WEDNESDAY
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February 22, 2012
A division of
Vol. 27 No. 15
COMOX VALLEY RECORD Your community. Your newspaper. www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
TRIBUTE TO LAZER
Lewis spending approved Renée Andor Record Staff
Pacific Disturbance will honour a fallen bandmate. ■ 9
YETIS DROP PAIR
It all came down to this: the final game of the regular season against the Saanich Braves, with second place overall in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League up for grabs. For the Comox Valley Glacier Kings, a win would mean a meeting in the first round of the playoffs against their North Division rival Campbell River Storm. With the dominating Victoria Cougars solidifying first place overall, the Icemen had their sights set on second best.
... Complete story on ■ 25
FINDER ■ Weather
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■ Ferry Schedule
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■ Arts
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■ Sports
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■ Classified
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■ Editorial
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■ Opinion
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Courtenay council approved the “final step” Monday in the process to borrow $4.2 million for the renovation and expansion of the Lewis Centre. Council unanimously passed a security issuing resolution, which, according to City director of financial services Tillie Manthey, is the final step council will take to access the funds. The City will now request consent from the Comox Valley Regional District to borrow the funds from the Municipal Finance Authority of BC in its fall debenture issue. She pointed out that if the City borrows this money from the MFA it will be at 31 per cent of its borrowing authority, which is average for similar municipalities. “We are well within our authority limits, and we are comparable to other municipalities of our structure, tax base, etc.,” added Manthey. In October, the past council voted to borrow up to $4.2 million to renovate and expand the Lewis Centre. The City received 212 verified elector responses opposing the borrowing through the alternate approval process, a fraction of the 1,802 responses needed to force a referendum. Mayor Larry Jangula noted that the issue was a hot topic during the election and some taxpayers were concerned about the amount of money going into upgrades to the centre. “There’s a lot of concern out there about spending this money and without the public having a say on it, so this is the difficult one for me,” said Jangula. “I realize recreation is a big part of what we do, but there are other things out there (that need funding) as ... see UPGRADE ■ 2
LIKING THE LANTERNS Children of all ages enjoyed the return of Taiwanese lanterns during the weekend at the Cumberland Recreation Hall. The lanterns for the festival originated in Taiwan for the themed undersea world event. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK
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