’ Dear Editor:
North Vancouver District
taxpayers should be outraged!
© Through political mismanage-
ment at the highest level, the
cost of new development con-
tinues to be subsidized by
those whe cas least afford it.
District residents should
know that while other GVRD
municipalities have been col-
lecting development — cost
charges (DCCs): far’ over 12
years, the district has relied
upon property taxes, land sale
money, and even our Heritage
Fund to pay for new infrastruc-
~fure, Tragically, a after selling off
over $100 million of our
“forested public land in the
same period for new develop-
“anent, taxpayers had to borraw
$25 million fur new recreation
facilities in last election's refer-
endum. :
Developers in. the. district
- have been getting a free ride.

north shore news

___“MAIL Box
Taxpayers subsidizing development

This injustice was supposed to
have been addressed this
spring; however on March 2,
with council split 3-3, Mayor
Don Bell cast the deciding vore
to postpone the district’s first
DCC bylaw for seven months.
This decision has proved to be
very expensive for the belea-
guered district taxpayer.

The new Windridge [ce
Rinks in Seymour would have
had ta pay: S31 1,913 in DCCs.
The new Holiday Inn (which
will replace the Coach House)
is another $125,000 of lost
revenue.

Then there is the Avalon
Hotel condominium develop-
ment that escaped paying over
$550,000, Mayor Don Bell —
who voted in’ favour of the
project — failed to publicly
acknowledge his long-standing
friendship’ with the Avaion’s
owner/developer. «Although
Mayor Bell was in no way act-

ing illegally, the lack of trans-
parency has the appearance ofa
conflict of interest.

The lost DCC revenue
pales in comparison with the
approval of CanOxy's 30-aere
development in the
Maplewood area.

To maximize land value for
this development to take place,
a new road costing $7.5. mil-
lion will be — constructed
through the middle of the
CanOxy property, and will
eventually become. part of the
Dollarton. realignment. The
cost of this new road will be
split 50/50 berween CanOxy
and the district.

CanOsy’s industrial land is
currently assessed at $3 mil-
lion, but jumps in value to $20
million now that the rezoning
application permitting 40- and
60-foor tall office towers has
been approved, So considering
the windfall profits, why

Make soccer a fair weather sport

~ Dear. Editor:

“! As a devoted miother of

‘three :soceer’ enthusiasts J.

_ Would like to make a’ com:
ue ment on your soccer field sub-,
os ject. Yes," you do have 7,350:
to juggle’

“young “soccerites”
onté “our; existing: -playing

* fields but what I would like to,
know is.at what stage do these’
kids tire.of our typical winter’

monsoon * conditions — and

bdicate.for the sports of less -

; on ig conditions?

play,'during’ the. infa- :

us downpours 1 in what we

a Horseshoe Bay and Snug”

Cove have:a new harbour mas-
“ter, Maurice Gagne.
ises U3, that “shorty

Pah oe atamiaratt” to the
| given, the si sea of ed ink that

‘Nariaimo run Jresulting i

* concerns, will:

call home, kicking at puddles
in which sits a sodden ball or
better. ver diving after a
hydroplaning ball- skittering
along the hard-pan ‘of our

poorly drained alternate field

ve Ouch!” ;

Why: not let our kids play
during the better weather:in
which we inevitably forget the

chilly torment we put: them.

through?
“We could give up the hot

‘ chocolate that serves: asa

Band-Aid at halftime (it gives
cummy: aches anyway) and

“increasing i conticting uses,”

“This may:be trie, but for

two things: :
@ given“the proven problems
with wash and environmenial

the high’ ‘seas?

fast-cat hit,

shed those garbage bag rain

deflectors for the garbage
pails they belong in. What we
want to ‘do i is encourage our
kids to stay in the game longer
so we have more than 150
leaving at the U-19 age level.
(Our. soccer club bribes the
older kids with bigger tro-
phies.)

I think we would do better
by giving «consideration to
increasing. our fair weather
playing times all round.

Ann Lonergan
North Vancouver

I master.

the: fast-cat has stirred, will”

there he anyone on the bridge
to navigate it. through -trou-
bled. waters? Mr. Gagne has
arrived in the area at an inter-
esting time. Good luck to him.
Jeremy Dalton, MLA -

_ West Vancouver-Capilano ;

onplets mechanical @ elect cal re aire

‘factory tralned:technician

MOTIVE 1235 Pemberton ‘aie. Tel: 985- 6237

wwiw9.be-ayiapatica.calimpaxauto/imge:zauto.h
cc ee se ee :

‘tax on your ‘investment

d interest inico e?

Sat. ¢ February 13th, 11 am or.”

» February 16 at liam.

payers. On top of all this we

should taxpayers be on the
hook fora 50% read subsidy of
$3.75 million?

What makes the district's
generosity even more outra-
geous is that because the
CanOxy mega-project will
increase traffic, the
Dollarton/Seymour River
bridge must he widened to
four lanes. This will cost tax-
payers another $6 million.

Add all of the above politi-
cal anismanagement to this
year’s $1.3 million tax increase
and it’s proving to be a finan-
cial nightmare for district. tax-

have Mayor Bell and his
entourage ‘flying first class on.
an “official” visit to China last
July, all of which begs the
question: How much longer _
can we afford keeping His»
Worship in office?

David Sadler

North Vancouver

Forever

ty We know. that babies fearn every ;
B second of every single day. Recent.
. brain research shows the value of -
‘singing lullabies, playing peek-a- ,

boo. and spending quality time
with your. child. The Westcoast

Energy Children’s Centre and the

j Family Drop-i in Centres'can help:
you meet other parents and care- |
- givers as well as access ‘programs
which’ provide healthy interaction

and supervised activities. Everyone

is ‘welcome:

3201 Mountain Hy:
ues. &¢ Thurs..9:30- 11:30 am

‘North ‘Star Annex

RSVP: 981-7618.

-? Seating ts limited. . ;
A Hight; hunch will be served,

‘ScotiaMcLeod

Building Relationships for Life:

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Sale ends 15 Feb. ‘99

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Sale ends February 28/99

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