The worm turns... waste into soil By Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Composting has long been considered an activity reserved for residents of houses with
yards and gardens. Not anymore. Lynsey Dobbie, a horticulturist with urban agriculture group City Farmer, said residents of
smaller homes, townhouses and apartment buildings are increasingly turning to composting as a way of disposing of their yard waste and food scraps.
THE WEDNESDAY
She will lead a workshop in Port Moody this weekend teaching people how to cleanly process their organics with nothing but a handful of worms, a
CANADIAN COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER AWARD 2012
TRI-CITY NEWS The new James Park
Take an ArtWalk
SEE LIFE, PAGE A20
SEE ARTS, PAGE A34
large bin and a bit of time and patience. It may be especially popular with residents of multi-family housing. see SMELL NOT, page A15
APRIL 18, 2012 www.tricitynews.com
INSIDE
Tom Fletcher/A10 Letters/A11 A Good Read/A25 Sports/A38
TransLink $ troubles Mayors fear TransLink plans will be downsized By Jeff Nagel BLACK PRESS
M e t ro Va n c o u ve r mayors say they’ re frustrated by Victoria’s refusal to allow new funding sources for TransLink, boxing it into raising property taxes to fund transit expansion over the short term unless huge savings are found internally. “There was a promise by the minister that everything would be on the table,” said North Vancouver City Coun. Craig Keating, referring
to options like a vehicle levy or road pricing that many mayors view as preferable to taxing homes. “ P r e m i e r C l a rk ’s been busy crossing things off the list. That promise has just been betrayed.” The mayors passed a series of resolutions Thursday, including one that reconfirms their opposition to any new use of property tax for TransLink. But there’s growing concern among suburban mayors that their cities will lose out on long-promised transit service upgrades if TransLink ends up downsizing its expansion plans. see GOVERNANCE, GO C , page g A13 3
Surprise $300m water bill feared By Jeff Nagel BLACK PRESS
PARENTS, ARE YOUR KIDS HEALTHY?
JANIS WARREN/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Jenna Wagner, Port Coquitlam’s program assistant of children’s services, Susan Foster, the Tri-Cities’ ECD community development co-ordinator, and the YMCA’s Jacky Huckin will take part in the 8th annual Tri-Cities’ Healthy Kids’ Fair, which runs tomorrow (Thursday) morning at the PoCo recreation complex. Read the story on age A9.
M e t ro Va n c o u ve r taxpayers may have to pay $300 million to filter drinking water from the Coquitlam reservoir if a proposed federal target is adopted calling for a higher level of water clarity. A draft Health Canada guideline could force Metro Vancouver to add a costly filtration
plant at the reservoir to ensure the turbidity, or water cloudiness, of drinking water does not exceed 1.0 NTU (a water clarity measurement), down from the current limit of 5.0 NTU. Metro has objected to the proposed change, arguing it is unjustified and would bring no significant health benefit. see TIGHTER TIGHTER,, page A12