Maple Ridge News, April 16, 2014

Page 1

B.C. Views Farmland fight sheds little light. p6

Roll back stream setbacks: Hogarth. p3

THE NEWS

Arts&life Easter through the eyes of women. p34

www.mapleridgenews.com Wednesday, April 16, 2014 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · Delivery: 604-466-6397

CUPE critical of $50,000 search for new super Just as district discusses cut to balance 2014-15 budget by Ne i l Cor be tt staff reporter

Unionized school district staff are questioning the school board’s spending priorities, as some 40 positions are to be cut, while the district spends $50,000 in its search for a new superintendent. CUPE faces the most cuts – 23 positions – in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school district’s proposed 20142015 budget and is challenging the board’s spending habits during a time of austerity. The board faces a budget shortfall of $5 million in its $129 million budget next year, and has cut numerous positions. It is still considering whether to save $880,000 by cutting busing for regular students.

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

Blurring by

See Budget, p9

Cyclists race along the dike on Kennedy Road in Pitt Meadows during the annual Barry’s Roubaix event Sunday. See story, p36.

Cemetery getting more room Two new properties add 1.3 acres to 130-year-old site by P h i l M e l nychuk staff reporter

Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS

Arnie Grootendorst polishes a plaque commemorating an oak tree planted at the cemetery in 1938.

I

n the new part of Maple Ridge Cemetery, not far from the awkwardly-placed English oak tree, a newer grove of spindly young oaks almost form a circle. The seeds, likely carried there by industrious squirrels whose dining habits created the geometric

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shape, have created a spot where tree tops could weave together above, creating a canopy, and a sheltered space below, perfect for peace and reflection. It’s possible, though nothing’s been decided, that the oak grove could form a scattering garden where the ashes of loved ones are left to the ages. “This is something we haven’t determined yet. It’s quite a lovely little area and it has quite a nice memorial feel to it,” park planner Sylvia Pendl told council Monday. The oak grove, which used to be

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on a private lot, is now part of an expansion of the burial grounds currently underway, to keep pace with the growth of Maple Ridge. After acquiring two properties to the west, on Dewdney Trunk Road, about .65 acres each, there are now another 1.3 acres of additional burial space to add to the existing six acres. “Space is filling up. The community has grown significantly,” Pendl added later. Clearing those two new properties has occurred, in preparation for plowing, grading and seeding

the new property. Following that, drainage issues will be dealt with and the land will settle before it’s used for burials in several years’ time. A separate parcel of land that remains in private ownership separates the two new sections, requiring two entrances off Dewdney Trunk Road. Pendl told council that houses were taken down and the land cleared to minimize use of the property as a dump site or as a hangout for the homeless. See Cemetery, p12

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