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Sports: Pitt runner gets it all. 33 We d n es d ay, M ay 2 0, 2 015 · mapleridgenews.com · est. 1978 · (office) 604-467-1122 · (del ive r y) 6 0 4 - 4 6 6 - 6 3 9 7
Property tax hike approved In Maple Ridge, going up 3.5 per cent By Phil M elnyc h u k pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
The final numbers are in and the final tax increase for Maple Ridge homeowners will be 3.5 per cent this year. Council gave final reading to the financial plan bylaw at its May 12 meeting, three days before the May 15 deadline. For an average home valued at $400,000, the increase means another $94 in municipal taxes and levies. That’s based on a tax hike of just under three per cent for municipal purposes, which includes increases for parks, for general city purposes and for an infrastructure fund, in which money is stashed away to pay later for roads and sewer line repairs. See Taxes, 4
Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS
Aroma therapy Maple Ridge secondary Grade 12 student Alysha Yoon keeps a close eye on her cheesy chicken combination during School District No. 42’s annual chowder competition last week. A total of 34 students and 17 teams took part in the annual event.
Doctor critical of homeless strategy Mayor defends $160,000 for outreach
tion, but has committed $160,000 for new outreach workers without a competitive bid process. Zubek noted that a body of local doctors known as the Maple Ridge Division of Family Practice has a Share Care Team and hired a nurse practitioner to offer health care services to the homeless and mentally ill from an office at the Salvation Army. Zubek mentors the nurse, meeting with her twice a month and helping to deal with issues as they arise. Other doctors with the divi-
By Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
THE NEWS/files
Dr. Liz Zubek.
A Maple Ridge family doctor who deals with people living on the streets is critical of the measures Maple Ridge is taking to deal with the issue. Dr. Liz Zubek said council seems to have ignored current service providers in formulating its plan of ac-
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who should have been consulted, but were not. These include current outreach workers at Alouette Home Start Society and the Salvation Army. The physician, whose office backs on to Cliff Avenue, by the Salvation Army shelter, was also critical of the city spending $160,000 for four outreach workers for a six-month term, awarding the contracts to Alouette Addictions and Canadian Mental Health in a “sole sourced” process. See Homeless, 9
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sion also mentor her. Zubek, who recently spent a night in a tent with a homeless woman in the camp on Cliff Avenue, said the Maple Ridge Homelessness Solutions Task Force, while in its discovery phase, did not consult the nurse practitioner or the division. “We’re highly involved with that population,” said Zubek. “We would be a natural group to consult.” Zubek asked to give input to the task force, but was ignored. She said there are other people and agencies working with the homeless
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