A8 - Wednesday, December 22, 1982 - North Shore News

NV CITY ACCEPTS PRIVATE BID
ge crews get

slips for Xmas

EIGHT employees of:

North Vancouver City
will get unwelcome
Christmas presents
from City council —
layoff notices — after
council voted Monday
to contract out its
garbage service.

Council voted 5-2 to
award Smithrite Disposal
Ltd. a $314,000 contract to
pick up garbage, to sell
Smithrite the City's garbage
trucks for $114,000, and to
lay off eight municipal
employees.

The action has come after
almost a year of soul-
searching and attempts by
City Engineer Alan Phillips
to cut the costs of the City
garbage service.

The new service is
scheduled to start April 1.

But Phillips told council
Monday he can _ only
guarantee a cost of $351,000,
$37,000 higher than
Smithrite will charge the

Haul-Away Disposal also
submitted a bid. Haul-Away
has been collecting garbage
in West Vancouver for about
a year.

But Haul-Away’s bid came
in much higher than that of
Smithrite, and Phillips said
Smithrite will provide the
service at a lower per-

By TERRY LAVENDER

household cost than Haul-
Away charges West Van-
couver.

Aldermen Prank Marcino
and Gary Payne were
sceptical about how much of
a saving the City will really
get by contracting out
garbage pickup.

Marcino wondered what

‘will happen five years from
now when the contract runs
out. Will Smithrite suddenly
jack up their prices, leaving
the City stuck with an
uneconomical service?
Because the City will have
sold the garbage trucks,
“We're at the mercy of
whoever's contracting,” he
said.

For such a small saving as
is being offered, he said he
did not want to see control of
the garbage service pass out
of City hands.

And he and Payne
wondered how the City will
justify providing free gar-
bage pickup to single family
residences when strata
apartment owners have to
pay Smithrite to provide
“container service, and also
pay municipal taxes which
go to paying for other
peoples’ garbage pickup.

Payne called council's
action, “An _ insignificant
saving and an impudent

decision for this council to

One million
phone calls on |

Christmas Day

BRITISH COLUMBIANS
who plan to spread-goodwill
to relatives and friends by
telephone this festive season
are urged to spread their
calls out so as to have a
better chance of getting
through.

Since Christmas Day is
traditionally the heaviest
calling day of the year, B.C.
Tel will have more than
1,300 operators on duty
throughout the province
December 25 when more
than one million long
distance calls — both direct
dialed and operator handled
—— are expected.

Although = additional
circuits have alsq. been
added to handle the in-

creased demand, delays are
inevitable with such oa large
volume of calls, many of
which must compete for long
distance circus from
province to province

Therefore. callers are
urged to spread thew calls
out over the holiday penod
so as toh ave a better chance
of getting through To
commodate these callers,
additional BC Tcl
operators will be on duty
Christmas Eve and Boxing
Day

Customers are also urged
tO use direct distance
dialing, which is both faster
and cheaper, and to obtain
numbers ahead of ame to

aec-

avoid last-minute Directory
Assistance “shopping”
Direct distance dialing
information is listed in the
front pages of the telephone
directory.

Customers in areas with
direct dialing overseas
facilities should also refer to
their directories for  in-
structions, and discount rate
periods.

Network and = customer
service personnel, including
installation and repair crews,
will also be on duty during
the holiday period to fulfill
customers’ needs.

PET CORNER

make.”

Payne, Marcino and
Alderman Ralph Hall tried
to delay the vote on private
garbage service until council
could talk to the municipal
union, the Canadian Union
of Public Employees. Their
motion failed, however.

Other council members
said CUPE had been given
plenty of time to come to an
agreement with Engineer
Phillips on ways to save
money and jobs. But CUPE
didn't seem enthusiastic,
Phillips said in a report.

Alderman Elko Kroon
argued that council had to
vote for the contracting out
of the service or lose
credibility with the public
and the union.

“We have to show that we
mean business and let the
union know that we will stick
to our guns,” he said.

He said that CUPE didn’t
try to carry out the intent of
the council, made clear at an
earlier meeting, which has to
cut the costs of the City
service as much as possible
by switching from three-man
to two-man collection crews.

“If we back off now it
lessens our credibility,” he
warned.

Alderman Stella Jo Dean
expressed confidence that
the eight laid-off City em-
ployees will get jobs with
Smithrite.

Cabin caught
fire in storm

GUSTING winds Wed-
nesday caused a backfire in
an oil fire stove in one of the
eight small rented cabins on
Nelson Avenue in Horseshoe
Bay and started a fire there. |

Fire damage to the cabin
and contents is estimated at
$5,000.

Fire at Neptune

A CEDAR roof and pony
wall of a storage shed at
Neptune Terminals on the
North Vancouver waterfront
caught fire early Saturday
morning.

North Vancouver City
firefighters responded to the
fire at 2:20 a.m., and spent
about an hour and a half
there, since although there
was little damage, the fire
was difficult to reacn.

COLLIE cross Samoyed puppy, eight weeks old, needs
a home. Please phone Dorts Orr, 987-9015.

AC

. NEWS photo Stuart Davis

HIGH WINDS were responsible for the shock J. Gordon Cooper received Sunday
morning when one of the trees in his front yard crashed onto his home, causing only

minor damage.

ET Dollis
Smurf Watches

oe

Walt Disney Plush Toyy * et é a

Master Mind 44 Ga
After Efght Mints

10 Roll Christmas Wrap
(This won’t be lower after Christmas)

30’’x480’’

Christmas Cards Boxed Now

p rice 10.50 & 10.60

er Carton

WY price