BARKERVILLE GIVES PAGE A3
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
once a tree PAGE A12
VOL. 101 NO. 80
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With pride Quesnel held its first ever Pride Parade Saturday with hundreds attending the march and the festivities at LeBourdais park. For more photos see Friday’s Observer. Karen Powell photo
City council adamantly opposes pay parking AUTUMN MacDONALD Observer Reporter City council has thrown their support behind opposing pay parking at CNC. In a letter to CNC President Henry Reiser and the board of directors, Mayor Bob Simpson states: “On behalf of council, I wish to inform you of council’s strong opposition to CNC’s unilateral decision to impose pay parking at
our community campus and respectfully request that this decision be rescinded.” Simpson pointed to the “restructuring” announcement by CNC’s president and the decision to implement pay parking at the Gold Pan’s campus. “As I informed the president and board chair in person, the decision to institute pay parking came as a surprise to council and our community,” he said in his letter. “If this mode of
decision-making is reflective of what we can expect under CNC’s ‘one college’ strategic decision then our fears about centralized decisionmaking as a result of downgrading our regional manager position to a regional principal will prove warranted.” Coun. Laurey-Anne Roodenburg also voiced her concerns over the decision-making process. “There were no stake holder discussions with anyone who might be
affected including UNBC, our post secondary education council and from what I have heard not even his own board knew of this decision,” she said. “Having pay parking at the college would make it the only spot in Quesnel that has it. The other issue is, can you imagine what the other businesses in that area are going to be saying when their parking is now used by those who do not want to ‘pay’ for their parking?
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Not a good thing.” Roodenburg has started an on-line petition and encourages residents to check it out at, www. ipetitions.com/petition/ hell-no-we-wont-pay. The resolution council passed read as follows: “That Quesnel City Council directs the mayor to forward a letter to the CNC board of directors and administration requesting the decision to institute pay parking at the north cariboo campus be retracted,
as CNC’s decision to implement pay-parking was made unilaterally and without consultation, does not align with our community’s practice of not charging for parking (there is not a single location within the city that has pay parking), will present unreasonable burden on businesses and facilities in the area of the campus and represents an additional cost burden on students.” For more on this story see future Observer’s.
14th Annual Quesnel & District Hospice Palliative Care Association
Hike for Hospice Sunday August 9, 2015
July 16th - 19th
Registration: 12:00 p.m. Hike: 1:00 p.m. LeBourdais Park
REGISTRATION - ADULTS $15 STUDENTS & SENIORS $5 CHILDREN UNDER 6 FREE