3 - Wednesday, December NEWS photo Terry Peters NORTH VANCOUVER City Fire Department firefighter Al Boomer slices into the roof of an apartment building at 8th Street and Chesterfield Avenue. Firefighters were recently practising fire emergency response procedures on 2 building slated for demolition. 20, 1989 - North Shore News ‘| s Business .............. 47 Classified Ads..........54 Comics......... ere: * Dr. Ruth....... ... 50 Doug Collins... woe 9 Editorial Page. . Food.......... Bob Hunter.... Lifestyles...... . North Shore Now.......23 Sports ................ 13 TV Listings............34 What's Going On........19 WEATHER Wednesday, cloudy with chance of rain. Thursday, periods of rain. Thursday, periods of rain. Highs near 10°C. Second Class Registration Nuraber 3885 Developers get rental suite incentive THE PROVINCIAL government is offering both private and non-profit developers a break on the cost of their mor- tgages if they develop rental accommodation. The B.C. Rental Supply Pro- gram, initiated in response to the ongoing rental housing crisis, is accepting proposals for the devel- opment of 2,000 rental housing units province-wide in return for reducing mortgage interest costs to ensure the viability of projects dur- ing initial years of operation. Seven hundred units have been allocated to a geographical area that includes North and West Vancouver. The B.C. Housing Management Commission (BCHMC) development _ services branch is giving preference to fam- ily-oriented and seniors projects By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter designed for middle-income te- nants. The offer is the second phase of a $40 million program geared to trigger the construction of 4,000 new rental units in areas of the province with an overall vacancy rate of less than two per cent. According to the most recently released Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) rental vacancy survey, the rental picture on ihe North Shore con- tinues to be bleak. West Van- Toxic wastes go down the drain TOXIC WASTE is_ being poured down North Van- couver drains. Addressing North Vancouver District Council De. 11, John Woodward, a storm and sanitary sewer worker in North Vancouver City, said he knows that people dump toxic wastes down municipal drains. Currently, the only toxic disposal facility in the Lower Mainland area is a small provincial environment warehouse in Surrey. And residents must call ahead to make an appointment with the fa- cility’s staff prior to taking any waste to the warehouse. In discussing the need for another toxic waste dispesal site, North Vancouver District. Mayor Marilyn Baker called the Surrey site a ‘‘dog’s breakfast,*” adding that the district is continuing (to push the provincial government io set up a toxic waste site. “It is ultimately a provincial re- sponsibility, bit we're prepared to provide collection areas if there is somewhere to take it,"’ she said. The provincial environment ministry’s toxic waste warehouse in Surrey is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Appointments are necessary because warehouse personnel, who also investigate reports of oil and other toxic waste spills, are not always at the facility. Provincial environmental safziy officer Rick Hawes said toxic wastes received at the facility are packaged in steel drums and then shipped elsewhere to be neutral- ized. Pesticides are shipped out of the province. Hawes said the provincial En- vironment Ministry has asked the province’s municipalities for their input on how best to deal with (ox- ic waste in their areas. “It's really becoming a prob- lem,”’ he said. Greater Vancouver District. spokesman agreed. The current provision for toxic waste disposal in the GVRD area, he said. “is extremely unsatisfac- tory. [t's a real concern.” According to a report by John Blatherwick of the Metropolitan Board of Health of Greater Van- couver, the key to improving B.C.'s toxic waste disposal is the establishment of a provincial disposa! site with proper pollution controls and security. For information about the Sur- rey toxic waste facility call the provincial Environment Ministry at 584-8822. Regional Bud Elsie couver had a 0.0 per cent apart- ment vacancy rate in October while North Vancouver District posted a vacancy rate of 0.5 per cent and North Vancouver City posted a 0.1 per cent rental vacancy rate. In West Vancouver, the Kiwanis Club is building new housing for seniors with assistance from the provincial program. The group expects to break ground in the spr- ing for a project which will net an additional $0 one-bedroom suites for seniors at its Kiwanis Apart- ments site at 22nd Street. According to Kiwanis project leader Bill Atkinson, his group will receive $50,000 a year in mortgage assistance over a five-year period. “What this will help us in, is the period we rent up and fill the apartments. We've found the pro- gram pretty good — it's surpris- ingly simple. Sometimes these gov- ernment things can get pretty complicated,’’ Atkinson said. The new one-bedroom suites will rent for an average $600 a month. CMHC figures show the average monthly apartment rental rate for a one-bedroom suite in West Van- couver is $712. But while the program works well for non-profit groups, West Vancouver director of Planning and Development Steve Nicholls doesn’t see it spurring the con- struction of additional new rental apartment units in the district. ‘*At this point I can’t see it mak- ing a difference. West Vancouver has limited land available for apartments and the value of strata tide is so high now, people will put their money there. So I don’t see it applying here except in very unique circumstances,’’ Nicholls said. But according to BCHMC spokesperson Janet Austin, the program is generally drawing a lot of interest from the development community: ‘‘We're getting a lot of inquiries. We've distributed about 700 proposal call packages for phase iwe."” The BCHMC development ser- vices branch deadline for B.C. Rental Supply Program proposals is Jan. 19. For more information call 433-1711 or visit the BCHMC office at 1701-4330 Kingsway in Burnaby. NEWS photo Cindy Goodman CAROLERS GOT into the holiday spirit and donated $1,467 and 14 cartons of food for the North Vancouver Christmas Bureau Friday. The oceasion was the return of the carol ships to Waterfront Park. The Burrard Yacht Club provided a display of lighted and decorated boats for participants in the eveni.