NW MAN GUILTY OF CHILD PORN CHARGES
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NOSE HOLDING WHILE MARKING THE BALLOT
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TRYING TO DEFINE CONGESTION
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WEDNESDAY
MARCH 25 2015 www.newwestnewsleader.com
New West resident Bryan Clegg dipped into his dark past for his first novel. Page A3
MVHRA votes to support No side Residents group had mind made up before talk: Puchmayr Grant Granger
ggranger@newwestnewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
City of New Westminster engineering technologist Keith Whiteley and Vedran Hrbacek are amongst the first pedestrians to try out the new overpass connecting the Front Street parkade to Pier Park after it officially opened on Monday. The adjoining elevator is expected to be ready by the Victoria Day weekend. Whiteley also announced Monday the Bailey Bridge would be open to vehicular, pedestrian and cycling traffic.
Facelift for Fourth & Columbia facade Rundown Downtown storefront to be renovated Mario Bartel
photo@newwestnewsleader.com
A run down stretch of storefronts on Columbia Street could soon get a new look. The owner of a commercial building at 410 Columbia St. has applied to the city for a special development permit to renovate the
facade along Columbia and Fourth Street. The property has been vacant for years. The city issued a special development permit in 2009 to renovate the building’s south side, which had been deemed “dilapidated” and “unsafe.” But when nothing was done by March 2010, New West council adopted a motion ordering the owners to carry out repairs within 180 days.
That work included replacing the rear wall cladding and supporting substructure, as well as replacing deteriorating wood floor joists and stud walls inside. The owners were also required to hire a geotechnical engineer to determine whether the columns that support the building over a steep slope down to Front Street were still safe. Again the work languished and on Jan. 10, 2012, the B.C. Supreme Court ordered the building’s owners
to comply with council’s resolution. Though a building permit for those repairs was issued the day before the court order, actual work didn’t begin until after the city filed for contempt of the court order. The exterior repairs were completed in November 2012, but the interior remains a jumble of building materials and equipment left behind by previous tenants and occupancy is not permitted. Please see COLUMBIA STREET, A5
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A New Westminster residents association has eschewed the opinion of numerous organizations in the city backing the proposed regional transit congestion tax and opted to support the No side. The Massey Victory Heights Residents Association (MVHRA), at a meeting last Wednesday, decided against giving their blessing to the Metro Vancouver mayors’ transit and transportation council’s plan. A mail-in plebiscite is currently being conducted to determine if the region supports a .5 per cent sales tax in the region to pay its share of the $10 billion plan. MVHRA president Jason Lesage said 41 of 127 eligible voters cast a ballot with 31 voting against the plan. “It’s an issue that impacts all our residents, not just in Massey Victory Heights but across New Westminster,” said Lesage. Please see MEMBERS, A3