S TANDARD TERRACE
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VOL. 27 NO. 47
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
City to hike collection fee By MARGARET SPEIRS
JOSH MASSEY PHOTO
PUBLIC HOUSING project on the corner of Greig Ave. and Clinton St. is going through a massive outside renovation to correct faults and extend the structure’s life.
It’s a million dollar reno
By JOSH MASSEY WORK IS well underway on a major exterior overhaul of the Mountainview apartment complex on the corner of Greig Ave. and Clinton St. owned by the provincial government’s BC Housing agency and which provides subsidized accommodation for people who might otherwise not have a place to live. A large white construction envelope was stretched with the help of scaffolding over the building to protect it last week as workers began stripping off its damaged beige stucco exterior finishing. Windows, which had been leaking, are also to be replaced in a project BC Housing says will cost $1,017,995 by the time its finished in April. Work began late last fall through a contract let to Yellowridge Construction from the Lower Mainland when improvements were made to the building’s foundation and footings. “BC Housing has come up to do a bunch of renova-
tions; they are redoing the whole exterior of the building, they are also doing the drainage around the building and all the windows are being replaced,” said Amanda Bains, the executive director of the local non-profit social services agency Ksan House Society which manages the building for BC Housing. In 2012, BC Housing purchased the 11 one-bedroom unit building for $590,000 as part of its program to maintain affordable housing stock. “There were a lot of issues with it in regards to water damage and leakage,” said Bains of the building which at one time had been a hotel and until purchased for affordable housing, was a privately-held market rental enterprise. A statement from BC Housing indicated it knew work was needed on the building when it was purchased and the cost was included in an original budget. “The scope of the building envelope renovation increased from what was originally anticipated,” the statement added.
THE CITY of Terrace is to more than double its garbage and recycling collection rates, part of the ongoing efforts to change the way waste is handled in the city, in Thornhill and immediate rural area. From the current $2 a week for each of the 3,600 residences on the city’s collection program, rates are to rise to $4.75 a week, providing an additional $514,800 a year to cover increased costs. A portion of the fee increase will result in residences getting three cans, one for garbage, one for recyclables and one for organic waste. The cans are designed to be picked up and emptied by automated arms extending from two new collection trucks to be ordered by the city. The cost of those trucks will be covered by money the city already has tucked away by charging itself for the trucks now being used, explained city public works director Rob Schibli. Schibli, who briefed city council members March 2 on the new program, said the current collection system uses two old trucks which are ending their useful life and which are increasingly expensive to maintain. Drivers also have to manually empty garbage cans and hoist plastic bags of recyclables into the trucks. “Every customer in the community initially receives two cans, one for refuse and one for recycling, and a third can [for organics will be added later],” said Schibli. “I would recommend three streams with the third (organics) collected weekly.” Garbage and recycling will still be collected on alternate weeks and when organics are added, they will be collected every week. There are three can sizes: 90 litres, 240 litres and 360 litres with the 240 l one being the most commonly used – it should be sufficient as it is three times the size of the current cans used here, he said. The cans can only be filled up so the lid closes or it won’t work correctly and the contents will be spilled out. At the council briefing, councillor Brian Downie asked about the life expectancy of the garbage cans. Schibli said they have warranties for 10 years with an expected lifetime of 15 years, but in talking to other communities with the same system, the lifespan expected is 20 years. Occasionally, the cans can get broken but they can also be maintained. And their cost would be recovered in one year, added Schibli. He confirmed the city retains ownership of the cans in response to a question from councillor James Cordeiro and that each can is tagged to a specific address. Councillor Michael Prevost asked how huge snowfalls would affect pickup because cans could be buried or knocked over. Prince George adds a person to each truck during collection days to manually position cans so they can be picked up and Williams Lake doesn’t plow snow the day where collection is going on, Schibli said.
Cont’d Page A14
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