8 - North Shore News — Wednesday, August 2, 2000

Young peop!

Dear Editor:

Re: Kathleen May's letter,
Pleasurable strofl trashed in
North Van, July 28.

I do not normally get
angry enough to write a letter
to the editor, but one com-
ment made in Ms. May's let-
ter put me over the line. I

. agree that yes, we have been
ressed with a beautiful corner

of the world to live in. Visitors
are always in awe of the city
we call home. And yes, there

is a sickening amount of

garbage on the ground. Jr
amazes me that people just
dump their stuff. I used to
work at a busy tourist loca-
tion, and part of my job was
to clean up the parking lots.
I’ve swept up everything from

MAIL Box.

pop cans to paper to dirty dia-
pers. And the cigarette butts...
Oh, the cigarette butts! I
would sweep up enough in
one day to supply a pack-a-
day smoker for six months. It
is a problem that we should be
constantiy working on to cor-
rect.

Ms. May commented that
“The parent and relatives of

og policy needed advertising

Dear Editor:

Last. weekend, we and
numerous other potential festi-
vel-goers. were surprised and
disappointed to discover that
leashed dogs were not welcome
at the Caribbean Festival. After
packing the family and dog
(and associated gear) into the

~ ear, searching for that rare

parking spot, unpacking again,
and waiking down to the festi-
val grounds in the Sunday heat,
looking forward to some
Caribbean cuisine, we were
understandably dismayed when
we were stopped by security
guards and not allowed to
enter with our dog. Several
dog owners present questioned

whether festival organizers had
the authority to enforce this
rule. Regardless, it would have
saved many of us a lot of aggra-
vation if advertising or local
signage for the festival had
menutoned this important fact.
Meagan Smith
chrismeg@attcanada.ca
North Vancouver

Biue bus drivers deserve bouquets

. Dear Editor:
We are surrounded by
some very special people who,
_ unfortunately, are often taken

_ for granted. Usually we mere-

“Ty notice'them as our bus dri-
‘ vers (or cise: we don’t notice
them at all). This group of
“invisible” people consists of
“the team of West Vancouver
transit drivers. .
_ As a daily commuter from
‘Lions Bay to Vancouver, I
“have had the privilege of rid-

a ing the Blue Bus daily for

«more than 20 years. In’ this
time, I have come to know,
like, and respect most of the
drivers. For instance, Gareth

_ drove from Horseshoe Bay to
Lions’ Bay under appalling
conditions. in January., Over

the Yeats, ® John Howe, Rick,

- Bi

Duncan, Austin and others
battled and emerged victori-
ous over horrid snowy weath-
er (especially on the Sea to

Sky Highway). Bertha, Susan

and both “Simons” always
have a smile and cheery word.
Doug can identify with the
issues faced by users of public
transit —~ he commutes daily

-from Nanaimo by - bicycle,

ferry and bus. We suffered a
loss when Bob retired to
Invermere but he moved back
and once again we enjoy his
warm, friendly welcome.
There is however, one per-
son in particular we regular
commuters especially favour:
Rob Bird. Last week, a
remarkable. and wonderful
event occurred. Rob present-
ed me with a gorgeous bou-

“358 Road:
re zt

quet of flowers. He had a
huge audience (a full bus —
the 5:36 p.m. express to

- Horseshoe Bay and Lions

Bay). Rob publicly apologized
for the fact F I was left“ stratid-
ed” due to the rerouting of
this service the previous week
(owing to an_ unexpected
bridge closure). His very kind
gesture typifies the man he is
-— thoughtful, - caring, very
generous and dedicated.

When you next hope on a
Blue Bus, take a minute to
notice and appreciate the
operator of the vehicle. There
is no doubt that you are being
served by the best in the busi-
ness. Bouquets to you, West
Vancouver transit!

