C Tei

Catherine Barr
Contributing Writer

DON McAlister wants
BC Tel to share the
wealth and give its
Telegraph
Hill/Madrona Ridge
land to West Vancouver
for free.

“The Madrona Ridge
property was acquired by BC
Tel years ago and the cost
must have been nominal,”
said McAlister.

The former district aider-
man appeared before council
Jan. 11 to propose the idea
based on his assessment of BC
Tel’s figures as released in its
Jast annual report (fiscal year
ending Dec. 1997).

“The Madrona
Ridge property
was acquired by
BC Tel years ago
and the cost
must have been
. nominal.”

He claimed BC Tel would
save about one million dollars
if the company gave the prop-
erty to West Vancouver as a

park.

McAlister also said that the
majority of BC Tel’s share
profits are going directly into
the pockets of a U.S. based
corporation.

GTE Corporation is based
in Texas and, according to
McAlister, they “own
62,969,187 shares, or 50.8%
of the total common shares
outstanding.”

He claims that BC Tel’s
annual report showed that
both the dividend payouts and
increased share values yielded
stockholders a 56% return on
their investment in 1997.

“If the Madrona Ridge
property were donated to the
municipality, the income tax
saving to BC Tel would be
about $1.5 million,” he fig-

ured.
Madrona Ridge is located

Store
robbed at
knifepoint
A robber brandishing 4
jackknife made off
with $300 from the
beer and wine store at

Sailor Hagar’s Brew
Pub on Jan. 12.

No one was hurt in the 11
p.m. incident next to the
neighbourhood pub in the
200-block of West Ist Street.

The robber left in a taxi
cab. Police say the robber got.
out of the cab on East -
Hastings Street in Vancouver.

The robber wore sunglass-
es and a bandanna. He was
described as being in his 20s,
1.78 m (5710”,) with a slim
build.

Anyone with information
is asked to call North
Vancouver Const. Alison
Coyle at 985-1311. Callers
are asked to refer to the case’s
file number: 99-1127.

on a small peninsula i
Horseshoe Bay.

The steep sloping tand
Mass measures approximately
20 acres and is surrounded by
Copper Cove to die west and
the bay to the cast.

Also commonly known as
Telegraph Hill, the area was
the topic of a recent public
meeting at West Vancouver

urged to a

At issue is the possible sub-

division and development of

the Jand by its current owner,
BC Tel. According to envi-
ronmentalists, the 28.2-acre
site is one the Lower
Mainiand’s most environmen-
tally important sites.

Many supporters and area
residents are urging council to
ourchase the land and protect
it by turning 1t into an ecolog-

ical park.

Currently, the ridge is
almost completely undevel-
oped and is largely inaccessi-
ble.

The land is zoned R.S.4
and could potentially be sub-
divided for single-family hous-
ing.

This week, council closed
the public hearing and voting
in favour of changing the zon-

Wednesday, January 20, 1999 — North Shore News — 19

ing from RS 4 to a new RS-1)
zoning.

And while councillors say
they intend to work towards
preserving the ecologically
sensitive area, the RS-11 zon-
ing still permits one 15,000
sq. ft. house to be built on
each of the nwo adjoining land
parcels.

BC Tel, however, said ear-
lier that it would be discour-

pnate land to Wesi Van

aged by the proposed “down-
zoning,”

Michel Belec, the compa-
ny’s senior legal adviser, has
appeared before council in the
past to ask for a “better bal-
anced” solution.

Environmentalists and res-
idents view the area as valu-
able park land and plan to
continue to fight for its”
preservation.

We were so amazed by the variety of ads that our
readers came up with last time...

...and these are just a few samples of the last year's Private Party Marketplace classified ads that our readers have placed in .
the North Shore News.’So for the month of February, you can run an unlimited number of lines, for three issues, for the low
price of only $15.00... except Garage Sale ads which will still cost $26.75, but they will bave an unlimited number of

lines and signs. Once again we're going to be awarding prizes for your most creative ads, so sharpen
remember that there's a limit of 10 items per ad, and a special deadline time of 9:30amon = g

the day preceding the issue you want your ad to run in (for example, 9:30 am Tuesday for
Wednesday's paper). Oh, and one last note... our typesetters want to thank every one in
advance for ail those awesome overtime paycheques they're going to receive next month.

those pencils. Just