Along the Fraser Bad truckers give all a dirty reputation. p6
Metro count shows drop in homeless. p5
THE NEWS
Festival Goodbye Chums time again. p16
www.mapleridgenews.com Friday, April 25, 2014 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · Delivery: 604-466-6397
Ridge council defeats move to relax stream rules
Fast track At 14, Sean Okawa is graduating from Thomas Haney secondary and heading for university. See story, p3 Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Coun. Al Hogarth’s proposal defeated 6-1 by Ph i l M e lnych uk staff reporter
Maple Ridge is sticking with its tougher stream protection regulations after council defeated a proposal to move to developer-friendly setback rules Tuesday. Coun. Al Hogarth’s proposal to adopt the riparian areas regulation, where environmental consultants determine distances that buildings and roads can be from streams, was voted down 6-1. Council considered having the yet-to-be-formed environmental advisory committee review regulations, but Coun. Cheryl Ashlie said stream rules were considered when the new environmental management strategy was being formulated. See Streams, p12
‘Trustees are missing the bus’ Parents concerned about busing options in budget by Ne i l Co r b e t t staff reporter
Community: Bob Shantz is Maple Ridge’s citizen of the year. See story, p4
As the school board is compiling statistics and looking at anecdotal research about what the effects of changing its busing policy would be, it is becoming clear that some people would be hurt by the decision. The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school board held a public meet-
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ing on Tuesday night at Thomas Haney secondary, to hear public input. The board outlined that it must find $5 million in cuts for its 2014-2015 budget. Trustees are considering two options: cut regular busing service in the district, or charge parents whose children use buses $215 a year for each child, to recoup some of its costs. The cost of busing regular students is $1,400 per child. There were approximately 35 parents at the meeting, which was a comparatively small sample of the 470 students who ride one of
the district’s 12 buses. The parents divided into table groups of about five at each, and had their comments recorded in writing. Parents Jim and Joni Eros have two children who are bussed to Whonnock elementary. They would like to send their children to their neighbourhood school, Albion elementary, which is a five minute walk for the kids. But one child is 20th on the waiting list to get into the crowded school. The kids have to rise earlier than their neighbours each morning, to catch the bus to Whonnock.
Index Opinion Along the Fraser Driveway Community Calendar Gardening Scoreboard Kinected
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“And now they’re taking buses away?” said Joni. She called the proposal offensive, because it fails to recognize the public education system’s responsibility to accommodate every child, and serve every taxpaying family. “The public school system needs to be for all children, or none of them.” The couple resents being inconvenienced by the system, and the implication that they may now have to pay for bus service or drive the kids to school themselves. See Bussing, p13
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