WEST VAN MAYOR’S PROFILE -3 — Sunday, "November’6, 1988. ~.North Skore News Don Lanskail’s WV goal: modest growth while enhancing lifesty! This is the last in a series of three articles on the North Shore’s three mayors and their unique styles of leadership within their municipalities of North Vancouver City, North Vancouver District and West Vancouver. NOWHERE HAS the building boom on the North Shore had more of an effect than in West Vancouver, but Mayor Don Lanskail maintains that it is a misconception that developers are taking over in this unique garden communi- ty. What Lanskail sees is that peo- ple are playing ‘‘catch-up’’ with projects that were put aside during the 1981-86 recession, resulting in this year’s :ssu: of four times the value of building permits issued in 1985. “—Us put an enormous burden on staff and councii,’’ says Lan- skail, who is running for a second term as mayor this fall. it's been a challenging two-year term for Lanskail, 71, who has liv- ed with his wife in the same house on Roseberry since 1956. He has three children and one grindchild, with another on the way. Educated as a lawyer, Lanskail spent 31 years in forest industrial relations, serving as president of all three major forest industrial relations associations. The man who Ied the first, and successful, campaign against a U.S. lumber duty, entered municipal politics in 1962, serving as a West Vancouver alderman for 20 years. His talents as a_ level-headed mediator and negetiator were especially tested during this past term as mayor, however, as West Vancouverites showed even more than their characteristic resistance to development and _ redevelop- ment, particularly of a higher den- suly. “In my travels I have never seen a finer residential communi- ty...The problem is that so many recegnize how fine it is that they ” want to move here,’’ says Lan- skail. ‘“‘We have to accept our modest share of growtn while maintaining and enhancing our quality of life,’ he adds. Lanskail denies that there has been much actual rezoning going on, citing council’s refusal to rezone Fisherman’s Cove marina property to residential, or to allow a subsidized senior citizens housing project to go into a single-family district in Ambleside. Some issues, such as the Ancore development on Cypress Bowl Road, the Collingwood School ex- pansion and the high-rise proposal for 320 Taylor Way, were ‘‘inher- ited”? from previous councils, Lan- skail points out. “With 320 Taylor Way, we underestimated the desire of peo- ple to re-fight the whole thing. There has never been any attempt to carry things out in secret,” Lanskail maintains. Responding to the unprecedent- ed public furor over the proposal, the decision to take the matter to teferendum was not ‘‘a cop out,”’ Lanskail emphasizes. ‘*We want to see what the silent majority has to say.”’ Council has taken a different tack, since Lanskail took over as mayor. The meetings, which are NEWS photo Terry Paters ACTIVE ON West Vancouver Disirict Council for over 20 years, Mayor Don Lanskail’s pride and joy is the seawalk, which rims parts of the shoreline. Having conceived of the idea for a 1967 Centennial project, and then working to see it built, Lanskail now looks forward (o the day when the walk will continue, unbroken, from Dundarave to the Cleve- land Dam. now somewhat longer, begin with a prayer offered by a_ local clergyman and a {5-minute ques- tion period. There is far more input from the public and the aldermen. i. Van mayor calls for disaster plan fine-tuning NORTH VANCOUVER District Mayor Marilyn Baker called Tuesday for emergency agency and industry repre- sentatives responding to dangerous goods mishaps to clari- fy areas of authority, responsibility and jurisdiction. With an estimated 2.3 million tonnes of dangerous goods moving through North Vancouver in 1986, North Shore residents have a vested interest in the daily safe handling of such goods as hydro- chloric acid, caustic soda, sodium chlorate and sodium hydroxide. Said Baker, the keynote speaker at a Canadian Chemical Pro- ducers’ Association TRANSCAER seminar attended by chemical in- dustry, transportation and emergency response repre- sentatives: ‘‘We want to avoid any surprises during an actual incident. It is a problem that I have observ- ed, albeit infrequently, in atten- ding mishaps and emergency response situations over the past 11 years as an elected official. “It requires ongoing meeting and practice. We’re dealing with life and death situations. If I was in a position to have open-heart surgery, {’d rather have someone who was doing perhaps 12 opera- tions a month than someone who only did open-heart surgery once a year.”” In September, local waterfront chemica! industry and emergency r i By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter response agencies rehearsed disaster response procedures for a dangerous goods rail shipping mishap. The mock disaster was coordinated by the regional TRANSCAER (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) program. The practice identified on-scene decision-making authority as a problem area. But said Baker, ‘I’m very pleased with the efforts of our chemical industries in North Van- couver in working with our emergency response people.”’ The broader need for local gov- ernment and emergency responders to be in a position to prepare for dangerous goods disasters has been realized with the establishment of a dangerous goods movement repor- ting system. Said Baker, ‘‘We have establish- ed a reporting system with our in- dustries and the rail carriers, and they are liaising through our fire department providing quarterly NY DISTRICT Mayor Marilyn Baker ... ‘‘The safety of the peopie is the supreme law.’’ Statistics as to what and how much is being shipped through our community. They have cooperated with the start-up of our CHEMIS system, which provides site and product information and a list that supplies close at hand in our emergency response truck, the chemical hazard emergency measures information.” Baker believes the safe handling of dangerous goods from their birth to their grave is a key issue. “ don’t think our basic at- titudes have changed much from the statement found in the Roman tables of law — the safety of the people is the supreme law,’’ she said. But accidents involving danger- ous goods do occur and when they do the question of jurisdiction and responsibility is critical. Earlier this year, for example, three methanol spills occurred at Vancouver Wharves. A June 24 spill of five tonnes of methanol at Vancouver Wharves due to overflow from a storage tank during filling from rail cars was contained in a berm. Fumes from the spill were doused by the North Vancouver District Fire Department. Said North Vancouver District Fire Department Chief Archie Steacy, ‘‘Vancouver Wharves were very responsible in handling the spill.’’ But said Vancouver Wharves spokesman Allan Eisel, “I’m not comfortable in discussing the mat- ter. I believe it was handled pro- fessionally and competently, and } really believe the details are of no concern to anybody else.”’ According to Steacy, careless ac- tion by ship crews docking at Van- couver Wharves in connecting the valving to transfer methanol resulted in two separate shipboard spills of approximately five tonnes of methanol each. “A lot of it went overboard, ie *““A one-man show is not my style. I take a collegial approach that maximizes the energy, initia- tive and efficiency of everyone in the system,’’ explains Lanskail. He says he has been criticized for trying to give everyone an op- portunity to say their piece. That includes the local ratepayers groups, which Lanskail would like, in future, to see play more of a consultative role on all district issues, not just the big ones. The past term inas been one of accomplishment, as well as strife. The Ambieside and = Dundarave revitalization projects have been completed and there have been additions to the seawalk, a Cen- tennial Project conceived by Lan- skail in 1966. “People are saying how much better West Vancouver is look- ing,’’ acknowledges the mayor. An avid hiker, Lanskail helped negotiate the establishment of Capilano Regional Park in the ear- ly '70s, and is also committed to the preservation and expansion of the 304 municipally-owned acres on Hollyburn Ridge, cast of Cypress Bow! Road. In future, the mayor would like to see improvements to the district’s noise bylaw, and policies regarding dogs, blasting and the ongoing problem of tree height restrictions. “There has to be some middle ground between people who don't want to remove a single branch from a tree, and those who want a 360 degree unimpeded view,"* says Lanskail, who called a proposal by the British Properties Homeowners Association in favor of tree topp- ing a ‘‘gross interference of prop- erty rights that would be impossi- ble to enforce.”” See WV Page 5 Business Comics................45 Fashion ...... Lifestyles.............. Travel ...... WEATHER Sunday, periods of rain. High, 13°C. Monday and Tuesday, mostly cleudy with showers. Highs near 10°C. Second Class Registration Number 3885 over the gunnels,’’ Steacy said. “In that case it’s the ship’s master who is responsible’’ Methanol is water soluble but is toxic to fish.”’ But said North Vancouver Lib- era] candidate James Hatton, “Over 1,000 chemical spills are reported to the Environmental Protection Service in West Van- couver each year and almost none result in charges of polluting the environment. The problem is the patchwork of environmental laws and the federal government’s un- willingness to enforce them. Ad- ding some environmental crimes to the Criminal Code would ensure universal standards and enforce- ment.’”