Public Money Fuels Building Boom

Camp's closed I 12 in 1 Mountain wisdom City says six Reel Inn no.boar.er. r ve abou, A B.C.-made calendar tenants will have a new way to reach offers timely inspiration to go somewhere i.... ' backcountry powder for a troubled else\NEWS A3 \SPORTS B7 world\COMMUNITY B5 p,. t I LI O $1.00 PLUS 7'¢ GST I o ($1.10 plus 8¢ GST tt~ outside of the Terrace area) U3 :O~ iii 00 TANDARD I",,. I~0]qil~l~[e~r,: <L_~,_, ,, ,,,~!',l " ~n . Public money fuels building boom By JEFF NAGEL refurbished psych unit at Mills Mem- "From a construction industry stand AT A TIME when the region seems into a regional centre. orial Hospital. Those public sector pro- Skeena school gets bud- point, this is the time you want that near the edge of economic doom, Ter- "We're not ,immune to down jects stem from the previous NDP gov- getary thumbs up, Page A14. kind of work to come," Veldman said race is poised to set an all-time record ernment. cycles, but we're in a much healthier of the school construction. "It couldn't position to ride them out," he said. for new construction. And the city is about to issue a come in a better year." More evidence that locals still have The building boom unfolding this building permit for the $11 million re- institutional spending by the school Other economic indicators suggest money to spend on non-essentials like year comes as an ironic and unlikely placement of Skeena Jr. Secondary district and health authority. local business is so far enduring the spark of good news as locals hold their School, says Paul Gipps, the city's recreation comes at Shames Mountain. And as such the new construction is uncertainty surrounding Skeena Cellu- The ski hill has sold four times as breath to see whether Skeena Cellu- director of regulatory services. no indicator of local consumer or busi- lose. lose dodges bankruptcy. many season passes as last year, al- Add in a $2 million upgrade of Ca- ness confidence. The ciiy has 1,140 active business Some $14.1 million worth of new beit through deep discounting. ledonia Sr. Secondary that may also New house starts sit at just six this permits as of Oct. 31, down only construction was approved by the city "We're not a one-horse town any get underway this winter and the 2001 year, down from around 75 in peak as of the end of October. slightly from 1,164 at the end of last more," Veldman added. "We're not construction total could pass $27 mil- years. And commercial construction is year. That's more than the combined to- going to dry up and blow away in a lion. anemic aside from the Overwaitea ex- "We're not seeing boarded up tals for the entire previous two years. downturn." That would be the most hammering pansion. windows," Veldman said of the busi- The city issued about $6.7 million and foundation pouring Terrace has Ill But the faster pace of construction ness community. "Things are still pret- Record construction would normally worth of building permits in each of ever seen - higher even than the $25.8 means extra work for labourers, con- ty busy in the mall." mean an increase in the city's tax 1999 and 2000. million in construction in 1996, a year tractors and sub-trades here. If Skeena Cellulose falls into bank- base, and an injection of new tax dol- This year's biggest construction before the Skeena Cellulose crisis And that helps keep merchants' ruptcy there will be short-term pain, he lars into depleted city coffers. projects include Overwaitea"~ expan- body-slammed the local economy. cash registers ringing and the rest of said. And retail businesses likely face But because most of the building is sion, a new elementary school on the "It's feast or famine," Gipps noted. the economy running at a time when a "test" in spring, a traditionally slow institutional - schools and hospitals bench, school additions and renova- What's different this time is the SCI's mills are shut down, says Ken period. pay no property tax - the city will get tions, a Seniors supportive housing pro- source of the boom. Veidman of the Terrace Economic De- But Veldman said the city has suc- little direct benefit when it comes to ject next to:.Terraceview Lodge, and a Almost all the major projects are velopment Authority. ceeded in recent years of diversifying revenues for its budgets. Gov't thaws out its wallet for mammography machine MILLS MEMORIAL Hospital is getting a new mammo- The new unit will be used inside the hospital and is graphy machine and it'll be mobile, meaning it can be light and compact enough it can be loaded into a van taken to outlying communities. and taken on the road to places such as Stewart and News of the approval to spend approximately Dease Lake. $180,000 was welcomed last week by Skeena Liberal "This is exactly the right solution for the region," said MLA Roger Harris who had been at the focus of lobby- Harris of its use in Terrace and on the road. ing efforts to get the purchase out from under the pro- Sheila King, who looks after the screening mammo- vince's capital spending freeze. graphy program around B.C. through the B.C. Cancer "People have a concern that there is a permanent Agency in Vancouver, said the newer mobile units are freeze on money for capital projects," said Harris. much better than the older ones which were permanently "In fact, there has been a cautious approach to capi- housed inside vans. tal until they [the province] decides how to allocate "It can be taken out of a van and set up easily inside money to new health care authorities." a building," said King last week. "It is a much pleasan- "Obviously a very good case was made here to spend ter for the women and a lot more useful." money on this service," said Harris. In Prince George, the closest place to where there is Mills Memorial was ordered to pull the plug on its old a mobile unit, a van is rented for road trips, she said. unit at the end of October after it was judged to be unre- The only caution about mobile units is that they tra- liable for mamrnograms which are critical for the early vel on good quality roads, King added. detection of breast cancer in women. Rich McDaniel, chair of the North West Regional Although the Terrace Area Health Council had asked Hospital District which acts as a taxation body for health the provincial government for speedy approval to buy a care spending, said it'll contribute 40 per cent or approx- ~o new one, that decision was placed on hold when the pro- imately $72,000 to the unit's purchase. vince announced a review on spending. "There wasn't one member of our board who wasn't in That meant a gap in medical service for Terrace and favour of it," said McDaniel. area for women. It also meant women from up north He's particularly happy that the new unit will be mo- could not longer come to Terrace. The closest place bile enough to be taken to outlying areas. There's no in- where screening could be done is Kitimat. dication of when the new unit will arrive. Health care deficit looming THE BODY that runs Mills Memorial Hospital is looking result of getting one-time only grants worth $240,000. at a deficit of up to $500,000 this fiscal year. These were based on population changes, Workers' And it could go higher if the provincial government Compensation Board premiums and relief for last year's doesn't come through with all the money needed to soaring natural gas prices. cover new labour contracts, says Terrace Area Health "If we had those again, we could be looking at either Council finance director Paul Manhas. a small surplus or a deficit of $250,000 to $350,000," 0;~O All told, the health council has a projected spending said Manhas. plan of $24.9 million at Mills Memorial and Terraceview This fiscal year is different from the rest because the Lodge, the extended care facility. Of that amount, the health council has no formal budget. health council is calculating it'll get $17.6 million in Instead, it's being asked by the health ministry to provincial grants. forecast expenditures monthly, said Manhas. "We did do It knows about $17.2 million of that amount is solid our own internal budget, but in terms of a formal budget and is banking on the remaining $400,000 to cover wage process which requires approval, no," he said. increases, increases in shift premiums and benefits and That lack of a spending plan and not knowing yet ex- increases in wage equity payments, said Manhas. actly how much money the province will give the health !1 Helping hands But its deficit will rise if it doesn't get all of that council has put on hold any plans it has to improve ser- $400,000, said Manhas. "We received our funding letter PUMP ATTENDANT Angel Roberts joined volunteer firefighters Brutus vices. Manhas said the health council doesn't want to in October and it indicated these [costs] would be funded McCarron (left) and Clyde Nelson at the Kitsumkalum Tempo gas station make any changes when it doesn't know if it'll have the in collecting money Saturday.

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