10 ~- North Shore News — Sunday, May 14, 2000 City suite bills sour Connell is Anna-Louise Pentland Contributing Writer RUDI and Barbara Spotzl paid the utility and tax bill to North - Vancouver City for their four-unit building for the past six years, never dreaming the city would be issuing bills for ille- gal suites. Te was only when they asked for a.city inspection of their _. West 5th Street, property for a “permit to change the electrical service thar they found out the suites were considered illegal. “By following. the rules and ~ asking for an inspection, we ‘had unknowingly blown the whistle,” Barbara Spor said Monda “. But this is only the tp ofthe icebe in the city. “This prob- lem of billing for illegal suites imakes us lock like ssc, We | well know 70 to 80% of “suites in. the . city. a we would tave had 10" increase the taxes to the rest of © North Vancouver 10% over the. made the move to take these suites off the tax and utility bill. Bell made a motion Monday that the city seck a legal opin- ion about what positon the city is in because they've been billing owners for such a long period of time, as well as a legal opinion for this particular case. Fred Smith, director of development services, pointed out there was a warning on the -back of the bill stating it does not refer to zoning, but only to the use of the utility. Ceuncillors Barbara Perrault and Bob Fearnley were concerned that the build- ing was not owner-occupied’ and that the owner lives in North Vancouver District. “We have certain bylaws, and we should enforce them. The cit- zens of the city deserve consis- tency,” Fearnley said. Perrault was also not sym- pathetic to the Sporzl’s state- ment that they didn’t check any further to see if the suites were legal after seeing the utili- y and tax bill. City staff will bring back to council information about the number of illegal suites they are billin, The ci city will also seck a legal opinion about their. position ith regard to. the: suites they’ve been billing, in particu-. - lar with regard to the situation but so far. no council has with the Spotzis. - Jan-Christian Sorensen Contributing Writer WEST Vancouver’s Grant Connell has been named captain of the 2001 Canadian Davis Cup tennis team. The Davis Cup is the mast prestigious interna- tional team competion in tennis. This year, a record number of 136 countries are registered to take part in the event. Connell,. who retired from professional tennis in 1997, will be the 30th national Davis Cup captain since 1913. “I’m incredibly excited about ic,” said Connell. “The Davis Cup has played a big role in my carcer and I see my Davis Cup play as being some of th the high- lights of my carcer.” “Every captain brings something new to the team and I’ve never been a “rah- rah” cype of leader, nor am I a huge technician of the game, but I do believe that because.of the experiences I’ve had on the road and on _ tour thar { know whar the - players are going through in preparing for the mate! -. es and during match play.” . Connell is indeed no .. stranger to the team, hav- ing played. in. 21__ tics . between 1987 and 1997. », and posting a 22-9 record _— including a'14-6 doubles mark. — in: Davis - “Cup. ‘action. In 1990, Connell :was 4 involved i in ‘one oO: £ Canada’ Ss. NEWS photo Cindy. Goodman ~. Fame of Canadian Tennis in .1998,.was an’ all-American WEST Vancouver's Grant Conneil has accepted. the post of captain for the 2001 Canadian Davis Cup ten- nis squad. most memorable Davis Cup victories when -— teamed with longtime doubles part- ner Glenn Michibata — he handed. the Netherlands 2 defeat that. lifted » the Canadians into. the World ' Group of the top 26 cour.- tries. Connell will take the’ reins trom Quebec’s Louis” Cayer, who has been team captain since 1994 and is -stepping down at the end of ‘this year. In the meantime, Cayer ; will lead the national squad | into” Argentina action — Montreal. 2001 °° American. . against . in. a“ second-_- round. playoff. tie. that) will' _ take: place July . 21-23. in. ‘doubles : The winner of that ean: : test will earn'a spot inthe’ | eee .Zone : Group’ I;: while..the. loser Boucherville, Que. and- Toronto’s Danicl Nestor. —°: While the official lineup © - won't be announced until a°:": few weeks before the event,” Bobby Tecumseh, Ont., Simon‘ Larose. of | Cap-de-la- Madeleine, Que., Frederi Niemeyer of Magog, Que-: and Jocelyn Robichaud.: of | Joliette, Que are: also: _ expected to join the squa Hatem McDadi, Tennis’ Canada’s Director of Player: Development,:, mad _announcement of Connell’ "appointment on Thursday, “On a: personal note::1): . Saat is: going, ve be’ tremendous addition brin ing in’ his- experience as player as well