Tuesday January 22, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 7)
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Back on top: One year after losing the Surrey RCMP Classic final to Tamanawis, the White Rock Christian Academy Warriors exacted some revenge, beating their rivals in the title game Saturday. › see page 21
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Coleman chides city
2 a.m. vote split 5-4
Casino project a bust
Alex Browne Staff Reporter
Kevin Diakiw Black Press
After two marathon sessions, Surrey council has jettisoned a plan to build a casino in South Surrey. Over two nights of public hearings, those for and against spoke to council for 11 hours. Those in favour expressed the need for jobs, local entertainment and keeping dollars in the local economy. Those opposed said the $100-million complex would bring crime, traffic snarls and social problems, such as gambling addiction. The entertainment complex was to include a 60,000-sq.-ft. gaming area, 200-room hotel, theatre and a 27,000-sq.-ft. convention and entertainment centre on an 18-acre parcel of land at 10 Avenue and 168 Street. The casino promised to bring in $3 million in revenue each year for Surrey as the host city. Following Monday’s meeting, speakers began anew Friday at 7 p.m. and went until 2 a.m. Saturday. At that point, opponents were out of speakers, and the 30 remaining pro-casino speakers stood down, indicating their mes-
Gord Goble photos
Laura Huhn (right) received a standing ovation from casino opponents, as council listened to a second night of speakers. sage had already been said. Prior to a 5-4 vote, Coun. Bruce Hayne spoke first and said economic growth is important to him, as well as recognizing the need for convention and hotel space. However, he couldn’t bring himself to vote in favour of the project. “I have heard very clearly… the community is very opposed to this facility,” Hayne said. “I really believe this facility is in the wrong location.”
Supporting the project, Coun. Linda Hepner said she recognizes there are significant issues around problem gamblers, but that “I do believe that a transfer from Newton to this site is more palatable.” Coun. Judy Villeneuve said she wouldn’t support the project. “I think the people who have raised the social issues deserve a vote on this council,” she said. Coun. Mary Martin said she
didn’t support the rezoning to casino use in 2010 – “and nothing has been said to change my mind in the last couple of nights.” Coun. Barbara Steele, voting in favour, said she believes the South Surrey site is a good location, and noted Surrey needs more convention space. She also thinks the money Surrey would receive as host municipality is significant. › see page 2
Reaction to the City of Surrey’s decision on the proposed casino/ entertainment complex from Rich Coleman, B.C.’s minister responsible for gaming, was a swift thumbs-down. Coleman told Vancouver media Saturday he was disappointed with the vote and said proponent BC Lottery Corporation wouldn’t “waste time and money” proposing another gambling Rich Coleman complex in gaming minister Surrey, adding it wouldn’t have any confidence in council’s process. He suggested that other areas, including First Nations communities that had expressed interest, would be more likely to be investigated as potential sites for such a complex in future. But Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Kevin Falcon – a member of Coleman’s caucus – said Monday he felt that while council members had faced a difficult issue, “they ultimately made the right decision with respect to what the community wanted.” “At the end of the day, government policy is that casinos should be located in areas where › see page 2
Provincial government promises $5-million payback
District dips into reserves to kick-start schools Sheila Reynolds Black Press
The Surrey School District is putting up $5 million of its own money to get the ball rolling on two long-awaited and much-needed new schools and two school expansions – with the hope that the provincial government will pay the cash back. The move to front the money, says longtime trustee Laurae McNally, is the first of its kind by a B.C. school board, but is necessary as homes continue to be built at a breakneck
pace and schools are busting at the seams in some Surrey neighbourhoods. “We owe it to our students and our parents to move quickly,” McNally said in presenting a motion to fellow trustees at Thursday night’s public board meeting, which passed unanimously. She said residents have been “incredibly frustrated” by school overcrowding and can’t understand why homes pop up continuously, while schools aren’t built until years later.
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McNally said it’s no longer an option to wait for the provincial government to dole out capital budgets, as the process has become highly political and entirely unpredictable. Gone are the days when boards would submit a capital wish list in the fall and find out by February which were approved so they could start planning by spring. “For the last little bit, we’ve been in limbo. We don’t know when projects will be approved and we just continue to grow,” said McNally.
The $5 million will be used to hire architects to start the lengthy design process for new secondary schools in the swelling Clayton and Grandview neighbourhoods in northeast Cloverdale and South Surrey, respectively, as well as to plan two additions on Cloverdale and Grandview elementary schools. The four projects were Surrey’s highest priorities in the capital funding wish list submitted to the province last fall. › see page 3
What’s your New Year’s resolution? How about eating more fruits and veggies?
See See page page 94 For more information, please visit www.kinsfarmmarket.com/greenfighters