om page Y t coordinator David Bruce said Roach sold property to che GVRD several years ago. ¢ GVRD, in turn, rolled it into Indian Arm rk, a park 20 times the size of Stanley Pack peated by the B.C. government in April 95. B.C. Parks inherited the site and its trash. much trash, in fact, that 48 tonnes of the ff, much of it scrap metal, wax removed cently from three buildings on the site, said uce. “We're still uncovering stuff as we trim bush back,” he said. The project, sponsored with a $100,000 nt from Forest Renewal B.C., kicks off a bree-phase plan that will eventually see the bree ‘buildings removed and landscaping, a mck, and day use and overnight camping put in. ‘Similar cleanups at Bishop Creek and lementine Creek on the west side of the m’s northern reaches are also slated, pend- ag funding. “These are about the only three sites the aiblic can get ashore,” he said. Bruce called the northern arm incredibly autiful: There is little public access to the a, although three or four private yacht bs have facilities. ; st year, the park was announced by the ment and denounced by local native ; . . . ; _ - Protos submitted THE beauty of Granite Fails obscures the garbage-strewn areas cleaned up by © Burrard Band workers recently. Inset — A small portion of the 48 tonnes of trash collected at Granite Falls in Indian Arm Park rests in a cabin before removal. ‘ ct He said the master plan process will begin soon, but he can’t pinpoint a date, Peterson . said the cleanups at the three sites are being pursued before the plan is finished because of concerns over environmental degradation and sanitation. “We want to control the use in there already so we don’t have more environmental damage,” he said. Ata public meeting in May 1995, residents ; peppered parks regional planner Greg Chin. with questions about park access, appropriation, of © land, trespassers, garbage, boat sewage and park overcrowding... Peterson said’ on Wednesday that concerns . such as whether park access will be water-only ‘remain to be addressed. through the master plan process. Peterson said many user groups will be consulted, a public mecting will -likely be held, and a draft plan drawn up: © The draft will be sent out for comments and’ then sent to Victoria with recommendations for final approval. The process could take up to tvo years, said Peterson. : Lo Peterson said his office is being strained by a s..' The Squamish Nation and Tsleil faututh, Nation (Burrard Band) both say dian Arm is part of their traditional territo- . and the_arca is on the agenda for treaty Now, however, B.C. Parks said it has been ng with the Tsleil Waututh “to develop _ Brakes on truck tra | probe of dead 2 cooperative planning and management strat- egy for the park.” . Band members have been performing the cleanup at Granite Falls. Tsleil Waututh Chief Leonard George declined to say if current represents a thaw in their relationship. cooperation between the band and B.C. Parks “Everybody on ail sides is trying hard to find some common ground on solutions,” he said, adding he doesn’t want to jeapardize any- thing by hypothesizing. Meanwhile, terms of reference are being developed for a master plan tor the park, said Ray Peterson, B.C. Parks Vancouver district manager. park system that has doubled in the past few years. Many parks require master plans. The Vancouver office covers the lower third of the province, including . Vancouver. Island, said Peterson. ; A regional planner has been assigned to Indian Arn Park. J ; ’ By Shaun Conlin : Contributing Writer . NEGLIGENCE on the part of a gov- ernment certified vehicle inspector working at Midtown International . Trucks Ltd. may have. contributed to last year’s tragic crash on the Upper , Levels Highway that killed two and injured five. cos ’ Aiyaz Khan, referred to as.an “expert” mechanic with seven years of experience, testificd Thursday at a coroner’s inquest and confirmed that he passed the doomed trailer just three months prior to the accident. . Kahn said he had initially decided to condemn the trailer, but when Mario Battison, owner of the Marr Contractors’ trailer, said he would leave it at Midtown for repairs, Khan upgraded the trailer to “rejected” and serviced the vehicle’s brakes him- self. we Inspector Jay Northcott’s investigation after the crash revealed that the trailer’s push-rods, external moving parts of the air-brake assembly, were contacting the axle