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Douglas U-Pass facing delays Jennifer McFee jmcfee@thenownews.com Douglas College students may need to wait until September before they get on board with the U-Pass program. A coalition of 11 public post-secondary schools is negotiating with TransLink and the provincial government to determine contract details for the reduced-rate universal transit passes. All eligible students will pay a $30 monthly fee for the transit pass, which provides access to SkyTrain, bus and SeaBus services as well as discounts on West Coast Express. Blaine Jensen, vice-president of educational services at Douglas College, said there are still outstanding concerns with the contract. He wouldn’t, however, provide information on any specific issues since negotiations are ongoing. “I can say that we have resolved many, many concerns. We’re down to the last very few. Those concerns really have financial implications for the institutions,” said Jensen, who chairs the coalition. “So without resolution of those concerns, the institutions would then wind up potentially having to subsidize the program with tuition and government dollars, which is not part of the process.” TransLink spokesperson Ken Hardie said some schools have signed interim contracts, so students at those schools are already using the U-Pass. “It’s worked well for them. There’ve been no problems that I’m aware of in getting the program launched. We had expected that Douglas and CONT. ON PAGE 4, see ‘HANDFUL.’
Jason Lang/NOW
Harmless fun or an unacceptable activity? The city says feeding geese and other wildlife is creating problems, but many people still do it.
Coquitlam plans to relocate geese John Kurucz jkurucz@thenownews.com More signs and plants, increased public education and a one-way ticket out of town could be Coquitlam council’s response to last summer’s unprecedented surge in Canada geese at Como Lake Park. The city’s sports, recreation and culture committee endorsed a plan Monday that will, among other things, see staff moving dozens, if not hundreds, of flightless juvenile and adult geese out of the park and into a provincial wildlife management area. Monday’s move comes in response to an influx of geese in the park last summer, when a city-hired contractor counted 175 of the birds in June and 193 in July, a time when most geese are molting, or shedding, their feathers. The concerns around a high number of geese include increased fecal coliform counts, the potential for a severe disease outbreak among other species and the degradation of amenities and trails for
park users. The problem isn’t with the roughly 35 geese that are native the park, however, as the issues tend to arise when other goose populations move into the park specifically for molting in the early summer. “The problems with fecal coliforms and the problems with the nutrient levels in the lake are caused by the overabundance of non-resident geese that land there for the molting season because there’s food, there’s grass and they get fed the first time they’re there,” Mayor Richard Stewart said Tuesday. One of the main thrusts of the city’s strategy involves adding signs and public education to dissuade people from feeding geese and other wildlife. “I have good memories of doing that as a kid,” said Coun. Doug Macdonell, chair of the sports, recreation and culture committee. “It appears to be such a family friendly exercise and it’s a fun thing to do. You don’t realize at the time the damage that you are doing, because you’re having fun as a family, but it’s not the right thing to do at all.”
The relocation of the geese is expected to cost about $2,600, while planting shrubs along the lake’s shoreline — at a cost of $4,500 over three years — also figures into the city’s plan. One of the alternatives the city was examining involved hiring a contractor to addle, or shake, the eggs, though the committee opted for relocation instead. “If we addle 10 eggs or 20 eggs, it’s not going to change the problem,” said Coun. Selina Robinson, vice-chair of the committee. “If we’re going to spend the money, I think we should spend it on the relocation program and get rid of the problem. But I would also like to see multilingual signs, at least in Korean and Chinese as well. And maybe we need to step up our bylaw presence a little bit more in June or July and make it a focal point around letting people know that you cannot feed the animals.” The committee’s recommendations around Como Lake Park will be put to a vote by all council members at a March 21 meeting.
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