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Via Rail building By Xuyun Zeng Houston Today
CAROLfest
Xuyun Zeng/Houston Today
Houston Secondary School sings “In the Bleak Midwinter” at Carolfest last Wednesday. See page 15 for more photos.
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Council has decided to allow the Steelhead Multicultural Society to negotiate with Via Rail on a lease for the Via Rail building. Council heard two options from the District’s chief administrative officer Michael Glavin. The first would involve the Society directly negotiating a lease with Via Rail, and the second would involve the District buying the building for $1 and leasing the land from CN Rail for $1 per year. The latter option comes with an estimated $100,000 renovation cost to minimize the rate of deterioration and liability as owners of the building. Coun. Rick Lundrigan made a motion for the first option. It passed
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“...the liabilities involved in us taking over the lease, it’s not something I’m prepared to risk.” - Coun. Rick Lundrigan
when councillors Dawn Potvin, Tom Stringfellow, Rick Lundrigan and Tim Anderson voted for it. “For me, I pick option one ... the liabilities are involved in us taking over that lease, it’s not something I’m prepared to risk,” said Lundrigan. “And we don’t have the money to do it. And if we can creatively come up with that money like we have in the past for other things, we See VIA on Page 2
Council hears about handicapped parking issues By Xuyun Zeng Houston Today
Handicapped parking is a problem in Houston, council heard. Pam Craig and Nicky Cranmer told council of how they have noticed people who have no privileges to park in handicap stalls do it anyway.
“What we have noticed this year that’s fantastic is more spots dedicated to handicap parking where the painting is actually on the parking stalls on the pavement,” said Craig. “As of today, you might as well have erased all of them. Unless you have a post with a handicap placard on it, nobody is
“People who have no privileges to park in handicap stalls do it anyway.”
going to recognize that it’s handicap parking.” “And even if they do … they ignore it.”
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noted that the worst place where such transgressions happen is at the parking lot near Brewstir’s Cafe. They noted people they have confronted retort that they would only park there for a few minutes. “I actually confronted somebody there one day. He was in the handicap [stall],
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and I asked him if he was aware he was there and he goes, ‘Yeah, I know,’ ” said Cranmer. “He made no qualms, no worries; he didn’t care he was there.” She noted that the only indication of a handicap stall there were markings on the ground, and snow could obscure it. Craig said she has
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made a complaint to the District of Houston about that parking stall and has approached the RCMP. The RCMP said they could take a picture which shows the licence plate and can prove beyond a doubt that the vehicle is parked in handicap See PARKING on Page 2
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