- B. Stoddart

Lions Bay

those who deface the property
of others must feel so
ashamed of their young peo-
ple.” First of all, stop pointing
fingers at our young people!
Yes, voung people litter. Older
people litter, too. It is a uni-
versal problem. Vancouverites
do it, as do people who come
to visit our city. Young people
are not the only ones at fault.

e cause for pride, not shai

Please stop focussing
blame on them. Secondly, to
assume that parents and rela-
tives would be “ashamed” of
their young people, even if
they write graffi! or drop lit-
ter, is terrible. Are your rela-
tives ashamed of you? Because
I'm sure you, at some point in
your life, have not acted as an
ideal citizen. None of us have.

Young people have accom-
plished so much. We should
take pride in our young peo-
ple, and as we work to correct
their, and our, bad habits, we
should be encouraging them
and cheering them on, not
telling their relatives to. be
ashamed of them. .
Hillary Uren
North Vancouver

Sportsplex comes with fees —

Dear Editor:

The item of a Sportsplex
came before council on July
24. The proposal is to ask ail
other North Shore municipali-
ties whether they are interested
in building a joint-use all-
weather playing field facility.
The idea sounds great unul
you read the fine print.

I suggested we ask the pri-
vate sector to handle this. For
one thing, we already have
enough playing fields in the
district and for another, the
district, having squandered its
$150 million dollar Heritage
Fund, is fresh out of money.

My amendment was defeat-
ed. The only other sources for
funding for a Sportsplex would
be items such as charging user
fees for our parks, cutting back
on sidewalks and other worth-
while projects.

With this in mind, district
council is now tying to get its
hands on the money, specifical-
ly approved via referendum

and already available for a field
complex in the Inter River
area. If shifting this money toa
Sportsplex or even a different
area in North Van succeeds, it
would be casier to charge fees.
The bureaucracy would also
have a field day since they
could waste a great deal of this

money on studies.

To make it more attractive
to the city and West
Vancouver, it has been pro-
posed to build such a complex
in a more central location such
as William Griffin.

The city has a. desperate
shortage of playing fields
whereas the district has more
than enough for its own
requirements already, especial-
ly when the sports fields in the
Inter River area come on
stream. The Recreation and
Sports Advisory Committee
keep on pressuring the district
for an ail-weather complex
even though the city has now
agreed to build an all-weather
field at Carson Graham.

It is my belief thar it is time
to turn this issue over to the
private sector. Under this sce-
nario, all. problems can be
resolved to everyone’s satisfac-
tion. District taxpayers have
already paid for the Inter River

‘complex. District adults and

parents of children who cannot
afford to pay can centinue
using public fields and not
worry about.having to pay
twice. As for others, they need
not worry in any case since
they can play on private facili-
ties,

But. my motion to that

. DRINKING DRIVING |
° ~ COUNTERATTAGK:

effect did not carry. The pre:
sent Sportsplex proposal in my
opinion is nothing more then
an attempt to charge fees for
the use of all playing fields-in
the district however much.
merit such a Sportsplex and all-
weather fields have in them-
selves, no
Ernie Crist, Coundilor

District of North ‘Vaticouver fe

Council
ignored —
view loss

Dear Editor: __-

I take.exception :to NVD '
councillor Janice - Harris’s
recent remarks that council is
not responsible for protecting
the views of homeowners. “.
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! .
Residents should. be able’ to .
count on the district’s building : :

. bylaws. for. some degree: of”

security against fucure view.
loss. Such bylaws limit the size
and the siting of what can be
constructed on” any... given
property. This affords. home-
owners a. certain “amount of
pro otection in case their neigh-

ur Plans to rebuild or reno-
vate.
Occasionally, a home
owner finds. the bylaw . too
restricting and -appeals : to
council to provide a variance.
One recent - application “on
Ranger Avenue calied for a 15-
foot. extensien ‘into... thé :

Regret e elehbours
loss of view was not an issue foi
Mayor ‘Bell ‘and ‘ councillo
Denault, Dunsford and Harris
How would ¢ach of them feei

_it if was their view ‘that was at

A hiome i is the biggest life
time purchase’ for, most’ folks:
“and many pay a'premium for a’
view-: property.’Our inves’
ments and livabilit

_ certain measure of protectio;

“. The. message: should: be: clear:
- we don’t want politicians. wh
~ don’t respect our’ bylaws.

‘Dave Sadler

. North Vancouver

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