Sunday, December 1, 1996 — North Shore News - 3 NEWS: pSoto Paul McGrath JAY Straith, president of the B.C. Artificial Reet Society, stands by the HMCS Saskatchewan currently being gutted in Nev: Westminster. : By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter JAY Straith has sunk more destroyers than any wartime admiral. The North Vancouver lawyer is the president of the Artificial Reef Society of B.C. The society has sunk four gutted naval destroyer escorts since 1991. The HMCS G.B. Church, HMCS Chaudier, HMCS MacKenste and HMCS Columbia now rest at the bottom of B.C. waters and are used by divers interested in seeing the rich marine life that is attracted to the reefs created by the sunken vessels. ; “We don’t pollute the ocean because the ves- sels have to be hydrocarbon free before we sink them,” said Straith. The gutted and clean ships are checked out by Environment Canada. They are open for public viewing shortly before they are sunk, said Straith. “So the public is reassured this is as absolurely clean as it can get,” said Straith. The next project is the sinking of the former Canadian Navy destroyer, HMCSSaskatchewan, which was built at North Vancouver's Burrard Drydock. The ship will go to its watery grave on June 1+ off Snake Island about 4.8 km (3 miles) east of Nanaimo. The sinking of the Saskatchewan will be used as North Vancouver's Jay Straith heads push to creaie artificial reefs a fundraiser for the Cousteau Society’s Calypso IT fund. Jacques Cousteau’s world-renowned ship, the Calypso, sunk after colliding with a barge. The damaged vessel was refloated, but its expedition days and role as a research vessel are over. The Cousteau Society, based in New York, is raising, money to replace the Calypse with an eco- logically sound vessel loaded with state of the art scientific equipment. “Jacques Cousteau and the Calypse is how all of us got introduced to the sea,” said Straith. He said artificial reef society members got together and decided to help raise money for the next Calypso. Last summer, a draw to determine who would push the button to sink the Colambia was popu- lar on Vancouver Island. The artificial reef society approached the Cousteau Society about holding a similar fundraising sweepstakes for a winner to press the button to sink the Saskatchewan. Cousteau, himself, now 86, has endorsed the fundraiser. Sweepstakes tickets are free and dona- Popalsiion (1996 estimate} 0 r o Saiary nike = 1 Vancouver (521,048) 2 Surrey (294,000) debated in NVD Councillors haggle over indemnity By Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer A citizens’ task force says “no change” but some North Vancouver District councillors are saying 3 Burnaby (370,100} 4 Richmond (145,000) 5 Coquitiam (100,946) 6 Delta (99,000) 7 MV District (82,000) 8 Langlay Dist. (80,000) 9 New West (47,016) 10 Wes! Van (42,500) 11 WY City (42,250) 12 PoCo (36,773) 13 Langley City (23,000) tions will be accepted for the Cousteau Society, said Straith. The project, he said, will allow the artificial reef society to raise the profile of B.C. ecotourism in the United States. Straith said B.C. has an international reputa- tion for having the cleanest, most environmental- ly sound artificial reef program in the world. “1 believe that whether you are talking about the forest environment or the marine enyiron- ment, the long-term future of these environments is only going to be guaranteed by ecotourism,” said Straith. He said that if people are not out experiencing the wonders of the ocean, they will not under- stand why it is important to protect the oceans. “If anything, the life legacy of Jacques Cousteau has been educating people about the marine environment and what we are irying to do in B.C. is educate people more and more,” said Straith. Straith said most people in B.C. don’t realize that we live beside one of the richest marine envi- ronments in the world. “People have got to understand that the B.C, marine issue is a lot bigger than salmon,” said Straith, who lives in North Vancouver and has been diving in local waters since 1983. He has been the artificial reef society’s president since 1989, Sweepstakes tickets will be available through the Cousteau Society. tademaltios Mayor Councillor $90,900 40,050 72,362 26,584 . 09 73,700 25,061 . 15 €6,245 25,750 . 18 68,385 20,515 .20 60,000 20,000 z .2t 59,430 19,810 . 25 48,981 16,327 . 20 50,676 16,704 : a5 51,000 17,000 . 40 56,136 18,712 . a) 46,079 16,358 . a4 38,105 16,501 3B 72 Costing $ par head populatien Mayor Coyncifior A7 08 Additionally, he said the indemnity is considered income for the purposes of calculating UIC benefits and severance pay. the demands of the job are worth a 50% pay hike. While council stopped short of voting itself such a massive increase Monday, it did refer the issue to the new council with the recommendation that a coun- cillor’s indemnity be increased to 50% of the mayor's indemnity. District. councillors currently receive $19,810 while the mayor receives $59,430. The Municipal Act specifically states that a councillor shall not be paid a salary or a wage but an indemnity that, according to Coun. Erniz Crist, is com- pensation for expenses. But Crist argued Monday “that what the provincial government says and what the federal government does is two different things.” He said that while one third of the indemnity is tax-free, the remainder is added to any other income to determine the councillors tax rate. “The $20,000 is a hoax,” said Crist. “The mayor's salary is nothing to write home about either,” he added. Crist told council Monday that he had pressed for a review of council indem- nification earlier in the year but felt the citizen’s task force report presented te council at an in-camera session Nov. 4 had “come up short.” The review committee concluded “the indemmitics, ougt not overly gen- crous, are still fair and reasonable.” The committee also said in its report that “the resolution of workload prob- Jems is beyond our terms of reference and time spent is not a valid factor for determining the level of indemnity paid mayor and councillors.” Crist together with Coun, Pat Munroe and outgoing councillor Pam Goldsimith-Jones disagree. See Salary pane 20 . Shore water rates on the rise By Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer WATER charges in North Vancouver District will rise 7% in 1997 but there are much bigger fiscal shocks coming down the pipeline from the Greater Vancouver Water District (GVWD). And one district resident is calling for a performance review of the GVWD and the role it has played in controlling the cost and quality of the Lower Mainland’s water distribution system. The waterworks amending bylaw passed by council on Monday night will sec water charges for a single ‘amily resi- dence rise from $215 in 1996 to $230 in 1997 (taking into account the 10% discount for early payment). The increase is necessitated by: i a proposed increase in the GVWD water rates (resuling in a ¢% district-wide increase), and an acceleration of the district’s watermain replacement program (resulting in a 3% district-wide increase). The GVWD is presently proposing a 12% increase in its water charges next year due to the implementation of its Water Quality Improvement Program. All regional municipalities pay the same water rate, which is cur- rently set at 12.62 cents per cubic metre. That rate has been rising annually by an average of 14% since 1994. But the rate of increase is about to rise so sharply it would make the graph look like a water- By the year 2004 the GVWD water charge will be 33.5 cents See Water page 5 BB BuSiR8SS. a 49 i Collins @ Crossword @ Health Trends sa Horoscopes. @ Mailbox @ North Shore Alert...... & Sports. @ Talking Personals...... ... @ Travel. & Vici2ge Years.. Bi Wright mi Xmas Windows...... Horth Shore News, founded in 199 as in inde- pendent suburban newspaper ard qualifies under Schedule E11, Paragsaph C61 of the Excise Tax Act, 1s published cach Wednesday, Friday and Su lay by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed -o every doot oo the Nonh Shore. Canada Post C madan Pubbcations Mail Sales Product Agteem:nt No QOK7238. Mailing tates available on reyues: