THE FRIDAY
2010 WINNER
OCT. 1, 2010 www.tricitynews.com
TRI-CITY NEWS Drinking and driving
Get to the ghost town
SEE FACE TO FACE, PAGE A11
SEE THINGS-TO-DO GUIDE, PAGE A19
INSIDE Letters/A12 Barry Buzza/A20 Tri-City Spotlight/A23 Sports/A41
Fleur-de-lis fountain set for Lafarge Developer, casino cash going to build fountain in middle of the lake By Janis Warren THE TRI-CITY NEWS
A fountain in the shape of a fleur-de-lis — in the centre of Lafarge Lake — is one of three public art works expected to be unveiled soon in Coquitlam. According to city documents, the fountain will shoot water more than 15 m into the air and will be funded by a $50,000 grant from the developer Wesbild as well as city casino revenue. Wesbild spokesperson Jen Derbyshire said when city staff approached the Westwood Plateau and Burke Mountain developer for money, “it sounded like a great project and we were happy to get involved.” The beautification project is also being applauded by the Freshwater Fisheries Society, which stocks
Lafarge with about 10,500 trout annually to encourage angling (its last dump of rainbow trout was on Monday). The fountain “will add some oxygen MACDONELL to the water so that will be a positive for the fish,” manager Steve Arnold told The Tri-City News. Parks committee chair Coun. Doug Macdonell said although the city didn’t consult the public on the fountain, he said “the taxpayer isn’t on the hook for any of this.” “The buzz word around the city these days is the ‘wow’ factor,” he said. “Everybody wants to be proud of their city and this will certainly add significance to Lafarge Park.” In 2008, the city built a fishing pier on the south end of the fivehectare, man-made lake, which is named after the Lafarge gravel company. see LIGHTING PART PART,, page A4
DO MOUNTIES COST TOO MUCH?: Cities alarmed about rising RCMP costs are pressing Ottawa to pay more and rein in spending. See page A15
Driving to distraction Cops are cracking down on distracted drivers By Janis Warren THE TRI-CITY NEWS
JAMES MACLENNAN/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Craig Valach and Kevin Clarke prepare a traffic signal light at the intersection of Gislason Avenue and Coast Meridian in Coquitlam. Road works are nothing new for Tri-City drivers, who have been dodging them since early summer.
Drivers are not getting the message when it comes to B.C.’s ban on hand-held devices, Coquitlam Mounties say. Since June, the local detachment that polices both Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam has issued 400 tickets to drivers caught on their cellphones and reading or sending text
messages while on the road. The high number wor ries Coquitlam RCMP Sgt. Dave Stewart who, starting today (Oct. 1), is launching a crackdown with members of his traffic section. The enforcement campaign coincides with an ICBC program reminding motorists about the provincial regulations, which went into effect Jan. 1. Stewart said when the detachment started to track distracted drivers four months ago, “we projected maybe 20 tickets a month.” see IT LOOKED LIKE, LIKE, page A8