rey

IK them and they wi

TODAY a little North Shore field work — where there is much

va dirt to be dug.

Lead man with the spade here is the ubiquitous North - Vancouver District Coun. Ernic Crist — he of the issue- per-weck agenda.

Alot of w eekly municipal spade work, roo. Some of it _ grubbing in already well-tilled ' turf; some ef it turning up much interesting debris.

The field work at issue in this dispatch falls under the fatter category if you are in any way concerned about the state of recreation facilitics in North Vancouver — specifi- cally the outdoor variety.

' "Those who are interested in how their tax dollars — municipal and school — are spent might alse find the topic of interest.

‘Outdoor sports enthusi- asts will already know that the North Shore is shy a few ~ acres in the Field of Dreams department.

~ On the other side of the

. fence, however, over there in

B.. the Field of Nightmares,

we've got far too many acres. ‘You know what I’m talk-

ing about: the all-weather

» gravel nightmarcs criss- ‘crossed with run-off ruts,

“pecked with boulders and

overgrown with weeds; the grass-ficld swamps with hid- den ankle-breaking holes. _ .North Shore weather and terrain are tough on fields. Even tougher oan them, however, is the age-old game of political footbail — a sport in which the players apparent- “ly still don’t wear helmets. In football parlance,

North ‘Vancouver District res- -

sidents are being thrown for a isgnificant loss by their North

: Varicouver neighbours in the

Field of Preams game. oThey will soon, for exam- pic, have the privilege of pay-

fro « page rie he 18. to after: al te bs bad.

‘White mecenely The “con- “servation”, team — in this case shotgun-toting RCMP officer - backed-up -by two bylaw nforcement officers were quite active making 4 public’ show of their . bravado’ and “saving ‘the

publi from. a berry-mauling.-

You." should?’ve” seen - the loodthirsty beast, folks, Fire in s,. drooling white foam mouth, lip Ss “Gurled

‘CORRECTION.

SEPTEMBER FLYER IN EFFECT | |

UPITIE SEPTEMBER 11TH, 1999 -

page 4 of the insest in the fyer in oiect irom. Sunday, September 5, 4995 to Saturday, September 41, 1999 * the Merawins Nail Pop Nail Enamel wit not be available. No Hainchocts wil be, ‘ Tasund for this product,

-We spologize for any. - that dus enor may caus:

ing twice for the upkeep and maintenance of area playing, fields.

North Vancouver School District 44, you sce, has a serious field problem on its hands.

Moncy carmarked for the maintenance of its 54 fields (47 all-weather; seven grass) has, it seems, been going elsewhere to compensate, in

art, for provincial budger igh jinks and school district fiscal travails.

The upshot of District 44's fallow fields program is that they're in rough shape and getting zougher.

A 1998 North Vancouver District report pointed out that 15% of the school dis- trict’s fields were already unusable and that an average of seven ficlds per year would have to be closed if mainte- nance continued to be neglected.

With more school fields out of action or virtually unusable, schoo!s turn to North Vancouver District fields.

Here’s where the political football gets lobbed into North Vancouver District hall.

Sporting types don’t understan why North Vancouver fields are rundown and neglected and why schools are now using munic- ipal fields when they have tneir own.

Taxpayers, who secm to

_ be paying morc in school and

municipal taxes but getting

All that was missing, ¢ fire and explosions

the way. were

"and helicopter with foud-hailer.

In fact it was in the bushes

across from the Blenz cofice

shop. Along come the enforce. ment people — (had cnough of

issuing tickets to er‘ant skate-

boarders and scared to. death no doubt) — with bear bangers

and an RCMP cruiser. They

scared the bear out of the bush-

= es..with the siren, chased it throu

crowds of people in the village, through a construc-

..tion site — bear bangers a pop-

pin’ right behind it, cornered ic, and for no other reason than

less each year, likewise don’t understand.

So what gives?

With fires burning under assorted political backsides Mayor Don “Crazy Legs” Bell picks up the ball and, along with the rest of council, secks help from Victoria.

The district offers to take over the $500,000 annual maintenance of school ficlds if the province provides fee- for-service fundi ing for che job.

You can probably still hear the guffaws coming from Victoria.

Education Minister Paul Ramsey fires back a polite “get stuffed” letter pointing out that School District 44 already gets money for field upkeep.

He can’t fathom why the government — after allocat- ing $12.6 million to District 44 tor 1998-99 operations and maintenance — would send more moncy to North Vancouver District to do the same thing, especially when most other school districts scem to be able to figure out how to take care of their playing ficlds themselves.

Readers might have trou- ble fathoming the samc thing.

