NEWS photo Neil Lucente GLENYS LAWSON surveys a 3¥2-foot crack in her home’s deck foundation. Several owners in the nelghborhoc4 are in danger of losing their homes because of Lynn Creek erosion problems. Site has had a ‘massive slide’ From page 1 was hele liable for one-third of the $105,000 in damages for allowing the home's foundations to be poured on unsuitable land- fill. On Dec. 9, 1990, the Vodnaks first noticed a crack in the drive- way of their 1650 Birchlynn PI. home, which is located on the west bank of Lynn Creek. They contacted the district immediately. Ten days later the district recommended in a letter to the Vodnaks that they evacuate the house immediately ‘‘given the consequences of an abrupt slope failure.” The Vodnaks left the next day, coming back only to pack their belongings on Christmas Eve. Since then, the cracks in their fron. lawn have developed into crevices and the house founda- tions have shifted under the floors of the house, making the entire house unstable. Over the past four months, the Vodnaks have watch- B Automotives........... 27 @ Classified Ads... 2.2... 36 MEcoinfo...............20 WHome & Garden ....... 13 ed value of their house, bought in 1989 for $175,000, plummet. Meanwhile, the Vodnaks’ neighbors, Glenys and Harvey Lawson, who live at 1642 Bir- chlynn PI., also moved out using emergency program funding. but returned after their home was burglarized. According to Glenys Lawson, PEP told her that 90 per cent of such cases that go to court are decided in favor of the homeown- ers, “Someone has to take respon- sibility,"’ she said. After investigating the history «at the site, Wodnak said he discovered that his house is the second one to be built on the site. The original house, built in 1961, was moved after a ‘‘massive slide’ into Lynn Creek cracked the house’s foundations. A bulldozer operator who was hired by the property owner to level the lot in 1961 after the orig- inal house was moved told Vod- nak that he had believed tne index B Mailbox ........000.. 7 WM Paul St. Pierre 00.2... 9 Trevor Lautens ... 0... 4 Whats Going On... .28 Second Class Registration Number 3885 property was condemned at the time. But in 1964 a new house was constructed on the site. District records found by Vod- nak reveal that a permit was issued to move the house in 1961 because the ‘‘site was washed out.”” He also discovered a new build- ing permit issued in February 1964 but no evidence of any geotechnical testing between 1961 and 1964. “Obviously they’ve been aware of the problem because they Curn- ed the house and built it as close to the property fine as they could,”’ he said. Vodnak said he would ideally like a land swap with the district to save the impending legal battle. “Tothink it (the court action) is a waste of taxpayers’ money. I do think we will win and then tax- payers will have to pay for the district’s Jawyer and our lawyer.”” he said. Weather Saturday and Sunday. mainly sunny. Highs of 15°C. lows of 6c. Friday, April 19. 1991 - North Shere News - 3 ildhie officials capture cougar on North Shore A COUGAR that) was drawn to North Shere neighborhoods by a reliable food supply of raccoons, net cats and dogs was captured Tuesday and relocated to a wilderness area in the Fraser Canyon. The big cat, a young pregnant female, was located near Nancy Greene Way after a Greuse Mountain employee spotted it while driving to work at 7:45 a.m. “It ran across the front of him,”’’ said Ministry of Environ- ment wildlife control officer Den- nis Pemble. ‘‘At first he thought il was some strange-looking dog, but then he saw it jump up on @ fence — he knew it wasn’t a dog then.”’ Pemble was brought in to pur- sue the cat with a pack of five hounds specifically trained to teack cougars. The cougar was ‘‘treed”’ in a forest area about half a mile from Nancy Greene Way. Pemble sub- dued it with a tranquilizer. The wildlife control officer believes the cougar had been prowling the North Shore for several years. A cougar was recently seen in the Horseshoe Bay area. But Pemble believes it could be the same cat he caught on Tuesday. He’s travelled to the North Shore to track cougar with his dog team three times in the last two years. Pemble said cougars tend to feed on deer, squirrels, rabbits, cats, dogs, mice and raccoons. “They orey for their food, they’re not scavengers,’’ he said. The cat had found a steady food source in North Shore pets. While awakening from the tranquilizer Tuesday the cougar revealed its most recent meal. Said Pemble, ‘‘What happens under this drug, a lot of times, when they come out of it they throw up — she was throwing up By Michael Becker News Reporter house cats. She eats house cats."* Pemble believes few cougars have established North and West SENN TES 44 ...she was throwing up house cats. She eats house cats. 9F Vancouver as hunting territory. “Most of our cougar problems are not on the North Shore. Three or four weeks ago we took three cougars out of the Gibsons area. There are more cougar problems in the Sechelt area,”* he said. But cougars have been observed throughout the North Shore, Mis- sion and Chilliwack. Meanwhile local residents cross- ing paths with a cougar should immediately report the incident to the Environment Ministry's wildlife management branch at 584-8822. Pemble said cougars are not afraid of people. But he added that North Shore residents should not be concerned about cougar attacks on peoole. “Chances of a cougar killing someone's child are so rare it’s not worth worrying about. You should just be aware of the fact that there are cougars out there,”’ he said. Inspection of chemical truck leads to charges A NANAIMO trucker faces several charges after a truck and trailer rig carrying a large load of corrosive chemical through the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal was found to be unsafe. According to West Vancouver Police Sgt. Chris Holmes, the truck was checked and ordered off the road at about 11:30 a.m. on April 8. The truck was towing two trail- ers carrying tanks containing 81,000 pounds of aluminum sulphate, a corrosive chemical that reacts with water to produce sulfuric acid. While the truck itself was found to be in excellent -vorking order, the rig was taken off the road when motor vehicle investigators found defects in the way the tanks were tied down and defects in the suspension systems of the trailers. Said Holmes, ‘The track arm bushings on the leading axle were so badly worn as to be almost non-existent on the lead trailer.”’ A metal tie-down strap restrain- ing the tank on the lead trailer was found to be cracked through and withour a securing pin. Another metal tie-down strap was also found to be cracked. Investigators estimate that the defects reduced the ability to secure the tunk and its cargo by about 50 per cent. The frame of the lead trailer was found to have visible cracks in some of its welds as well as a crack on a tie-down bracket. “The combination made the vehicle totally unsafe to be on the road,"’ said Holmes. By Michael Becker News Reporter The second trailer was found to have an expired commercial vehi- cle sticker. The lead axle track arm bushings were assessed as badly worn and the inner left tire of a dual set was found to be “severely scalloped,"" an indica- tion of an alignment problem. The truck’s cargo was conse- quently unloaded at the terminal and transfered to another truck rig. The cargo had originated in Surrey. According to Holmes, the new National Safety Code im- plemented earlier this year re- quires that all commercial vehicles be given daily pre- and post-trip inspections by drivers. Truck driver Donald Hamilton faces charges of operating a truck with unsafe tie-downs, driving a defective vehicle, failing to display a valid inspection certificate, and filing an improper pre-trip inspec- tion report. He was also ordered to take the empty truck and trailer rig to an inspection station. The charges follow an incident Monday in which a substandard courier van was found to be transporting potentially fatal haz- ardous goods in North Vancouver.