1 Ava lanche hero noured by NVB Surviver presents North Shore Rescue with $5,000 Martin Millerchip ESE Bo were sCé@CG News Reporter martin@nsnews.com : KEN Rutland doesn’t consider himself a hero. Others do. On Monday North Vancouver District Council formally presented the North Vancouver man with a Certificate of Honour tor his part in rescuing hikers on the Grouse Grind tail hie by an avalanche. The Jan. 27 slide claimed the lite of Ontarian Rory Manning and injured five. Also honoured in the ceremony. at district hall Monday was the North Shore rescue team, which was presented with a certificate by Mayor Don Bell “in recog: nition of extraordinary rescue efforts, in the face of great personal cisk.” Said Bell, “These are the people you tnost want to see if you happen to get lost.” Bell described Rutland as a very quiet and unassuming man who did not want to be in the limelight, bur contin- ued, “The reason council wanted to honour Ken is that sometimes ordinary people do extraordinary things. North Shore Rescue team leader Tim Jones described Rutland as a true hero but laughingly acknowledged he'd NEWS photo Terry Peters KEN Rutland ... Van’s unassuming hero hikers out of the snow and holding them above nwo subsequent avalanches thar he couldn't do up the zips on his jacket. Told by Rutland he was “a bit cold,” Jones responded “You're really going to have to suck it up.” Three weeks after the harrowing episode Rutland said he is getting feeling back in his toes. He still says he was just in the right place at the right time but adniits he has dreamed abour the the events. “After three days it started to come oa us a bit.” He told the News he only wor- fied about his life when he heard another avalanche begin at the top of the moun- tain. Thar one roared down an adjacent gully, Rutland received a further surprise Monday when one of the hikers he res- cued, Karim Bhatia, stepped out of rhe audience to present him: with a print depicting Roger Bannister passing John Landry during what was dubbed the Miracle Mile at Enypire Stadium. Bhatia was found by Rutland with just his leg sticking out of the s:qw. He had a dislocated shoulder and lumbar and pelvic injuries. ‘The print, signed by both runners, is called “The Moment.” The Bharia family also presented North Shore Rescue with a $5,000 cheque. North Wednesday, February 17, 1999 — North Shore News — 3 “4 FLOWERS mark the memory of avatanche victim Rory Manning Meanwhile, rescue team: workers combing the Grouse at the foot of the Grouse Grind. Dangerous snow conditions had litte time for Rutland while dealing with the injured, assessing the danger and organizing a search. Rutland was so cold after digging nwo seriously injured job action Katharine Hamer Contributing Writer JOB action could be in the cards for frustrated mem- bers of the. West Vancouver Municipal Employees’ _ Association (WVMEA). The independent union, which represents approximately 650 West Vancouver District — municipal employees including library, school board, and police civilian staff, has been without a collective agreement since Dec. 31, 1996. WVMEA spokesman Brian Schramm said yesterday that union members are considering the imple- mentation of an overtime ban until a new. agreement is reached. Negotiations are still under way berween the “anion and the munici- paliry, with WVMEA members con- testing that West Vancouver has “traditionally lagged behind other municipalities in a number of areas, See Dangerous page 3 prevent the recovery of his body. ff-leash trial advocated {woman Liam Lahey Contributing Writer NORTH Vancouver’s Lynnmouth Park may be going to the dogs. Following a public meeting on Monday night, North Vancouver City’s Parks and Recreation Committee has recommended in a 6-1 vote that dog owners be allowed to run their dogs off-leash at Lyanmouth Park for a six-month trial period. The recommendation addresses twa divided com- munity factions: those who have dogs and need to exercise them, and those who don’t and fear being attacked or watching their park turn into a manure pile. Council must approve or defeat the recommendation next week, - “The district (of North Vancouver) has nine areas available for dogs to run off-leash; West Vancouver has nine areas,” said Dr. Earnie Earnshaw, a veterinarian and North Shore resident, referring to a municipal map. Currently only the west trail area of Mosquito Creck Park north of West 17th Street to the city limit has been formally designated by city council as an off- leash area. That decision was made in 1995. ‘The committee considered several city sites as pos- sibte off-leash areas with strict rules for dog owners to abide by: @ Ottawa Gardens; B the southwest quadrant of Victoria Park West; ® a curf-grass area in Boulevard Park at the corner of East 15th Street and Moody Avenue; Band areas in Lynnmouth Park and Heywood Park where residents already allow their dogs to exercise off- leash. “Ifan area is designated, it should be fenced to con- fine the dogs to