Marcie Good Contributing Writer TROUBLE springs from idleness, Benjamin Franklin wrote more than two centuries ago. On Monuay night North Vancouver District council ensured that the great American inventor's words continue to ring tue. People who let their engines run while the vchicle is station- ary for more than nwo minutes will soon face trouble, following council's unanimous endorsement of a bylaw prohibiting exces: sive idling. “T think it's abominable that people actually turn their care on and lec them idle in the driveway,” said Coun. Janice Harris. “It's not good for the car and it’s not good for the environment.” The bylaw, which still requires final adoption, makes excep- tions for emergency vehicles and vehicles in traftic jams. Other vehicles caught idling will be subject to a $50 fine. While several councillors raised concerns about the difficulty of enforcement, Coun. Ernie Crist said the bylaw doesn’t mean that officers should be on every street corner handing out tick- ets. Rather, it aims to educate residents about the issue, and a public awareness campaign will accompany the bylaw's imple- mentation. It will also provide a means of dealing with nuisance idlers. Crist asked staff to look at the issue nvo years ago, after minutes target of NVD bylaw numerous complaints about a diesel truck driver in a residential wea who started his engine early every morning and let it run for 45 ininutes. “Ef all peaple were ceasonable and senuble then of course vou wouldn't need thos id. “But this person was ¢. He just stubbornly refused. There was no bylaw in place and he just said ‘to heck with it.” * rrently, the only recourse that deals with idling is to treat it aS a Noise complaint. Amendments to the street and traffic and to the nuisance abatement bylaws would see it as a separate offence. Mayor Don Bell, while supporting the staff report, suggested the district should contact. businesses such as tour operators and taxi drivers to find aut what impact the bylaw would have on them. Bell’s suggestion was added as an amendment to the bylaw. The mayor also pointed out that Vancouver city prohibits diesel buses from idling for more than three minutes. He sug- gested trying te convince Vancouver change the restriction to two minutes to be consistent with North Vancouver District. Wednesday, May 17, 2600 - North Shore News - 3 face fines Harris desenbed her frustration at the tow truck drivers who sit at the entrance to the Second Narrows bridge and let their vehicles run for long periods of time. She joked that it made her want to take “direct action” like putting a potato in ube exhaust pipe. “There's something terri pair of socks to keep warm, shouldn't be subject to the same educational else.” Educational material distributed by Nataral Resources Canada states that 10 seconds of idling can use more fuel than turning off the engine and re-starting it. Idling also harms the Earth — if every driver of a light-duty vehicle in Canada avoid- ed idling for just Sve minutes a day, we would save 1.6 million litres of fuel and prevent more than 1.4 million tonnes of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, from entering the atmosphere. Natural Resources Canada also says the best way co warn) up 2 car is to drive it. Seven municipalities in Canada have idling bylaws. Most, including Victoria, Nanaimo, and Ottawa, address the issue in a noise bytaw. Others, including Toronto and Montreal, treat it as a health or air pollution concern. Two minutes, as put forth by the dis- trict, is the shortest amount of time allowed for engine idling of any jurisdiction in Canada. Billionaire taps WV technology for gaming site wrong if you can’t wear an extra she said. “I don’t see why they reach as anyone NORTH Shore golfers are happy. to wetcome back the Seymour Creek Golf Centre. The driving range reopened earlier this month after sitting empty and unused for five months. . News Reporter dlancaster@nsnews.com * NORTH Shore golfers who best liked practising their long game, short game, pitch shots and sand traps at the Seymour Creek Driving Range, are back in -action, -» After more than five months of sitting empty and. unused, the range opened . again on May 6. So -°: Although Squamish Nation director of finance Harold Calla said fast December “that the range wasn't “economically viable,” the former manager of the facility, James Legault, is now leasing the building “from. the Squamish Nation, and excited ‘about his new venture. ; “Irs the best range ... if any range is going to be successful it’s this one,” Legault said yesterday. GK i Golf company signs one-year lease with Squamish Nation It failed last year, he said, because the partnership that built it — the Squamish Nation ‘and businessman David ;Ho — were overly optimistic about its success. “Takaya, Seymour Creek, Park, Koval . all three drivirg ranges opened’ within a month of each other. I saw che original projections —- they were way off wack.” With 80 stalls, Seymour Creek is bigger - than Park Royal Golf Centre’s 52-stall dri- ving range, and the same size as Takaya Golf Centre’s. And although’ Legault said golfers liked it, and the volume of business was good, it wasn't enough to cover the cost of construction, According to Calla, -after the range closed Nov. 30, the partnership between Ho and the band dissolved. Ho took the ving business responsibility for servicing the debt on the - building with him. And the Squamish Nation was left with a specific purpose building. : ; Since then, said Calla, the band has been “considering what would be appro- priate use of the site.” It’s looking for the greatest return on the property, and according to Legault, big box retailers, like the Real Canadian Superstore north of the driving range, are a preferred option. But not the only one. Legault said his company,.Let’s Go Golf, has a one-year lease with. the band, and both he and Calla said if the range does well there’s potential for it to become a pernranent fixture. “They told me to ‘See what you can make of it. Give it a try.” ” Legault said he has hired two new pros, is bringing in 20,000 new balls every month and has replaced the mats. So far, he said, it’s a swinging success. “The response has been huge. People really missed us.” : Michael Becker News Editor wnbecker@nsnews.com A West Vancouver com- pany and a Hong Kong- Macau billionaire are seeing ¢ye-to-cye on the | future of entertainment on the Internet. Eyeball.com has partnered with Dr. Stanley Ho, a 79- year-old billionaire who made a fortune building « hotel and casino empire in Macau. Ho, who is known in China as Wong Tai Sin —the god who fulfils peoples wishes. — is launching this summer DrHo.com, a broadband entertainment site that will feature virtual reality gaming and interactive media. The DrHo.com site was previewed fasr week at the Electronic Entertainment Exposition ‘in Los Angeles. : Eyeball.com has developed broadband application services and offers live, interactive multi-media communications. ’ The Eyeball.com technoto- gy is initially being applied to enabie the. DrHo.com’ Web site’s virtual casino. The casino is a real-time, interactive casi- no that combines 3D anima- tion with real dealer and play- er interaction. Eyeball.com’s software synchronizes the actions of a dealer to a 3D ani- mation. A DrHo.com - card dealer based in Antigua, will also be seen live in a casino via * band sit ny developed a video camera in one corner of the on-line display. A player can move animated chips to place bets and the information is relayed to a computer at the dealer’s table. Games include Baccarat, Big and Small, Black Jack, Caribbean Poker, and Roulette. The DrHo.com site is targeted at broadband sub- scribers in Asia. Online gam- bling is restricted in the U.S. and Canada. North American gamblers can play for virtual “Ho Bucks.” Said Eyeball.com market- ing communications specialist Angie Hirata, “We are looking to partner with other broad- developers and pub- lishers. This a first big step.” Eyeball.com: was formerly known as InfraNet. The com- pany was renamed fast year to better capture the essence of its business. : Chris Piche started - th company in 1996 to. provide consulting support for soft- ware development projects in the Vancouver area. In ‘the case of delivering video, Piche saw an opportunity fora solu- tion that would adapt accord- ing to how much processing power and bandwidth was- available to a user. The compa- *scaleable” - Internet video broadcasting. ’. The technology adapts to the underlying conditions of the network in place. ; . Eyeball.com’s own Web tased video chat service goes °-", live this summer. : - i grephic Eyebati.com GAMBLERS will soon be abie to play with Ho Bucks...” at DrHo.com, a site that uses West Van technology.”