Deep Cove school battle winds down

.150 attend re-opened public hearing

The combatants in Deep
Cove's long drawn-out
school battle over Cove Cliff
vs. Burrard View appear
finally to be running out of
steam, though it’s sull too
early to declare the winner.

Only about 150 people
turned out for the renewed
public hearing last Tuesday
—- made necessary by a local
resident who threatened
legal achion against North
Vancouver District council
on the grounds that he had
not had an opportunity to
speak at the original March
hearing.

That earlier hearing,
which was supposed to have
settled the matter in favor of

going ahead with the
planned new Cove Cliff
School, had drawn an

audience of more than 300
and lasted until after 10:30
p.m.

By contrast, Tuesday's re-
run wound up by 9:15 p.m.
after some 20 participants
had spoken on both sides. “It
was a lot shorter than I
expected,” commented
Alderman Jim Ball

Nevertheless, council
listened to some strongly
worded presentations
against the proposed new
school, as well as in support
of it.

“Why. as a_ taxpayer.
should I finance an ex-
pensive building when it isn't

necessary? asked Joe

ADDRESSING THE
CROWD at Tuesday's public
hearing on the Deep Cove
school reroning ts) Patrick
Bell, assistant superinien
dent of the North Vancouver
School Board.
photo)

(Terry Peters

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Reuter of 1005 West 23rd.
“A park could be established
at Cove Chiff.”

Mrs. Thomas Holt of 4413
Raeburn said she had chosen
to live in Deep Cove because
of its rural setting. “The
local residents use the Cove
Cliff site as a park.” she told
council.

“The creek is a natural
salmon spawning’ ground
which can't be replaced.
Removing the shade cover
would be fatal to salmon
fry.”

She was backed by Jill
Rounthwaite of the West
Coast Environmental Law
Association who claimed the
Cove Cliff site with its creek
was a productive fishing
ground on which 300
children could have a

‘harmful impact.

John Woods: of 4505
Raiburn complained that his
house is immediately ad-
jacent to the area designated
as the school’s parking lot.

This, he said, would result
in “an asphalt eyesore
replacing the natural setting
as close as ten feet away
from my home.”

“How would you hke it if
an ugly parking lot’ was
plunked down ten feet away
from your home and then
you have to pay for 1?" he
asked council

Comparative costs also
entered into the debate The
current estimate for the new
Cove Chff School project 1s

around $1.6 milhon, whereas
the cost of upgrading the
present Burrard View
School to acceptable
standards has been pul at
about $1 million.

Jacqueline Sharpe of 4404
Chiffmont Road told council
there were eight schools
older than Burrard View and

three, similar to Burrard
View, which have been
“satisfactorily modernized
and maintained, and are

conducive to a good learning
environment.”

“With upgrading and an
adhered-to maintenance
program, Burrard View
would remain operational
and functional for many
years, and taxpayers would
reahze a large saving in
school costs,” she declared.

Sharpe also read a letter
from Deputy Education
Minister Jim Carter stating
that the ministry would
approve expenditure of
funds on substandard school
sites not owned by school
boards if such expenditures
were requested.

(The Burrard View site,
which is owned by North
Van ODristrict, has been
designated as substandard by
the ministry).

The pro-Cove Chiff forces
were championed = by
Crawford Kihan, a Capilano
College instructor and well
known writer, who said the
new school would give a new

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focus to the community.

He also pointed out that
the alternative of upgrading
Burrard View would cause a
year of disruption while the
schpol was being renovated.

“The renovations won't
extend Burrard View's
lifetime, either,” he
maintained. “It's like putting
roses and new carpeting in
the terminal ward.”

Kihan warned council that
their decision would, in the
years to come, affect “not
just 350 but thousands (of
school children)”.

He was backed up by
Assistant School Superin-
tendent Pat Bell who noted
that the school board had
been endeavoring since 1976
to provide Deep Cove
children with the same sort
of facilities as enjoyed by
children in other schools

throughout the District.

The board's policy, he
explained, was the updating
of “obsolete facilities to keep
all schools on a comparable
level”. But the idea of im-
proving Burrard View, built
in 1945, had been dropped
because of the heavy ex-
penditures involved and
other factors.

“Burrard View is a very
poor site for a school,” he
said.

Pointing out that the Cove
Chiff vs. Burrard View issue
had dragged on for five
years, Bell urged council:
“For the sake of the children
please get on with it!”

Mayor Don Bell told the
hearing that council will
make its final decision for or
against proceeding with the
new Cove Cliff School at the
end of June.

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