and that they were at least two inches too short. Khan insisted thar this -wouldn’t affect the braking ‘capacity. “The push Expert on heavy truck crashes tells inquest of. mechanical problem — irods travel away from the axle when they're ' engaged,” he stated in a near whisper. Khan failed -!to notice, however, that such contact does affect | the brakes’ ability.to be adjusted properly. ' He said the brakes evaluated after the crash’ by ‘motor vehicle branch inspector Jay Northcott ' didn’t “appear” to be the same ones he worked -on, although he “couldn’t say for sure.” - The trailer was used only 27 times after Khan ; last worked on it and he couldn’t explain how the brakes could get into such bad condition a mere ‘ three months after servicing. When asked if there ' could be any reason for a replacement set of ‘undersized and worn parts installed in that short ‘time Khan said, “Under normal circumstances, : there’s no reason to replace them. They last a long : time.” ; Meanwhile in testimony Thursday, Marr ‘ Contractors owner Mario Battison accused former ;employee and driver Dan Legros of attempting to blackmail his son. ; "Legros claimed on Wednesday that his former y highway accident boss knowingly operated an unsafe vehicle — alle gations denied by Battison.. 9 On. Friday Dan; Filiatrault, an “expert, heavy. truck crash’. exarniner, gave . coroner’; Larry Campbell and jury’a crash course on the air brake ® system. a a Cea The ICBC vehicle operations and crash perfor- mance investigitor brought in a cut-away model ofan air brake.. He explained that there is normal ly 2.5 inches of travel for a push rod, one inch of ‘which is for “reserve stroke.” Said Filiatrault: “If the push rod hits the axle it prevents the brakes from fully releasing.” . When brakes are adjusted in a simple manner, .’ as in the case of the crashed trailer, the. braking system. was starting. with 1 inches: of travel instead of 2.5. “It wouldn’t take long before the - brakes would bottom out (couldn’t go any fur- * ther),” hie said. eh Filiatrault said it is a mechanic's job to insure. ~ that nothing interfere with the 2.5 inches of trav- “ el needed. oo cio “A driver would have no sense of the push rod travel from within a cab,” he explained. After the crash, the truck-trailer’s braking effi- . ° " ciency was tested. ' Filiatrault said thar with the incorrectly sized push rods, the brakes were only 22 per cent effi- cient, not the 43.5% as required by law.. . 4 Nation cite es Liberals to turn up bridge heat HEWS photo ive Bill Williams peers at a model of 19 band's joint proposal with SNC Lavalin for the Lions Gate Bridge. From page proponent lobbying, which used to be the old-fashioned way.” ' Nicholson also said the proposals received by the min- istry — some 25 in total — were sent of their authors’ own _ accord. “Once a decision is made as to what the crossing will look fike... we sould request for proposals,” said Nicholson. “All of the proposals that have come in on the Lions Gate Bridge have been unsolicited.” West Vancouver-Garibaldi MLA Ted Nebbeling, said Boone seeing one proponent, but not another, is “unde- mocratic.” “ “L would suggest that everyone who put in a proposal phone up and request a meeting,” he added. Nebbeling also announced he, along with the three other North Shore Liberal MLAs, are going to start a cam- paign in September to spur the government into action on the bridge. A “We have decided to make as much noise as we can,” -said Nebbeling. “People are sick and tired of this thing being discussed further ... it’s time for a decision.” Meanwhile, as Boone continues to bone up on the issucs, yet another fall time-frame has been issued. “T expect that we'll see some decision this fall,” said MoTH!’s Nicholson, “It’s a new government that wants to see what's the best way to go with this,” In July 1994, previous Transportation Minister Jackie Pement announced that she anticipated a short list of options by the fall of the same year. However, Nicholson cautioned that this fall’s “deci- sion” may not come in the form of a short list after all. To date the only option that has been ruled out is to do nothing because the aging span is deteriorating and upkeep costs continue to mount. SO Nicholson said the ministry must first decide whether it. wants to pursue a joint private-public initiative or take the more traditional route of having a government design put to tender. :