, a Liam Lahey Contributing Writer THE public had its say Wednesday night on whether North Vancouver District should accept the province’s offer to assume control of regional transit. With Coun. Lisa Muri sit- ting in for Mayor Don Bell as ' chairman, a skeleton council -heard concerned citizens "speak for-and against the con- * troversial proposal. Those who attended the informal mecting were given a brief outline of the proposal by Robert West-Sclls, district director of parks and engi- Neering:. ’.. West-Sells said a new gov- erning body consisting of 12 jocal .politicians and three provincial ministers will form * the Greater Vancouver Transit a... Authority. (GVTA). ‘The GVTA will be respon- i ional transit, some ways, carpooling, and. the’ Air Care program. West-Sells “also explained é-are. plans to add 650 “more buses over a 10-year pericd to the currenz fleet, . and.an additional 68 Skytrain cars. by the year 2009. orth Shore residents will Iso’ be financially responsible “for. the ‘Albion Ferry under he proposed GVTA, after the rovincial . government ensures the ferry has a 20-year ife expectancy. But residents are skeptical the B.C. government’s roposal ‘and the province’s Feb. 27. “Fve spent 20 vears work- ing in the transportation industry,” said resident Keith Pryce. “I don’t think vou want this deal done. How strong do you think the representation from the North Shore on this new GVTA will really be? And why is the Albion Ferry thrown into the deal?” Pryce’s comments led other doubtful residents to question the deal. “T am concerned as to why this new governing body has only politicians on it,” said res- ident Tony Toth. “With respect to the politicians here, politicians and bureaucrats don’t know how to run a pub- lic transportation system. We need the private sector to be involved.” Councillors Ernie Crist, Janice Harris, and Trevor Carolan attended the meeting along with Muri. Those councillors heard some resi- dents would be willing to accept the deal, provided there are no dramatic 3. increases. “The GVTA agreement has a $1 billion price tag,” ssid West Vancouver- Capilano MLA Jeremy Dalton. “May I “remind council that there’s only one taxpayer at the end of the day.” Calling for the agreement to be put on hold and reviewed again, ‘Dalton encouraged council to give the deai a “second sober thought” at their next meeting on Feb. oo, “Go back to the bargaining table,” he said. “There’s too many pitfalls in this agree- ment.” But not everyone expressed a gloomy forecast for the | transportation dea agreement. Resident Corrie Kost said he'd prefer to see councii accept the deal and make improvements in the future, rather than risk being left out altogether. “There's no question there's traffic congestion in this city. It’s always been here, it ahways will be here,” ost said. “If chere’s a mandate iat can guarantee there won't be an inercase in property tax, then I think we should consid- er going for it. There's no telling if this offer from the province will still be available to us after Feb. 27. Besides, the alternative may be far worse.” Things got heated when Carolan interrupted Muri to ask the audience a question. While Muri attempted to maintain order by demanding Carolan follow counci) proce- dure, Carolan accused the act- ing mayor of “letting her posi- tion get to her head.” Carolan also criticized Muri for not giving him the respect he deserves. Muri did not respond to Carolan’s outburst, but was visibly outraged. Crist offered council’s only thoughtful insight of the night. He said the North Shore should accept the proposal, because not doing so could be detrimental in the future. “This is a bad deal, a verv bad deal, but it’s the only deal in town,” Crist said. “If we turn this proposal down, the province may not give us a bet- ter one. The present transit sit- uation is intolerable. ft’s in chaos. We need a 180-degree turn of attitudes to rectify the situation ... if we want a better system, we have to accept it.” THE CITY OF NORTH VANCOUVER EAR YE Sunday, February 1, 1998 — North SI the heart Of your HEAR YE UTILITY RATES hore News ~ 18 conununily: 1998 WATER and Sewer Utility Statements for 1998 have now been mailed. Any property owner who has not received a Water and Sewer Statement should immediately contact the City of North Vancouver Tax Office at 983-7316. 1998 WATER AND SEWER UTILITY STATEMENTS DISCOUNT RATES UNTIL FEBRUARY 27TH. Discount: a LO% discount is allowed to water and sewer rates paid in full before or by 4:30 p.m. February 27. 1998. 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