Van ponders court acti | District opposing GVRD Cleveland upgrade action Anna-Louise Pentland Contributing Writer NORTH Vancouver District coun- cil is considering taking the Greater Vancouver Regional District to court. At Monday night’s meeting, council voted 6-1 to accept Coun. Glenys Deering-Robb’s recommendation to examine whether the municipality can enforce its bylaws with respect to the scepage contro} blanket and Cleveland Dam construction project. The bytaws pertain to environmental pro- tection procedures and noise, house vibration and other invasive impacts caused by con- struction trucks hauling materials to and trom the dam project. delaved, the more expensive they are for all taxpayers,” she said. Harris said she wasn’t unsympathetic to grounds for their own fawsuits. the residents’ concerns, and said they had Buc Robyn Arnold, media Haison for the Grousewoods Capilano Residents Association, wants to present a united front. GVRD’s actions. She urged all Lower Mainland citizens to tell their council members thar they support the proposal to Jook ar the legalities of the “This affects everybody. Even Richmond gets our water,” she said. “Everybody should know, it’s not a done deal.” West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Jeremy Daiton said after the council’s discussion that the $17-million seepage control project has been deferred for a year until March 2001. He said the Department of Fisherics and Oceans has concerns about the impact of water quali- ty on the Capilano River fish hatchery. “The water quality issuc has always been “We've been patient, we've been thor- ough, we've been polite,” Deering-Robb said. “We've been led to believe they (Greater Vancouver Regional District) would consult with us. They have not. Their arrogance knows no bounds. With respect to the legal ._ action, I’m trying to get them to understand that they must adhere to our bylaws. Not to stop the seepage control blanket. This is our final option.” The dissenting vote came from Coun. Janice Harris. She said she wanted to show support for the projects and that her vote “was symbolic.” “The fact is the longer these projects are lict allegation rejected Conf Jonathon Narvey Contributing Writer A motion to declare North Vancouver City Coun. » Barbara § disqualified from holding office due to conflict of interest was -voted down'on Monday. The mayoral . candidate . was exonerated’. of ’ the .- allegations against’ her by a vote of three to “The | accusations were - unfounded,” Sharp, said; after the debate’ was over. “This comes at a ime when zhere are only two of us running in, the. mayoral clection and .if: Iwas disqualified, he was in.” Sharp declined ‘from further comment until she fad a chance to review what ‘happened during the debate. ‘oun. Bob Fearnicy accused Sharp of conflict of interest for voting on matters ‘relating to North Vancouver's fire department and the hiring of a new fire ‘chief, Sharp's husband fire department. eee *. “What Councillor Sharp. does” not ‘seem ‘to understand: but’ the’ public .. instinctively understands; is that politi- cians should avoid. any:sort of situation where anyone can say that they or their family benefited in any way from voting a certain way,” Fearnley said. - a -. Said Coun. Barbara Perrault, quoting passages from the city’s legal advisor’s report which arrived last Friday, “There . js na. evidence nor suggestion that Councillor ‘Sharp had or has a direct pecuniary interest in any of the matters,” as’ described in Fearnley’s notice of motion to city council. =.” ; in. Added. Perrault, “There is not one ‘scintilla of evidence in Councillor ” Fearnley’s accusations.: What a waste of a captain in the | . of ‘conflict o impressed. with the. work Councillor addressed it,” he said. NVC Coun. Barbara Sharp target of conflict complaint by Goun. Bob Fearnley. this council’s time and the rarrayer’s money. [It can only be described as a Halloween witch hunt. This is just smoke and mirrors on the eve of an elec- tion. People have had two years to deal with this before now.” Sharp voted on fire department mat- ters at least 14 times in the past two years and _ was: involved with the selection process for future fire chiefs, Fearnley “osaid.: “She had no business in being involved in the selection of her hus- band’s ‘future boss, even if it. means : determining the qualifications and con- ditions,” he said. He drew on legal precedents in other parts of the country to demonstrate how the law of the Municipal Act could not discriminate between motive and potential for pecu- -niary‘ interest. “The law is in black and ~-white. You can’t ignore it,” he said. Mayor Jack Loucks and Coun. Darrell Mussatto voted against the motion, arguing there was no evidence interest. Fearnley has’ done in his.presentation, I don’t agree with his interpretation of the’ “While I’m: one to be addressed and the GVRD has not Two related motions passed unanimousiy. The first was to request that the provincial auditor general examine the GVRD’s financial