NEWS photo Cindy Goodman ARBORICULTURIST TREVOR Werrington salvages cne of several hemlock trees Illegally cut down at the banks of the Upper Levels Highway in West Vancouver. The case is being in- vestigated by the West Vancouver Police department. See story page 4. a Council confrontation cuts § short Monday night meeting Ald. insulted, demands apology in debate over mayor’s salary raise AN UNEXPECTED and unusual confrontation between Aldermen Joan Gadsby and Rick Buchols brought debate ui:a sudden stop and left a heavy agenda uncompleted at Nerth Vancouver District Council’s Monday night meeting. “ouncil was considering adop- tier of the Mayor’s Indemnity Bylaw, which passed second and third’ readings two weeks ago and might normally have been consid- ered a routine piece of business. But _ some council members altered their support for a pro- posed <°.4% pay increase for Mayor Murray Dykeman, and in the middle of the ensuing debate Gadsby swore at Buchols across ‘the table, calling him ‘‘an ass****,"" + Buchols immediately jumped to his feet end angrily asked ; Dykeman what- he was going to do about it. “That’s the second time this evening that she has called me an anal orifice. I suggest that she has great experience in: that area,’’ said Buchols while preparing to leave the council chamber. Dykeman later said that he hoped the News would not print the type of language used by Gadsby ‘in “a family newspaper.”’ Asked to apologize by Dykeman, Gadsby said, ‘I’m By Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer sorry for calling you an ass****,"" “IT don’t accept that either,"’ Buchols retorted before leaving. Dykeman declared a_ short recess and upon recalling council suggested deferring debate and adjourning the council meeting. Only Ald. Paul Turner opposed the decision, pointing to the heavy agenda and the fact that district council now only meets in full session every two weeks. Unfinished business included consideration of bylaws returned from the public hearing on Wind- ridge Centre and proposed mo- tions for the upcoming UBCM (Union of British Columbia Municipalities) meeting. Buchols and Gadsby had locked horns over Gadsby’s suggestion that a zero increase in pay for the district’s mayor and aldermen should be reflected in a zero pay increase for municipal staff. Group pool user THE LOCAL Chena Swim Club is facing a 45% in- crease in pool fees at North Vancouver recreation fa- cilities. The increase for group pool users is scheduled to be phased in over four years, but repre- sentatives for Chena and other group pool users are extremely unhappy with the rate hikes. “‘The (pool-use) cost will be one of the highest in the pro- vince, except for the (Van- couver) Aquatic Centre, which is no comparison because it has an Olympic-sized pool, a pro- per diving facility, among other things that we don’t have here,”’ said Chena Swim Club spokesman Karen Brockeiman. Recreation Commission director Gary Young said the fee increase to be phased in yearly starting April 1 was first By Anna Marie D’Angelo News Reporter put in draft form last fall. The move came after public input to the recreation com- mission's masterplan suggested all recreation centre users pay the same percentage of operating costs at the mostly public-funded facilities. “A lot of things the public said to us came back to fairness and equity in rates,’’ said Young. He said recreation centre users are required to pay 50% of operating costs during prime-time hours and 40% in NORTH VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL “We should put our mouth where our money was,"' said Gadsby referring to a $2 million package of increases that she said was on the table. But Buchols said that such a position was tantamount to a severe conflict of interest. “To link cur level of remunera- tion to what we grant the staff, to say ‘You guys can’t have any more than { get’ approaches a very fine line,’’ said Buchols. Gadsby fater told the News that she found Buchols’ manners to be ‘*surly.’* “I don’t particularly like look- ing across at him and his body language. He turns his back to the public,”’ she said. Gadsby acknowledged that she “probably shouldn’t have said it’’ and suggested that the problem had as much to do with her “frustration at the circular nature of the council meeting.’’ “The committee system does not appear to be working,’’ said Gadsby, referring to council's newly instituted standing commit- tees. She charged that the district wes getting bogged down with issues going around and around without being addressed by any concrete council action. Wednesday, March 25, 1992 ~— North Shore News - 3 Moth spraying plan to face court challenge WV group files lawsuit to halt gypsy moth pesticide application OPPONENTS OF a proposed aerial spraying program to kill Asian gypsy moths on the North Shore and elsewhere around the Lower Mainland are trying to repeat a suc- cessful challenge to a similar anti-moth aerial spray ap- plication attempted in Vancouver in 1979, West Vancouver-based Citizens Against Aerial Spraying (CAAS), a group that includes doctors and lawyers, filed a lawsuit in federal court this week against Agriculture Canada. The suit questions the right of Agriculture Canada to spray those opposed or the private property of those opposed to the spraying of the bacterial insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Bt) in an acea that includes West Van- Area of By Michael Becker News Reporter in private property rights. “Basically they (Agriculture Canada) needed the consent of 80% of the people living on each block within the spraying area. Our records show that not one block gave 80% approval for spraying,”’ he said. Marining said a further attempt LOWER MAINLAND areas to be affected by aeriai spraying. couver, North Vancouver, Van- couver, and Burnaby. Said CAAS member and Greenpeace co-founder Rod Marining, ‘‘That’s one of our main ones (arguments), and I believe that’s the one that ended the 1979 attempted aerial spray in Kitsilano. “It’s very important for most people to understand what hap- pened then. There were eight private properties sprayed with an insecticide. They wanted to do over 44 city blocks, spraying (car- baryl) from the air for Asian gyp- sy moths,’’ he added. Marining said the aerial spray plan was challenged by Greenpeace and an elderly Kit- silano resident who did not want her garden sprayed. “At that time, too, city hall was involved and (then mayor) Jack Volrich was watching the court case, and he was a strong believer to spray on the ground ended in a stand-off between residents and insecticide applicators. “Forty cars surrounded the spray truck and locked all their doors and sat there for three hours. So basically it came to an abrupt halt that way. “The question has always been, what happened? They said that within two years there wouldn’t be a tree left standing in the Lower Mainland. Thirteen years later nothifig has happened,”’ he said. The Asian gypsy moth is con- sidered a threat to local plants and trees. The moth arrived locally aboard freighters originating from the eastern seaboard of the former Soviet Union. As of April 1 such ships will be banned from North American ports to July 31. Meanwhile the province has yet to issue a permit approving the spray program. rates to jump 45 % in NV non-prime-time hours. The taxpayer picks up 50% prime- time and 60% non-prime-time costs. “Swimming was well below that figure, unlike minor hockey and lacrosse,’’ said Young. He noted that it cur- rently costs $99 an hour to Operate one of the recreation centre pools, Brockelman said club swim- mers have historically paid about 25% of pool operating costs, and they were devastated when they first heard about the fee increases last fall. Chena Swim Club repre- sentatives subsequently had several meetings with recreation commission officials. The rec- reation commission eventually decided to lengthen the fee in- crease phase-in from three to four years. Brockelman said the April 1992 to April 1993 operating year will cost Chena at least $2,000 more than it cost the club to operate during the comparable period last year. The increase will be added to the $18,000 to $20,000 in an- nual pool fees the club current- ly pays. She said within the 70- member competitive swim club, juniors pay $34 each month and senior swimmers pay $180 month plus travel and other expenses. Brockelman said a_ senior swimmer, such as 16-year-old Vaughn Thompson, who has qualified for Olympic trials, spent $8,000 last year training and competing in the sport. Brockelman pointed out that if user fairness was the issue, why were no user fees applied to field use by children playing on soccer and baseball teams? Young suggested the swim club, which uses al! three North Vancouver recreations centres, could reduce its operating costs by reducing pool time to a more efficient level. But Brockelman said the club was operating to provide the best opportunites for its swimmers. The Summer Cruisers swim club and the two local diving clubs, North Vancouver Divers and North Vancouver Summer Divers, will also be affected by the fee hike. Individual public swim rates went up 5% on Jan. 1