6 ~ Friday, September 23, 1988 ~ North Shore News INSIGHTS Aspirin bottles in VV council chamber? THREE HOURS OF SOUND AND FURY Monday at the public meeting on the twin towers plan for West Van’s “‘gateway’’ at 320 Taylor Way left council looking as if it wished it was some placc else. The almost 600 protesting citi- zens who packed West Van High School theatre remained in the dark as to council’s next move, despite a call from former mayor Derrick Humphreys in the au- dience for ‘ta motion of intent’’. It was picked up by Ald. Murk Sager but voted down by three other aldermen and Mayor Don Lan- skail, who promised a decision in two weeks. In fact, however, the decision has already been made for them by the community, so it’s unclear how they'll fill in the time. The neighborhood issue is con- fined primarily to Cedardale, Sen- tinel Hill and some Ambleside res- idents, who formed the bulk of Monday’s audience and stand to be most directly affected by the project in terms of views, property values and potential traffic pro- blems. They want the towers pro- DORA CRILLY ...180 km jung- cyclist. posal killed —- period — and a new beginning. Two related issues, however, also concern the 97 per cent of West Van householders NOT pres- ent at Monday’s meeting — some of whom likely don’t lose much sleep over the bread-and-butter worries of their eastern neighbors. Their interest is in preserving West Van values, which now rate “*highrise’' as a dirty word. They're equafly interested in the COMPETENCE of local gov- ernment — on which council and municipal staff took a beating from the Citizens Task Force chaired by David Bakewell. It ex- posed repeated cases of oversights, lax detail work and the ignoring of established guidelines in granting the developer, Newcorp, the 99- year lease by which council claims to be legally bound. The city fathers’ only SURE way to mend their shattered fences from Third Street to Horseshoe Bay is to extricate themselves from the lease. Maybe now by negotia- tion — since Newcorp, too, must be jittery over the public outrage it has provoked, and its cash stake so far is confined to architect’s and application costs, A lawsuit for breach, of course, might cost tax- payers a bundle. In theory, council’s remaining option is to try to persuade citizens it has learned its lesson and can be trusted to get from Newcorp a ‘“‘pateway’’ West Van can live with. Its chances of succeeding at THAT make the job of the freezer salesman at the North Pole look easy. With elections under two mon- ths away, time is running out fast. Small wonder if there were aspirin Election noises F YOU listen carefully you will hear the unmis- takable sound of politicians counting prospective votes for the coming November municipal elec- tions in North Vancouver District. On Monday, council members with acute political bottles this weck in West Van council chamber! hee WRAP-UP: For the rich and famous the new ‘‘in"' thing is aquatic leather, which is why TV host Robin Leach received a gift of a handsome briefcase done in fish “nelts” from North Van designer Jaye Hoseason of Sables Interna- tional during his recent visit to the Food Pacific °88 show ... Congrats to North Van RN Dora Crilly who pedalled 180km from Saltspring Island to Swartz Buy in last weekends's ‘'Trek for Life & Breath’’ to raise funds for the B.C. Lung Association ... Liberal hope- fuls Olga Barrat, Newton Hockey and John Pozer battle for the par- ty candidacy in Capilano-Howe Sound Monday, Sept. 26, at the 7:30 p.m, nomination meeting in St. David’s, West Van — everyone welcome but only true Grits may vote ... The Class of °78 at David Thompson High holds its 10-year reunion Oct. 14-15 with Gil Rinas inviling any of their ‘‘lost Tro- jans’* on the North Shore to join the fun by calling the school at 321-6741 ... And happy birthday greetings tomorrow, Sept. 24, to West Van's Peter Wardell. WRIGHT OR WRONG — wisdom from long-ago U.S. presi- dent Calvin Coolidge: Nobody ever listened himself out of a job. Photo submitted FOR SHE REICH AND FAMOUS.,..Robin Leach (1) examines briefcase donated by North Van's Jaye Hoseason (centre) as hubby Ozzie Hoscason looks on, tle UATE teat ii ears to the ground in the Lynnmour area discerned the disquieting sound of several hundred votes stampeding to non-incumbent candidates and rejected an ICBC proposal to build an insurance claims centre on Lillooet Road even though a staff report concluded that there would be no negative impact from the project. Residents were concerned with increased traffic and the establishment of an industrial use in a residential area. They also questioned whether the facility was needed. Valid concerns all. But the report from the district’s director of plann- ing pointed out that the estimated number of vehicles to be processed hourly by the facility would only be 10 and that the area is not residential. As to whether the claims centre is needed, residents could talk with anyone waiting to get vehicles process- ed through the Pembestos Avenue claims centre, but they need only look at the figures from 1987: the ex- isting facility, which is designed to process 1,800 claims monthly, processed an average of 2,647 per month last year. The need for a new claims centre is obvious, but where it will go and when remains a mystery and will continue to do so — at least until this year’s municipal election is over. a a RSM . Peter Speck Managing Editor Barrett Fisher Associate Editor Noel Wright Advertising Director Linda Stewart North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaner and qualitied under Schedule 1117, Paragtaph ULot the Excise Taw Act. 1s published each Wednesday, Fuday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd and otstmbuted to every door on tte North Shore. 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