Check out our weekly flyer online at thriftyfoods.com
Serving Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra since 1984
WEDNESDAY June 23, 2010
25
Port Moody’s Ryan Johansen will be front and centre at Friday’s NHL Entry Draft.
Your source for local news, sports, weather and entertainment. www.thenownews.com
$100,000 salaries common at city Ninety-one employees working for the City of Coquitlam made more than $100,000 in 2009, nearly doubling the amount over one year previous. Those numbers were released Monday as part of the city’s 2009 schedule of employee remuneration and expenses. Forty-two employees who made over $100,000 were firefighters, a statistical anomaly attributed to retroactive pay that was paid out in one year. The city’s contracts with both the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the union covering the city’s firefighters, IAFF Local 1782, were settled in 2008 after the negotiating process began in 2006. The retroactive pay for that roughly two-year gap is recognized in the 2009 numbers, meaning that a firefighter who normally made about $90,000 previously was bumped up over the $100,000 mark for the 2009 year alone. “It is a bit of an anomaly,” said Mayor Richard Stewart. Only two city staffers made more than $200,000, with city manager Peter Steblin topping out as the highest paid bureaucrat ($226,468) followed by deputy city manager John Dumont ($203,157). The top-10 list of the highest-paid city employees includes: Jim McIntyre, general manager of planning and development ($195,765); Trevor Wingrove, general manager of corporate services ($179,278); Bill Susak, general manager of engineering and public works ($179,134); Sheena MacLeod, manager of financial services ($165,368); Lisa Parkes, manager of legal and bylaw enforcement ($156,548); Tony Delmonico, CONT. ON PAGE 8, see TOP.
Paul vanPeenen/NOW
Ron LePoint of the City of Coquitlam uses a tool to pull down a giant hogweed plant in a ravine near Quadling Avenue and Lebleu Street.
Watch out for this plant, city warns
Giant hogweed, which can cause severe burns, has been spotted in Coquitlam Stories by John Kurucz jkurucz@thenownews.com The City of Coquitlam is asking residents and business owners to be on the lookout for an invasive plant that can cause severe burns when it comes in contact with human skin. The giant hogweed has been spotted in select areas around the city — particularly in the older, more developed areas of western Coquitlam — and now staff are calling on residents to be vigilant and proactive in terms of trying to weed out the problem. “There are some people who have it on their lots, which is one of the messages we want to get out there — it would be best for people to try and eradicate it from their own property because of the health hazards associated with it,” said Lanny Englund, the
city’s urban forestry operations manager. The plant grows to 15 feet (4.5 metres) and has large flowers that can grow two feet (0.6 metres) wide. The sap contained in the hairs covering the plant and in the stem can cause severe burns when they come into contact with human skin. The weed typically flowers in July and August and its blossoms consist of large white flowers. “Hogweed is one of those invasive plants that is well-known and is extremely problematic,” Mayor Richard Stewart said in an interview Tuesday. “The reality is the sap of giant hogweed is dangerous, and more dangerous, as I understand it, than stinging nettles.” Englund said the city has contained the spread of the plant to about 20 sites on public lands, though eradicating it entirely could prove to be impossible. “Because it’s established so well in other areas of the Lower Mainland, we wouldn’t ever say that we’ve
eradicated it. We have to always be monitoring the situation because it will keep being reintroduced.” Residents who spot giant hogweed on public lands are asked to contact the city’s leisure and parks department by calling 604-933-6226 or e-mailing parkswork@coquitlam.ca. The city recommends that giant hogweed found on private property be dealt with by a qualified landscape professional who’s familiar with the plant. “The last thing we want them do is to go out and remove it without being extremely careful because you can’t get the sap on your skin,” Englund said. “You need to be covered head to toe when you’re trying to remove the plant, just in case.” An entire webpage has been set up on the city’s website to educate residents about the plant. Log on to www.coquitlam.ca/Residents/Public+Safety/ Health+Safety/Giant+Hogweed.htm for more information.
Sylvan this summer... better grades next fall. Reading • Writing • Math • Study Skills | 604.941.9166 Coquitlam
|
www.sylvanbc.ca