SOOKE Editorial
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Agreement #40110541
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
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Victoria 3501 Saanich Road 250-382-5269 Nanaimo 3200 North Island Hwy 250-756-4114
Contracts and DCCs concern council Pirjo Raits Sooke News Mirror
Council will be looking at and getting a legal opinion on the agreement between Island Advertising and the District of Sooke. The agreement allows Island Advertising to place benches and garbage receptacles along Highway 14 in Sooke. At the regular council meeting on Aug. 13, Acting Mayor Maja Tait stated she “would like to see the benches leave and be replaced with something more appropriate.” She said the benches were functional but had a lot of advertising. The agreement is for fiveyears and Michael Dillabaugh, manager of finance, said there was no clause to amend and any changes would have to be mutual. The benches and garbage containers are the property of Island Advertising and do not belong to Sooke. The original agreement was signed by former CAO Evan Parliament and former Mayor Janet Evans before it came before council. Council did not pass a resolution for the contract. It is felt that a legal opinion will put the district in a better bargaining position. The issue is the cost of trash collection. The district
spend $4,000/year to empty the garbage receptacles and receives only $700/year. Councillor Bev Berger said she would like to see this contract go out to a RFP (Request for Proposal). Council voted to amend Bylaw No. 408 in regard to the Development Cost Charge component. Councillor Rick Kasper, chair of the Finance and Administration Committee, said this came as a result of information presented to council regarding the cost implications of the current bylaw. It was not understood that any waived DCC would be paid by the taxpayers. “The cost to the general taxpayers is not in the best interest,” said Kasper. He said it was falsely assumed that new occupiers of new developments would make up any shortfall, but the DCCs have to be paid in the current year by the current taxpayers. “We need to find almost $40,000 in deferred DCCs,” said Kasper. Councillor Herb Haldane said he had no idea that it would cost us (the district) money to give breaks to a developer. “The only thing we can defer or get rid of is the amenity policy,” said Haldane.
Sharron Ho photo
Water, water everywhere Tequila and Bella Bean cool off on a hot day by playing in a water sprinkler at Fred Milne Park. The weather is supposed to cool off slightly with sun and a few clouds over the next week.
Three-day judge-alone trial set for Conte Alex Conte, the young 21-year-old Sooke man accused of murdering his mother Sarah Nickerson in January, will be assessed by a judge to see if he is fit to stand trial. Conte is charged with second-degree murder, after police were called
to a mobile home park on Jan. 8 where they found Nickerson’s body. Conte was arrested and has been in custody at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Port Coquitlam ever since. He appeared in B.C. Supreme Court via video on Wednesday, Aug. 15.
He was previously found “marginally fit” to stand trial, and in February he went through a second assessment, the results were not presented in court. Conte will go before a judge alone in a threeday hearing to determine whether he was suffering
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from a mental disorder at the time of the alleged offence. If Conte is found to be suffering from a mental disorder he would be exempt from criminal responsibility. The judge-alone trial is scheduled for the week of Jan. 28, 2013.