THURSDAYOCTOBER 24, 2013
Official newspaper of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals
www.pqbnews.com
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WHISKEY SIGNAGE
COMING BACK TO QUALICUM BEACH
A 10-year project comes to a successful conclusion
See Lissa Alexander’s in-depth interview with Colin James ahead of his local show
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SCHOOL FUNDING CRUNCH
Gov’t gets an earful
Teacher rep, trustees, not happy with comments by MLA Stilwell LISSA ALEXANDER reporter@pqbnews.com
Debbie Morran says she is terrified. The president of the local teachers’ association (MATA) made the comments at Tuesday night’s school board meeting. She said it’s ludicrous that local school districts have to fund the recent 3.5 per cent raise to CUPE support workers. “It is discouraging, it is terrifying and it’s ludicrous that trustees have to face these challenges in terms of how are you going to fund another $385,000 to pay for an increase when the negotiations were far removed from where you’re all sitting now,” she said. Trustee Julie Austin said she’s concerned with recent comments made by local MLA Michelle Stilwell in The NEWS, that per-pupil funding is higher now than it has ever been. “That may be true but that doesn’t equate to more money for the districts. Our fixed costs and the cost of inflation far exceeds that perpupil funding so it’s a bit of a misnomer, it’s a bit of a red herring,” she said. Hydro costs have gone up, as has fuel, among other costs, she said. She echoed Morran’s statements that every year more and more money is being taken away from school districts and more costs are being downloaded to them from the province. Secretary Treasurer Erica Bailey outlined some targeted savings to try meet the immediate costs of $200,000 for the CUPE raises. This “savings plan” includes the cancellation of some phone lines, implementing a district purchasing card, increasing the use of copiers to get away from the cost of ink jet printers and using cash balances for a shared investment pool. See KERSHAW, page A6
LISSA ALEXANDER PHOTO
FOGGY WEEK: Fog has been hanging around Parksville Qualicum Beach all week and it engulfed boats at French Creek Marina on Wednesday morning.
PARKSVILLE’S TOWN-HALL-STYLE COUNCIL MEETING
19A work, casino the hot topics AUREN RUVINSKY
writer@pqbnews.com
Highway 19A through downtown Parksville needs improvement, but nobody can agree how that might look. A casino for Parksville seems to be an idea that is getting some good reviews. These were two of the hot topics that were discussed Monday night as Parksville city council conducted its regular meeting in what was described as a town-hall-style format. The idea of narrowing the highway
to a single through lane in each direction as a trial next summer was on the agenda at Monday’s meeting. Several reasons were given for the proposed trial — to slow traffic and make downtown “more friendly,” mayor Chris Burger said in his introduction. Coun. Bill Neufeld said he’d suggested the idea as a way to slow traffic down since “speed kills.” The standing-room-only audience at the more casual and interactive style council meeting held at the Mc-
Millan Arts Centre added other concerns. “We need traffic lights at the Thrifty and QF . . . corner and the McDonald’s corner,” said one woman. Others added concerns about connecting the downtown with the waterfront better, carbon emissions from the heavy traffic and needing more walking and biking space along the highway. Proposed changes to Hwy 19A are a perennial issue in Parksville.
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