Students
checked

NORTH VANCOUVER RCMP
were called in to Sutherland Sec-
ondary School to respond to a
complaint of a gang fight at the
school Jan. 17. A vehicle was
damaged in what police szy was a
minor altercation between a few
students. According to police,
none of those checked at the scene
were related to youth gangs
operating in the Lower Mainland
area. No charges are pending.

B.C. TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT
N. Shore to get 15 new buses

BC TRANSIT is allotting 15 new diesel buses to its North
Shore operation from the 35 currently on order for the
Lower Mainiand as part of its 1989 transit enhancements.

BC Transit spokesman Diane
Gendron said Thursday the new
buses should be in operation in
early or late spring.

The number of additional buses
for the North Shore from a further
50 recently announced for the
Lower Mainland by BC Transit
has yet to be decided, Gendron
said.

The minister responsible for BC
Transit, Rita Johnston, announced
Jan. 9 a $34-million program to
enhance transit services and
upgrade capital equipment and fa-
cilities in Greater Vancouver,
Greater Victoria and various B.C.
communities.

West Vancouver Mayor Don
Lanskail, who is also the chairman
of the Vancouver Regional Transit
Commission, said the overhaul
would assist in upgrading the ex-
isting service and improve its

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW
News Reporter

reliability.

The program's four basic objec-
tives are:
© increase transit service, reliability
and comfort by purchasing 68 new
diese! buses;
® purchase 3f handyDART vans
for the disabled, and expand han-
dyDART service hours in Van-
couver, Victoria and various small
communities;
© provide handyDART service in
Greater Vancouver for preschool
children who have special needs;
and
* enhance the radio communica-
tions for the Vancouver and Vic-
toria region buses.

BC Transit will order 68 new
diesel buses for delivery this year.

Of those, 50 will be earmarked for
the rapidly growing Vancouver
Regional Transit System, while 18
will go to Greater Victoria and
other B.C. communities.

The 50 diesels for Greater Van-
couver wilf be in addition to the 35
currenily on order.

Along with the new buses, 75
new drivers wilj also be added to
BC Transit’s Greater Vancouver
system.

Though no new buses have been
allocated for West Vancouver,
Gendron said, the municipality’s
Blue Bus system will benefit from
the addition of 44 buses currently
being refurbished at a rate of four
per day for the Lower Mainland
system.

The 286 express bus service from
West Vancauver to UBC, which
was cancelled late last year, will be
restarted, she said, as soon as
refurbished buses are available.

In addition, Gendron said a new
bus route wit! begin servicing
North Vancouver District’s new

indian River development and the
Seymour Parkway in April.

Of the 18 new handyDART
vehicles being allocated to Greater

WEST Vancouver Mayor Don
Lanskail ...reliadility to be im-
Proved,

Vancouver under the transit
enhancement program, three will
go to the North Shore. But they

West Van to take twin tower
contract to court in March

THE DISTRICT of West Vancouver will not take its con-
tract with the developers of the proposed twin towers at 320
Taylor Way to B.C. Supreme Court for clarification until

WEST Yencenver Ald. Mark
Sager ...‘‘this council might be ty-
ing the hands of future councils.”

March 14 and 15.

Counsel for the district, George
Macintosh of Farris, Vaughan,
Wills & Murphy, was concerned
that the two hours originally aliot-
ted on the Jan. 26 court date
would not be long enough, and he
requested an alternative full-day
hearing.

He also requested a date either
Jate in January or in February, but
it could not be arranged.

The issues to be raised at the
hearing will centre on the legality
of the district’s 99-year lease with
Newcorp Properties Ltd. and
whether the offer to lease con-
stitutes an ‘‘unlawful fettering of
council’s discretion.”*

“There are some suggestions
that this council might be tying the

By MAUREEN CURTIS
Contributing Writer

hands of future councils,’’ Ald.
Mark Sager explained Monday
night.

In December, council indicated
that there might be an opportunity
for interested citizens or groups to
become involved in the court pro-
ceedings.

Macintosh, in a Jan. 10 letter to
Peter Kenward of Shrum, Liddle &
Habenton, the law firm repre-
senting Newcorp, said West Van-
couver will neither consent to nor
oppose an application by any citi-
zens for party status at the hear-
ing.

“We will not make an argument

for or against anyone applying to
become involved,’’ Sager explain-
ed.

West Vancouver residents
wishing to become involved in the
proceedings could show up in
court March 14, though Sager said
it would be better to apply to the
court in advance:

West Vancouver will oppose
Newcorp in the court hearing
rather than take a neutral stance.

“‘Law courts are adversarial by
nature and it is usual to take a
position,’’ Sager said.

He also said many of the
grounds being used by West Van-
couver in the hearing could be ones
that would be used in defence in
the lawsuit Newcorp has launched
against the district.

But that lawsuit, Sager said,
could last two or three weeks and
take from two to three years to get
into the courts.

3 - Friday, January 20, 1989 - North Shore News

NEWS photo Terry Peters

will be replacement vehicles.

The Vancouver handyDART

system currently provides its
13,600 registered riders with an
average of 35 rides per year. Ser-
vice levels will rise from 208,000
hours in 1988 to 240,000 hours in
1989 — an increase of 15.3 per
cent. :
Lower Mainland handyDART
services are also being expanded to
provide regular transport for
children aged three to six years.

The service expansion will pro-
vide some 60,000 trips a year for
preschoolers who have special
needs, and will allow them to get
to program centres five days a

_ week.

The new transit program will
also enable BC Transit to start its
planned bus communications pro-
gram with the installation of radios
on 445 buses, which represents just
over half of the Lower Mainland
fleet. All new buses added to the
system will be equipped with
radios.

Classified Ads.......
Doug Collins...
Editorial Page.......
Home & Garden......
Mailhox .........
What's Going On..

WEATHER

Friday, cloudy with periods of
rain. Saturday, rain. Highs
near 7°C.

Second Class Registration Number 3885