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Volume 58 No. 36
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Sentinel
Northern
www.northernsentinel.com
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
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1.30 INCLUDES TAX
Back to the drawing board on strata policy Cameron Orr Kitimat Council has opted against moving forward on a strata conversion bylaw, which so far had reached first reading. Councillors voted to rescind first reading on advice that it would be the quickest and cleanest way to scratch the whole plan after some councillors expressed problems. “I don’t believe in the way we’re doing this bylaw at this time. I feel there are too many potential things we could be holding back by this,” said Phil Germuth, who moved for the rescinding. “I don’t like the five per cent rule that’s in there, I do not like the definite...that council won’t accept changes to strata.” The five per cent comment referred to a proposal in the bylaw to forbid strata conversions once rental vacancy had hit or was below five per cent. Germuth felt the policy would have taken power away from council and put decision making into the interpretation of the town’s administration. Mario Feldhoff agreed to rescinding the motion, feeling he hasn’t had enough time to tackle the matter. “I feel kind of rushed actually in the way this has been pushed forward,” he said. An out of town property developer did write to council with his thoughts, and Feldhoff said he was comfortable with some of those recommendations. That letter came from Jason Pender, a real estate investor from Vancouver. His ideas included putting covenants on titles, allowing conversion to stratas but mandating that the property would have to be a rental unit for three to five years. “This would allow [Kitimat] to get those properties that are in a state of disrepair upgraded to a more modern standard, new life to those ugly properties you see around town, it creates a better quality of rental housing and more net rentable units in the market,” Pender argued in his letter. “The thing to consider is not just
“If staff wants to bring something back they can bring something back that’s more palatable to council.” saying no to something because it affects an aspect of what you represent but I would hope that you look at ways of being creative and looking at the betterment for the community overall,” he continued. He noted that his company has not and does not plan to apply for any stratification for Kitimat properties at the moment. At the debate at council on August 26, Rob Goffinet said he’d prefer an information process to be undertaken for council and the community to learn more. “I’m not sure this [rescinding the bylaw] will lead us to understanding what a strata conversion policy means for the community,” he said. Mary Murphy meanwhile said she was comfortable moving this bylaw to the back burner until they figure out something better. In closing the debate, Germuth said that he doesn’t see the bylaw as proposed as contributing to affordable housing in Kitimat. “If staff wants to bring something back they can bring something back that’s more palatable to council,” he said. “There’s nothing in here that would let it come back to council for us to make decisions on what’s going to happen in this community.” Included in council’s information package were the minutes of the Kitimat Housing Committee meeting where members discussed the strata bylaw. There was support and some concerns regarding the plan, but in the end the committee opted to wait until their September meeting when everyone on the committee could be there before taking a position on the plan.
Jonathan Orfao (right), 9, with younger brother Alex, 7, pose with the jaws of life at the Kitimat Fire Department, as the pair were recognized for their good work during a house fire last week.
Classroom training paid off Cameron Orr Jonathan Orfao, 9, was moving his brother’s bike on their driveway when he heard the bang. On August 14, the Orfao’s home burned as did another, attached house, on Chinook Street in Cablecar. “I heard a bang, like a drum. I looked behind me and there was a fire,” Jon described while he and his family toured the fire hall, in recognition of what came next. He said he ran inside the house, shouted ‘fire’ and alerted the rest of his family, including his seven-year-old brother Alex. The family rushed to their neighbours where they called 911. But the kids were already, in a sense, prepared for a fire after visits to their classrooms by firefighter Ben Coultish, as well as the Emergen-
cy Awareness Program coordinators. Deputy Fire Chief Pete Bizarro says that it’s a great feeling for the department, which sometimes isn’t sure that the information they present is being learned or will be put into action. But clearly it does work. “The biggest thing for me is that the kid didn’t go back into the house,” he said, saying sometimes temptation is there to go back for things. As icing on the cake, the fire department salvaged a large toy fire truck from the home, and presented it back to the kids, cleaned-up, during a fire hall tour. “It put some smiles on their faces for sure.” Mayor Joanne Monaghan also presented the kids with certificates of recognition for their actions.
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Public port gets some clarification ... page 7