analysis in the decision to proceed with an $85-million Capilano water treatment pro- ject. The second was to request the provincial ombudsman te examine whether the district has been treated with “administrative fair- ness” by the province and the GVRD. ad Bounce to hall CAPILANC College women’s soccer team player Alisah McPhes, left, mixes it up with a Fraser Valley team player at a game in North Vancouver on Sunday. The Capilano team won 3-6. Sec coverage of weekand games on page 49. facts,” Loucks said. Said Mussatto, “I've been on counci} for only six years, but Pve always known Councillor Sharp to be hardworking, diligent, profes- sional, ethical and responsible. § haven't always agreed with her, but that’s the essence of democracy. “However, leaving aside what she’s done for the community, I believe Councillor Fearnley’s accusations to be groundiess.” Coun. Stella Dean vated in sup- port of the motion, arguing coun- cillors should be especially careful to not only avoid conflict of inter- est, but to avoid perception of it in the public cye. “But disqualifica- tion from this doesn’t mean she is disqualified from running for mayor,” Dean said. “All she would have to do is step down for the last three meetings of council before the ciry council elec- tions.” Perrault went on the offensive after the motion was dismissed, proposing a motion of her own demanding tke city issue a press release clearing the name of Sharp. She also asked that city staff pro- vide council with a financial analysis of the cosis relative to the issue and that Fearnley retract his accusations and apol- ogize publicly. The motion will be voted on at a later date. Expecting an attack on his motives, Fearnley cautioned the other councillors not to defend Sharp out of friendship. “We should be considering only the facts surrounding the alleged conflict of inter- est tonight. Both friendship and enmity have no place in our deliberations.” On Tuesday, Fearnley said he will take the issue ta the B.C. Supreme Court. “This thing is not over, Everybody was veading from prepared text. They'd already made their minds up. That isn’r good government. That’s a travesty.” : News launches new North Shore Kids section STARTING in today’s edition, the North Shore News will be introducing some new reporters. - ‘North Shore Kids is a weekly two-page spread featuring news » stories and other.input from Grade 6 students at schools across >> North and West Vancouver. It will run in cach Wednesday’s News, giving kids a chance to tell you what they think matters in the community — whether it’s school renovations, conservation issues, or road safety. They'll supply the photos too! ’. North. Shore. Kids kicks off this week with North Vancouver's Capilano elementary. Check it out on page 28. to killing bears pushed ‘Bear Man’ to speak in NV _ Anna-Lovise Pentland ~ - Contributing Writer — THE Bear Man, Steve Searles, is coming to the North Shore to spread his message of using non-lethal methods to deal with errant bears.. This presentation is being held on the North’ Shore <. re because a record 28 bears have been killed this year.in the * North Shore area. Searles is president of a non-profit group, - called Bear Affairs, that promotes non-lethal bear manage- ment. makers and pepper spray to discourage Along with these methods, a big part of Searles’ success has resulted from educating humans. Open dumpsters and the reliance bear problem. e garbage attracted bears to the populated areas and’” , the artificially rich food squrce pushed the bear population - up, compounding the problem. On his Web site,- Searles < humans and bears, | states that he believes in co-existence for Since his hometown of Mammoth Lakes embraced his .” approach in 1995, the California town hasn’t had to shoot’. . any of the 100 bears ix deals with cach year. Non-lethal ; methods include using rubber bullets, pyrotechnics, noise- / Cars, | ‘ bears ‘develo: on “ human garbage were a’major part of the Mammoth ‘Lakes and advocates killing bears only when absolutely necessary. To understand the animals better, Searles video-taped 2. pregnant bear he named “Garbo” for 700 hours over the : past six months. His success has earned him much media coverage, | : including a story in Tie magazine that attracted the atten- tion of the Disney corporation. Now Disney wants to buy * Searles’ life story to make into a movic. ; 7 This presentation, as well as others throughout the “ province, is being sponsored by the Jennifer Jones Whistler‘ Bear Foundation. Jennifer Jones lived in Whistler and. was -:.” killed in car accident on the Sea-to-Sky highway in = : December 1994, when the bear problem in Whistler was just * beginning to be recognized. Diane Hardouin, president of the Jennifer Jones’ mother, said, “It’s. part Foundation -and - of my daughter's - legacy. She’d be proud to be remembered that way. It’s an > odd legacy, but quite apropos. She was sitting in her apart- ear kil ment cating her Checrios one day and saw 2 See Whistler page led and © fernatives |