TERRACE
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VOL. 24 NO. 46
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
City divvies up grant bucks By LAUREN BENN MY Mountain Co-op is not on the list to get a $15,000 city grant but a Terrace Little Theatre request for $4,200 has made the cut so far. The two items are on a list making up the sum total of requests by community groups and service providers and city council tonight begins the job of picking who gets money and who does not as it works toward completing the city’s 2012 budget. Despite budgeting more than $1.1 million for community groups and service providers, there isn’t enough for all. “This is where our budget discussions become the most difficult,” said mayor Dave Pernarowski. “All of these organizations desperately need the assistance to help make our community a better place to live.”
The Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine will also take part in this round of budget talks as it shares a portion of costs for some groups and services. There are two budget sections under which council pays out money to groups: community grants budgeted at $80,000 and fees for service budgeted at just more than $1 million. A balanced 2012 draft budget, created by city staff as a baseline for council, shows a need to reject almost $70,000 in community grant requests. “The discussion will be about finding creative ways to help these organizations to the best of our abilities without increasing taxes past the proposed 2.5 per cent,” said Pernarowski. Grant requests came in at $151,132 this year and staff recommended a budget of $79,555, $3,000 less than in 2011’s final
budget. Grants applied for that weren’t recommended by city staff include: money for a venue for Caledonia Senior Secondary’s dry prom at $1,427; $5,000 for a Terrace Downtown Improvement Area festival; $1,000 to operate the Bread of Life Soup Kitchen; $15,000 for My Mountain Co-op; $6,000 in rent assistance for the Northern Health Authority addiction program; $5,000 to the Kermodei Friendship Society; $4,100 to the Green Thumb Garden Society; $8,000 to the K’san House Society; and $6,700 for a new dance floor at the R.E.M. Lee Theatre. While the city might not give grant money directly to some, other types of financial help the city contributes were considered by staff during recommendations. For example, My Mountain Co-op pays $1 yearly in rent for its office in the cityowned Kwinitsa building, valued at $6,000
yearly. The Ksan House society receives $12,757 yearly in property tax exemptions for its buildings. The Bread of Life Soup Kitchen receives $1,288 in tax exemptions. Tax incentives and decreased rent in city buildings are offered to many that didn’t apply for grants as well. This is all money the city doesn’t collect and therefore can’t spend elsewhere. Staff recommended that Terrace Little Theatre Society get $4,200 because it missed the deadline to apply for a property tax exemption. For some, city staff have recommended only a portion of what’s been requested as a grant. Terrace Search and Rescue asked for $23,850 and staff have recommended $9,000 which is what was granted last year.
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■ Food for thought GIRL GUIDES and Scouts head from city hall to the Salvation Army for their annual Hike for Hunger Feb. 25 as part of Thinking Week. They all brought items for the Sally Ann food bank.
Government sells two grow-op homes TWO HOMES police said were the locations here for marijuana growops have been seized and sold by the provincial government. It’s the first time a law has been used here permitting the province to seize through civil court action and then sell property or items believed to be used for illegal activity or acquired through illegal activity. But while the proceeds of seizures elsewhere have been put back into law enforcement or related operations, the Terrace seizures didn’t return a profit to the province. One home was sold for a $1,000 loss and the other a $1,000 gain af-
ter respective sales costs, including paying down mortgages, were factored in, said an official from the provincial public safety ministry. Tasha Schollen said the main motivation for the seizures through her ministry’s Civil Forfeiture Office (CFO) was public safety. “When there is strong evidence and strong public interest (safety concerns of the police and community) then the CFO will accept the file even knowing from the outset it will not be financially viable to do so,” said Schollen. She stressed that any civil action through the forfeiture law is
entirely separate from any criminal charges. The former concentrates on property while the latter concentrates on an individual or individuals. “Specifically, civil forfeiture works to deter unlawful activity by taking away instruments used to further that activity, and the proceeds of unlawful activity,” she said. In civil law, one party’s case need only be more probable than the other, while in criminal the state must prove something beyond a reasonable doubt, Schollen added. “All it means to the new own-
ers is that they bought it (the residence) from the Crown,” said Terrace RCMP Constable Angela Rabut of how the homes are sold after being seized. One home at 4740 Soucie Ave. home sold for $112,000 and another at 3515 King Ave. sold for $88,500, said Schollen. On Jan. 27, 2009, police executed two search warrants for growops: at the residence on Soucie Ave., officers found 26 pounds of harvested marijuana and a hydro bypass and at the King Ave. address, officers found 200 plants and a hydro bypass.
Criminal charges were not approved on the King Ave. bust. Charges at the Soucie Ave. address were stayed one week before trial in September 2010. The two houses were the city’s first successful civil forfeiture actions, but not the first in the northwest. Other forfeitures have taken place in Smithers and Prince Rupert. Revenues after expenses from forfeitures are paid into a special account and used to compensate crime victims, fund crime prevention programs, and pay for the costs of administering the act.
Prom princesses
Below average
Bantam best
Grad wants all girls to have a prom dress for their magical night \COMMUNITY A17
Superintendent says school district will make sure students improve \NEWS A5
After dominating at zones, girls pumped for hockey provincials \SPORTS A26