4 — Wednesday, January 14, 1998 ~ North Shore News From page 1 the lottery that we have by allowing the rrucks to come down our streets. That's what it is, it’s a lottery.” Council has been spurred into action by the most recent runaway truck accident, which occurred last month at the intersection of 21st Street and Inglewood. Two van drivers narrowly escaped severe injuries after a fully loaded dump truck with faulty brakes lost control and slammed into the xwo vehicles. The accident was yet anoth- er in a series of disastrous, and sometimes fatal, mishaps involving poorly maintained trucks traveling down steep West Vancouver streets. In the past five years there have been at least four ind- dents of trucks losing their brakes on the steep hills. Council now plans to final- ize two new municipal bylaws by Feb. 9. They are also asking the public for input to help fine tune the proposed legislation. Coun. Williams introduced the proposals Monday by emphasizing just how lengthy frustrating the entire process has been. “The safety of our streets has been a major concern in this municipality for the past two and a half years,” he said. “We have attempted, with the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, to establish brake checks on the Upper Levels and attempted to prohibit trucks coming from the high- way on to some of our streets — and all of these things have come to naught. I’m not sug- gesting that the ministry is not cooperating, but achieving these results has been extreme- ly difficult and requires a level of participation from the min- istry which,has escaped us.” He said that while the dis- trict will continue to work with the province, council will be making a few rules cf its own. Said Williams: “We have also decided that we will do what we can do in this munici- pality. Our staff have examined the prospects of municipal involvement without the assis- tance of the province and we find that there are at least ovo things we can do.” “First of all we can desig- nate streets as being available for truck use. We can designate parts of streets and,. in the process," we can restrict. the direction of travel on those streets.” He said this will “answer the suggestions of some people WV Proposes t tru INVESTIGATORS survey the scene of a Dec. 15 truck crash on West 21st in West Van. A loaded truck with faulty brakes struck two vans and hurt two people. that there should be no down- hill truck teaffic from the Upper Levels Highway on any of our major streets.” He said that council can require trucks to use Marine Dnive and travel uphill, “if that is to be a solution.” Williams contnucd: “The other thing we can do is to require that any vehicle over a certain gross weight, probably in the neighborhood of 24,000 pounds, will only be able to operate in West Vancouver if it has a permit.” He said that an administra- tive system under which the owners of such trucks must apply for a permit every three months would give the munic- ipaliry a chance to have the vehicles examined by qualified mechanics. “It would also give us the opportunity to ensure that the operators — the drivers — have the necessary qualifications. It would be a combination: a per- mit for the truck driven by a driver who has the (proper) qualifications,” he said. Williams said that noncom- pliance with these new bylaws could result in the vehicle being impounded, “until such ume that we think it is appropriate to release the vehicle or a court order, is made for that pur- Violators will also find themselves subject to immedi- ate charges and fines. The draft bylaw currently — suggests $2,000, six month imprison- ment or both. Williams also said that he knows that even with stricter bylaws, the possibility of an accident still remains. “We think this will go a long way to solve the prob- lem,” he said. “Even with all of this there is still the possibility of failure.” Still, he is optimistic: “We hope to do more, We hope to encourage the provincial min- istry to do more.” In the interim, council is looking for input. “Tonight was intended to introduce both of these bylaws and then adjourn considera- tion of them until the 9th of February,” he said. “We will ask the press to invite mem- bers of this community and people who operate trucks to avail themselves of copies of the proposed bylaws showing the direction we intend to 0.” Copies of the nwo draft truck bylaws can be obtained trom West Vancouver District Municipal Hall. THE DISTRICT OF NORTH VANCOUVER PROPERTY TAX PRE-PAYMENTS Advance payments towards your 1998 property taxes can be made at the Municipal Hall before 4:30 p.m. on January 30, !998. Interest will be paid on pre-payments of more than $10.00 from the date payment is received until July 2, 1998 at 2% below the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce prime rate (C.1.B.C. prime rate was 6% on January 2, 1998). The interest is credited directly to your tax account so that no income tax is paid on the interest earned. Any overpayment of taxes will be refunded after July 31,1998. 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