Over in North Vancouver City, meanwhile, demand for playing fields has long since exceeded city field inventery,

As spademan Crist points out in an Aug. 27 letter to the News editor, the city, with half North Vancouver’s

population, has a paltry 19 fields compared with 66 in the district.

So a lot of city sports take place on district ticlds.

That might be all in a day’s work for any good neighbour, but if you consid- ert at district residents

approved in the last municipal election a referendum allocat-

ing $26 million primarily for

additional recreation facilities, including ficlds, while city residents turned down a $2 million referendum for similar improvements, you'd under- stand why distnct ncigh- bourliness might be wearing a bit thin on the field issue.

Back over at district hall, the school field political foot- ball match is still in full swing.

With no help forthcoming from Victoria, a joint-use agreement involving North Vancouver District and Cicy, School District 44 and the North Vancouver Recreation Commission «i nave North Vancouver Di. trict join in school ficla maintenance.

In return for allocating their municipal tax dollars for something their school tax dcilars are supposed to cover, district residents will get increascd access te school facilities during non-school hours.

Some deal, ch?

Sorry, but the taxpayer fen-o-meter is registering scant applause.

TL always thought that school facilities were public property and therefore already available for public use.

Meanwhile, Victoria has successfully downloaded another expense on to local taxpayers, and the North Vancouver School District, which has managed to shirk its ficld maintenance respon- sibilities for years, will now be bailed ov. by district largesse, or soft-headedness, depend- ing on your point-of-view.

And if you, the double- dinged district taxpayer, think the original arrangement in which the schoo! district uses its resources to take care of its fields will somehow be rcs- urrected down the road, you're wandering in your own Field of Dreams.

— trenshaw@direct.ca

ildlife is appalling

it was their mission that day, killed it at point-blank range with a shotgun blast.

Oh, I’m sure they had their reasons like, “It was cating garbage,” “Gotta protect the public (From what? A black

*s first choice is to run away not attack.), “It was a ‘nui- sance’ bear,” “Cheaper to kill than to relocate,”. or “Just doing my job.”

T’m sick to death — nc pun intended —- of the tired, insipid, worn-out, dry excuses for killing innocent wildlife.

Options? Have we explored the options? “They’re too

nsive” we say — in a resort vill jage that gobbles up wilder-

“ness with multi-million-dollar

chateaux and villas? — or we just don’t give a damn.

Make these fat-cat resort owners pay through the nose for destroying wilderness and wildlife for profit. They should establish a wildlife /wilderness protection fund.

For a province that prides itself on its abundance of “wild” wildlife our attitude towards living with wildlife is quite dismal.

Garry R. Summers North Vancouver

How far will you walk in your life? itil oS. ot wy oS.

of me

oa

THE AVERAGE PERSON WALKS 184, 000 KM IN THEIR LIFETIME © We welcome you to a clinic near you fora ten minute computerized gait and pressure analysis test. This test Measures the weight distribution along the bouom of - your foot while you are walking. Digital information and our doctor's clinical exam can then be used to make prescription orthotics, to comect many abnormal - foot furiaions If you have pain in your feet, ankies, . knees or lower back, please contact a clinic” near you fora gat and pressure anclyss st

3° Work with a Personal Trainer

Sunday, September 5, 1999 — North Shore News - 7

a a ce oo ey

a ; 7 : wsences Oil, Lube & Filter Se 21 pt. Safety check. 15 minutes - FAST! inciudes up to 5 tres of 10wW30 Quakerstate

1362 Marine Drive 9860-S115 Mon-Sat 8:00arn-6:00prn, Sun. 9:00arn-5:00pm = Expires Sept. 35/99 |

S.LAURSEN & SON draperies & blinds itd. Serving the Lower Mainland for over 27 years

www.sidrapesandblinds.com Custom Rods, Upholstery & Bedspreads (Ask abour our Seniors Discount) For Free Estimate call 922-4975 or 987-2966 Drapery Labour $13.50 per panel lined.

Low Low Pricis

HELPING THE WORLE Wwreire Now

COoOwDeE. Selt-suffictency through Ieracy in the developing werld For information, calt 1-800-661-2633

NORTH VANCOUVER ¢

North Shore

_° Moat 3x.a week for 8 woa'a « 4 nutrition & [lifestyle workshops: > A variety of locations & fimes

Be Pre & post body fat assessment

This is not a diet - cs a tfestylel u

FREE Orientation Nighi:

Septomber 13th; 7-9pm, Andrews recCante, 931 tyiton St, NNon, , Cal §

7 +7529 for inforrnation & registration.