those areas ... Ottawa Gardens is not a walk-in park: there are no trails, no seats, and it’s bor- dered on either side by a one-way street,” said Earnshaw. “Most off-leash dogs come from West Vancouver and possibly anywhere else,” said North Vancouver res- ident Frank Higgins. “Victoria Park West is favoured by seniors (living in chat area) as a quict, non-threatening, open space. We don't have to worry about rollerbladers or bikers whipping by. “If you introduce dogs without leashes, it will change the character of that park completely.” One of tlic major issues facing the Parks and Recreation Committee was dog excrement. The committee was informed by city staff that countless dog owners were not picking up after their dogs in the west portion of Mosquito Creek Park, damaging the fragile ecosystem and fouling conditions along the trail near the creek. “We need to apply some kind of pressure to encour- age dog owners to pick up after their pets: that’s the responsibility of a dog owner,” said Coun. Stella Jo Dean. “I don’t agree with fencin; , it’s not acceptable andr esthetically pleasing ... I think we should look ac Lynnmouth Park (as a possible site for off-leash dogs), that runs into the district and it'd be great to see the dogs and the district get together.” Coun. Barbara Sharp, a self-confessed cat lover, said enforcing the city’s “stoop-and-scoop” bylaw is para- mount tor any park. “It’s not the things that go ‘bump’ in the night, it’s the things that go ‘bark’ in the night,” Sharp said. “I believe we really need to look at increasing enforce- ment ... we work hard to enhance this city; we don’t want our parks co look like camps (with fences).” No municipal enforcement officer has ever issued a ticket in any of the city’s parks regarding dogs. Coun, John Braithwaite, who chaired the commit- ice meeting, said he was “opposed to any free-running dogs in residential areas. I'd like to see the status quo.” In addition to approving the six-month trial at Lynnmouth Park, the committee also unanimously recommended the city’s staff begin enforcing dog licensing and ticketing for wayward owners in all of the city’s green space. New receptacles and small garbage bags are slated to be installed in all city parks to encourage dog own- ers to clean up after their pets. accosied by driver AN 18-year-old North Vancouver woman was accosted py a man dri- ving a four-door brown sedan on Feb. 2 in the 900-bliock of Riverside Drive. According to the North Vancouver RCMP, the woman was walking to her Seymour area home in the carly afternoon when a man in a car asked her if she wanted a ride. Police say the woman declined the offer. They did not release her name. The motorist pulled ahead of the teenager and got out of the car. The woman told the police that the man grabbed her hand and told her to get in the car. She pulled free. He sped off in the car. Police say the woman did not get a licence plate number. The suspect is described as being “hispanic looking,” aged 25, 1.65m (5°5”), 82 kilograms (180 Ib) with short brown hair and a goatee. He had a muscular build. Anyone with information is asked to call Const. Everett McLachlan at 985-1321. Callers are asked to refer to the case’s file number: 99-3382. Auxiliaries plan meeting to discuss issue including vacation time and health- care bencfits.” Prospective wage increases are not at issue. Schramm said employces are unwilling to accept further bud- getary concessions from the munici- pality. . He added that a strike action vote could come within the next. two weeks if no resolution has been reached at the bargaining rable. approximately 2,400 in the Canada. Auxiliary officers in B.C. began carrying guns” in the mid-1980s. “Since that time, the RCMP has moved on to preventive proactive policing,” said Harvie. “They (auxiliaries) started to creep into reactive policing, which the program was not designed for that.” Auxiliary peace officer are’ required to work a minimum 160 hours a year. Before auxiliaries were disarmed, they worked as “cover or backup offi- cers” in patrol cars with regular Mounties. North Vancouver at the 162-Mountie detachment. The provincial government called its decision regarding the auxiliaries’ guns “interim” until a study was completed last fall. The study recom- mended options that allowed auxiliaries to carry guns or be disanned. The final decision was passed on to the RCMP. Meanwhile Harvie said a small number of aux- iliaries have quit their volunteer jobs in B.C. in rela- tion to the gun issue. He said there were 1,119 RCMP auxiliaries officers in B.C.; there are From page 1 officer for 21 years, carrying a gun for 12 years. Buyan said that the auxiliaries in North Vancouver are planning to meet this week to decide what they will do. Last April, there were 21 auxiliary Mounties working in North Vancouver when the provincial government unexpectedly announced that the peace officers would no longer be allowed to carry guns. ‘There are currently 17 auxiliaries working in