What’s R’view future? By Sarah Payne THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Is Riverview Hospital history? That’s not known but its past is being studied again, this time for a new heritage conservation plan commissioned by the province. The request for proposals for an HCP was issued
THE FRIDAY
in November and awarded i n Ja nu a r y t o N o r t h Vancouver-based Denise Cook Design. When the Provincial Health Services Authority vacates the property by the end of this year, most of Riverview’s rentable space will be vacant, the RFP document states, leaving the future of the 244 acres “uncertain.”
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The HCP is expected to help guide future planning and ongoing site management at Riverview. What it won’t do is suggest any future land use plans, and that has members of the Riverview Preservation Society less than impressed. see NO PROTECTION, page 8
MARCH 16, 2012 www.tricitynews.com
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Biz group calling for one licence Chamber pushing for mobile business licences in Tri-City By Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS
GARY MCKENNA/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
James Morris at Stiffy’s Boardshop in PoCo, which is selling shirts he designed to raise money for Japanese earthquake relief.
T-shirts aid relief efforts He grew up in Japan and wants to help By Gary McKenna THE TRI-CITY NEWS
A year after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, scenes of destruction and carnage still shock the world.
But for Port Coquitlam resident James Morris, the images of the disaster broadcast on his television hit closer to home. T h e 3 4 - ye a r- o l d f a ther of three grew up in Fukushima, a town ravaged by radiation after a nuclear reactor melted down following the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and 30-foot tsunami.
Even after Morris moved to Port Coquitlam when he was 10, he kept up his connection with Japan, visiting his homeland every summer. Now, he fears for relatives’ safety in Fukushima and wonders if he will ever feel comfortable bringing his wife and kids to a city he calls his second home. “Now that I am older, I try
and get back as much as I can,” he said. “This is the longest gap since I haven’t been back to Japan.” But Morris has turned his fear into something productive, designing t-shirts he is selling to raise money for the Red Cross relief effort in Japan. see $3,000 SO FAR, FAR, page 9
The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce is pushing councillors in Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam to adopt a mobile business licensing process that would apply across all three cities. Mike Hind, the chamber’s executive director, told The Tri-City News the business organization will be making presentations to councils in the coming weeks in order to answer questions and explain the system local businesses would like to see put in place. Currently, businesses that operate in more than one city must purchase a business licence in each. A mobile business licence would allow the business owner to operate in all three of the municipalities, simplifying the process and saving businesses money. Hinds said chamber members see the initiative as a first step toward a Metro Vancouver-wide business licensing system. “What we want is a zone to start with as a pilot project,”
MORE REG. NEWS Q Tolls possible across region: see page 16 Q Transit cops get bad review: see page 17 Q RCMP deal will freeze pay: see page 18 Hind said. “We will try and see how it works, with the ultimate goal that it would be expanded across the Lower Mainland.” One of the main sticking points among the municipalities is money. Cities rely on the revenue generated by business licence fees in order to pay for bylaw enforcement and processing. How the money paid for a mobile or joint licence would be distributed among the participating communities is another detail that would have to be considered, said Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart. see MANY DETAILS DETAILS,, page 6