have convinced you that a problem exists, when it does not. In the process you have excluded legitimate tax-paying trail users that were using that trail in some cases long before it became a popular place to walk. Travis Reaveley North Vancouver n’t paint all teens with the same brush Dear Editor: Tam a youth advocate. But I have to agree with Ms. Diane Boiselle (Sept. 29 News) when she writes that it feels like “a slap on the face” when she sees the cleanup bills for graffiti in North Vancouver District. So why do we bother? I cannot speak for Diane, but perhaps she shares some of my own reasons. She might have children in the system, or knows some great teens in neighborhood. Maybe she’s an eternal optimist. Or just realistically understands thar today’s youth shall pay our pensions and decide which health care we deserve. Perhaps she has observed the truth in statistics generat- ed from schools, police, social workers and other sources which clearly indicate that it is a small percentage of teens that tarnish the reputation of all teens. Like any other demographic group on the North Shore, our average teens are sensible, sensitive, intellectually able individuals. If J chastise a classroom full of secondary students, it is not because I believe they are all poorly behaved mental - slouches. It is simply that time and energy prevent me from always ‘taking offending indi- viduals aside to berate private- ly, even though I am aware that better-mannered, well- prepared students may be feel- ing, negative about me and/or themselves, since they are being Jumped in with offen- sive classmates. Thus, while I might agree that | find some teens offen- sive, I also find a proportional number of adults equally obnoxious, W. Matsubuchi North Vancouver , Keep post office out of admail Dear Editor: News publisher Peter Speck says he isn’t con- vinced Canada Post will withdraw = from its “admail” (junk mail, to the rest of us) delivery. Let's hope the Canada Post really will. Not only is the government-run monopoly’s incursion into the private sector an unfair business practice, but Canada Post's admail divi- sion is cavalier in its receipt of consumer complaints. When we travel, we pay Canada Post a fee to hold the mail until our return. Despite that, the Crown’ corporation refuses to stop ... delivering admail to our address, plugging up the mailbox and sending a.” clear signal that we're away. This is more than a” breach of contract. It’s.a breach of. trust. When 1 complained to the Lower’. Mainland’s admail super: ~. visor, he said there” was), “no procedure” for deal-: ing with the problem. We can suspend news- paper deliveries ~ when we're away. If the neces-’ sary evil that is. .admail were included with’ the newspaper, no problem: would existe (00. Nicole Parton Elkins © North Vancouver. ©: °" ow = a re Suening with... | | ON PAPE, | SaaS HEAR GORDON'S 1996 Local LATEST ON: Government | ° Retiring Wealthy Election | ° encase inni Building a winn ng . aturday, November 16, 1996 mutual fund portfolio is general voting day in British Columbia. District of North Vancouver electors will vote to elect a Mayor, six Councillors and four School Trustees, as well as to express their view on any Questions which may be asked. FREE Seminar with refreshments & door prizes Referendum Information Forum Tuesday, October 22, District Hall Centennial Theatre — 2300 Lonsdale Ave. N. Van. ‘Monday, October 21, 1996" | A Referendum Information Open House and Forum is being held Tuesday, October 22, to provide an opportunity for voters to find oul more about this Referendum Question, the projects and financial impacts: Cornel is seeking the assent of the electors to adopt a comprehensive loan authorization bylaw which would provide for the borrowing of Twenty-Six Million Dollars for the purpose of funding the construction of various recreational and cultural projects. 7 :30pm uy Call 685-2214. - imiied Seating | Also Speaking: Barry LaValley from Fidelity Investments Fidelity Open House 4 to 6:30 p.m. - aa Drop in to review informational displays The projects include: and to discuss the projects. ‘ * Parkgate Community Centre * Inter-River Playing Fields $5.5M © Lower Capilano Community Conue $ 3M * Karen Magnussen Sports Court $250.000 * Trai! Development $250,000 ¢ Indoor Tennis Centre $1.5M © Heritage Services/Archives Building $1.5M * Lynn Valley Main Library S$ 6M TOTAL $26M Snwestinents Ganada $ 8M Forum 7 to 9 p.m. Presentations and question period. Televised on Rogers Cable, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 8:30 p.m. Or: * sce the notice in Sunday’ North Shore News * drop into your local library or recCentre Oct. 25 to Nov, 15 to view displays. Sponsored by AZ THE Financial Pianning Group Canada’s Mutual Funct & RRSP Professionals Licensed through DPM Securities Inc.