2 — North Shore News — Sunday, November 5, 2000

NV

school safety falis

between the cracks

Marcie Good

News Reporter
mgood@nsnews.com

AFTER two near-acci-
dents outside
Boundary elementary
school, parents and
staff are pinning their
hopes on a new side-
walk to prevent a third
strike.

But while Nerth
Vancouver District's traffic
and safety committee has
identified the $75,000 side-
walk as the number one pri-
ority in the municipality,
there is no money in this
year’s budget for the project.

The school faces a com-
anon problem: the cars of
parents dropping off their
kids create hazardous jams
every morning. Students
walking along East 26th
Street, where there is cur-
rently only a grass boulevard,
are bound to cut between

parked cars and dart across
the street.

Just this week, a child was
grazed by a car that was tor-
tiaately moving slowly
enough to step. Another
close call happened last year.

“Kids will be kids,” said
Gerry MacKinnon, a parent
at Boundary and one of the
RCMP constables who set up
the school safety patrol pro-
grant in B.C.

“Its not a matter of if
there will be an accident, it’s
a matter of when. So we're
saving, ‘Why are we wait-
ing?”

A new sidewalk would
create a path for students to
walk to an area where district
staff also want to install a
crosswalk, The sidewalk, said
manager of transportation
Norm Nikkel, would be an
integral part of a safer traffic
plan including a no-stopping,
zone and a drop-off area.

The school has already set
up a Walking School Bus pro-
gram, and = MacKinnon

teained six students last year
as safety patrollers.

They were supposed to
start in September, bat the
program cannot begin with-
out the sidewalk and marked
crosswalk.

During last spring's bud-
get discussions, council clim-
inated all) sidewalk projects
when it was shaving items to
achieve a 0 per cent increase
lo ratepayers.

That budget was support-
ed by Councillors Doug
MacKay Dunn, Heather
Dunsford, Ernie Crist) and
Bill Denault.

That left a pile of side-
walks on the wish list —
according to Nikkel, about
30 requests are considered
for every three-year planning
period. The traffic and safety
committee chooses projects
that benefit children or
seniors as priorities.

At Monday’s meeting,
council will discuss how it
might find money for the
project.

GST in valuation increases home’s worth

_ From page

it’s an appropriate additive to the value of the
property,” said McClure. “If Mr. Wedley had
chosen to, for whatever reason, sell the property
as soon as he had bought it, he would have been
wanting to charge, in our opinion, che value
including the GST. It only makes sense...”

He said that while the board did not opt to
- appeal the decision, that does not mean it will
discard its policy of including GST in assessed
value.

“We believe, as does the Appraisal Institute of
Canada, that GST is included in market value

and we will continue to add it when its inclusion
reflects the most probable selling price of the
property as shown by market sales.”

McClure maintained that the board simply
preferred the Wedleys’ evidence at that juncture.
‘The next time around, he said, the appeal board
may favour the assessment authority.

“We believe that we can bring more evidence
to the next hearing that will substantiate our
belief that GST should be included in our assess-
ments,” McClure said.

McClure also added that Wedley had
appealed his 1999 assessment but later withdrew
it. — with files from Mickael Becker

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