Thursday February 6, 2014 (Vol. 39 9 No. 11)
V O I C E
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Fast pitch: Entrepreneur Adrienne Hubbard’s made a pitch forr her jewelry business while riding shotgun in NASCAR R racer Danica Patrick’s race car. i see page e 11
98 queue to speak on proposed eight-storey expansion in White Rock
Two days of hearings over care home Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
A proposed complex-care facility that has had neighbours up in arms for months can be moved slightly from the footprint that was first proposed – but the change will hurt, proponents say. “It’s definitely a hardship,” architect Mark Ankenman told White Rock council Monday of the approximate 17-foot shift to the
northeast, at the start of what turned into a two-day public hearing on the project. “It’s over $200,000 of added construction costs.” Ankenman is in charge of the project, which is eyed for the Evergreen Baptist Care Home campus at 1550 Oxford St. If approved, the eight-storey, 199-unit, L-shaped facility will replace 107 existing beds and include 92 new ones that were awarded to Evergreen by Fraser Health last fall.
Its planned proximity to the 12-storey Belaire complex – located immediately north of the proposed tower – has been repeatedly cited by its residents as being among many concerns. Many of those residents were among more than 100 people who turned out to White Rock Community Centre Monday evening for the public’s first official opportunity to voice opinions on the project. After 3½ hours and 56 speakers, the hear-
ing was adjourned until Tuesday evening, when it continued for another three hours at city hall. In all, 98 people spoke, either in person or by a designate. In addition to proximity concerns, those who spoke against the project cited its impact to views and natural light, the loss of 22 mature trees (which council heard would be reduced to 16 should the shifted plan be i see page 3
Marvin Hunt gets ready to leave city business behind after more than two decades. Evan Seal photo
Emotional farewell follows earlier plans to continue in two elected offices
MLA Hunt exits Surrey City Hall after 23 years Kevin Diakiw
spring’s provincial election, had planned on staying on unpaid as councillor for the love of the job.
S
Black Press
tanding in his city hall office, Marvin Hunt is packing up the last of his things. The walls, formerly covered in family photos, are now bare, with only small nails serving as a reminder they were there. Tags on the chairs of his office are marked “Marvin Hunt, 5E 104,” indicating he would have been moving later this month to the new city hall being built in Central City, fifth floor east, room 104. Leaving still doesn’t feel real for Hunt, who has served on Surrey council for more than 23 years. Hunt, also elected as a BC Liberal for Surrey-Panorama in last
However, he now acknowledges his commitment to his provincial role would keep him away from
council until June. Under the Municipal Act, his council seat would become vacant
Councillor sidelined from police beat Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Barinder Rasode ‘astonished’
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts has reorganized the city’s police committee and removed Coun. Barinder Rasode from the chair until changes are made. Rasode said she was in the throes of making changes when she found out Watts was taking her place, and was “absolutely astonished” Monday when she found out. Watts and Rasode – both members of Surrey First – have had public differences in
recent months, but Watts told Black Press the shuffling had nothing to do with those. “It’s just an interim measure,” Watts said. “There’s some restructuring going on.” The mayor said she is reorganizing so council will be better informed about what’s taking place, and that she’ll hand the chair back to Rasode when that work is done. “There’s a lot of great work Councillor Rasode and her team have done over the years,” Watts said. “And that’s not to take anything away.”
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if he missed four consecutive council meetings. Rather than be pushed, he jumped. On Monday, he tearfully told the city he was resigning. “I was fine until I was actually saying it, and then you get a little emotional, because it has been just over 23 years,” Hunt told Black Press. “It’s been a phenomenal experience, it’s been awesome to serve the citizens of Surrey on Surrey council.” The mayor and council jokingly said they would not accept his resignation, noting his would be big shoes to fill. i see page 4