mailbox Dear Editor: I frequently hear North Vancouver District Council members state that they value “citizen input”; yet there are many times when they seem to purposely avoid getting opinions from local residents. A case in point is a proposal to use a portion of Sey-Lynn Park for a fire hall and training ground. Council has given this matter no publicity and has made not attempt to ascertain the wishes of any District citizen - not even those who live close to the park, nor those people who use the park most. No public hearing has been held. Three aldermen voted each way on the motion to take-part of this park for fire departmehit use. It was left to Mayor Bell to cast the deciding vote, and - very predictably - he voted “For”. The others agreeing to the proposal were Ald. J. Ball, Peter Powell and J. Lakes. These same four were very much in favour of selling part of Bridgman Park to the NVWC (NV Winter Club) a couple of years ago. N.Vanp falling under the axe Of this small but powerful establishment group, it is Ald. Powell - the man who has a peculiar penchant for visiting parks in particularly putrid weather - who alarms me the -most. During the Bridgman Park debacle (Oct./Nov. 1977), he visited that park to see how well it was patronized by the local citizenry. As we were en- joying a particularly cold spell at the time, it is not surprising that few, if any, people were _ strolling, picnicking or playing there. Last month he decided to make a similar visit to Sey- Lynn Park and he stated that he saw no one there. How very strange!!! Did he really think that the park was in fit condition to be used for any purpose at that time? Anyone using it in the midst of record breaking and flood producing rains would have to be Starkers!!! A particular worry to me is the fact that Ald. Powell has recently been appointed as this District's represen- tative on the GVRD and, as such, will serve on their parks’ committee. Anytime now can we expect to see more and more _ lower mainland parks guillotined? When the District Council approved the re-setting of Bridgman Park’s boundaries, a number of local residents, including myself, stated that a precedent had been set for Council’s interference with pari.land. The present Sey- Lynn situation certainly underlines our Twice in two years is two parks too many! Yes, we do need fire halls and we do need training grounds - but no, we don't need to spoil parkland for the purpose. Council's argument that it is cheaper to use parkland is a fallacy. Parks don’t have a dollar sign attached -- they are “priceless” assets. Trees are already being felled in Sey-Lynn Park. Watch the. discretion closely. It could (will?) happen anywhere in the District. Lettie Whiting North Vancouver In support of Mrs. Simpson Dear Editor: I am pleased that Mr. Wright in his column on Sunday has joined those of us in District Council who supported the application for Mrs. Simpson from the time it first came to our attention. The participation at the public hearing of her friends and neighbours was a welcome assurance that our willingness to assist Mrs. Simpson, despite technical planning objections, was acceptable to those persons who may be affected by this zoming amendment. My only regret is that because of one dissenting vote the Council could not attend to the second and third redings forthwith and therefore save Mrs. Simpson two weeks in getting the application completed. However I am confident the zoning will be completed in view of the fact there was only one dissenting vote at the public hearing. John R. Lakes North Vancouver Some RRSP corrections Dear Editor: On January 16, you printed an article on R.R.S.P. by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia. While the article is an informative one, certain statements in the article are not in agreement with the Income Tax Act, and as such, could mislead your readers. Contrary to stated in what the article, was em- Smoky fires are worse Dear Editor The Jan 13. 1980 edition of your paper Carned a letter by one, Naom: Rachel objecting to the “Sunshine Girl” photographs She states something to the effect that it 1s a sin to treat the human body as a sex object (some sort of mind pollution) and she uses your paper to start her fires I think the sin starts with the “fire” because the pollution from it stinks a lot more than the photographs As a runner on the North Shore | sure would like to breath clean air when I run Barry Wright North Vancouver ployer’s contributions to a pension plan do not affect the employee's allowable limit of contribution to an R.R.S.P. His own” con- tribution to the pension plan does!! Furthermore, the “excess contribution” mentioned in the article is not taxable if the amount ts refunded in the year in which the Notice of Assessment 1s issued or in the immediately following year. Excess contnbutions attracting the 1 per cent KEEP IT SHORT Readers letters on all topics are welcomed and MAILBOX wante to print as many as possi ble. subject only to space limitations To help us print YOUR letter white it's still time i. please keep it short and to the point-normally no longer than 200 words (about 20 tines of average typing or 26 lines of average handwriting). All letters must be signed and Include an address andlor phone number The writer's name must also be spelled out clearly in biock letters. Street addresses and phone numbers will not be published, and a nom-de-piume will be used if specially requested We reserve the right to edit letters tor brevity, taste and legality Lets hear from you often The address is North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdate Avenue, North Vancouver, 8.C V7M 2H4 special tax are only those contributions made in the year in excess of the sum of $5,500 and the amount deductible for the previous year, not the amount as stated in the article. 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