INSIDE: Maybe we all need to take the oath Pg. 3 T H U R S D A Y February 27, 2014
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Impact of ruling would be ‘significant’ for district
SPORTS,
WEATHER
BY CORNELIA NAYLOR cnaylor@chilliwacktimes.com
T
he Chilliwack school district would face “significant” costs if it were required to abide by a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that restores class-size limits and class composition to pre-2002 levels. Last month, Justice Susan Griffin ordered the provincial government to reinstate parts of B.C. teachers’ 2002 contract that would reduce current class sizes and increase support for
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students with special needs. To implement those changes, the Chilliwack district would not only have to hire more staff; it would also have to pay for new portables to accommodate more classes, according to board chair Walt Krahn. “We have done a complete analysis of the costs of not only additional teachers, but also additional portable classrooms,” he said. “We have, of course, no vacancies, we’re at full capacity south of the freeway. We have virtually no empty classes, and so
the impact would be very significant.” The district was asked by the provincial government to come up with a complete analysis of the potential impact of the ruling two weeks ago, Krahn said, and the details were discussed by the board in camera last Tuesday. He said the district knows how many teachers and extra classrooms it would need and how much it would all cost, but that that information was being kept secret for now because it is part of the negotiations between the B.C. Teachers’ Federa-
tion and the province. He did reiterate that the costs would be “significant.” “The numbers are significant for additional staff and the numbers are also significant for our capacity concerns,” Krahn said. The province is in the process of appealing Griffin’s decision, and in the meantime has asked for a stay on reinstating pre-2002 class-size and composition levels until the appeal has been heard. A ruling on that request was expected this week.
A BRIGHT NEW FUTURE
AT WHAT PRICE?
C
ity hall’s plan to purchase all the properties on the Yale Road block east of Five Corners meant the municipality spent close to $900,000 last year on real estate. The final price tag to buy the block of properties needed for the city’s ambitious land assembly plan will likely be at least $4 million, by the Times’ calculations. And that does not include the old Empress property or other pieces of land owned by the city on Princess Avenue. The plan for the block follows on a recommendation from the city’s
Downtown Task Force Report, namely: “That the City use appropriate methods to acquire and assemble land in a key block of properties within the Downtown Core and demolish buildings and remediate property as necessary to become ‘development ready.’” The idea is to make an attractive package for developers who will, hopefully, bring forth city hall’s vision for a development with commercial, residential and park space at the prominent corner. In 2013, to that end, city hall spent $895,500, 120 per cent of assessed value, for five of the properties on the block in question between 46110 and 46170 Yale Rd. In addition to that money, the city
$900,000 120% $2,600,000 $4,000,000
THE APPROXIMATE PRICE CITY HALL PAID FOR FIVE DOWNTOWN PROPERTIES IN 2013 WHAT CITY HALL PAID ABOVE THE ASSESSED VALUE FOR THOSE FIVE PROPERTIES THE ESTIMATED PRICE TAG TO PURCHASE THE REMAINING PROPERTIES THE CITY DOES NOT OWN THE LIKELY EVENTUAL BILL TAXPAYERS WILL HAVE SPENT BUYING DOWNTOWN PROPERTIES
purchased the Irwin Block for $600,000 on Dec. 27, 2012. Add to that an estimated $2.6 million to purchase the remaining properties
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BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
Paul J. Henderson/TIMES
SHOP OUR ENTIRE PREOWNED INVENTORY NOW WITH
the city does not own, and the price tag hits at least $4 million. The Times made the rough calculations after former mayor and former
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Chilliwack MLA John Les asked on Facebook: “What’s the bill so far for all the property purchases? Who’s picking up the tab? Will the money ever be recouped? What’s the plan? Budget?” The highest price above assessed value went to one of two properties set for “deconstruction” along with the Irwin Block. The former owner sold 46116 Yale Rd. on Oct. 15, 2013 to the city for $210,000, more than 50 per cent above the assessed value of $137,000. The property owner next door at 46110 Yale Rd. told the Times a year ago “I am not going to sell it to them period.” See PRICE, Page 7
Price 60¢