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001C968F A Wee&..y '.XeWS easel. Ci rculati ug 1'1.00 per year. Newsstands 5c per Copy the District of West Vancouver-- Amblest'de, Hollyburu, Westou, Duttcl'arable Cypress Park, Caulfeild, Whytecliff, Etc. ~o 1. I I I E I G H T PA G ES HOLLYBURN P.O., WEST VANCOUVER. B.C„ FRIDAY, jAi4UARY Ilth. 1929 No. 41 Reeve Vinson Expects Prosperous Year In an interview with Reeve Vinson regarding the coming el- ection he stated that in offering himself for re-election for 1929 he had no apologies to offer. "iAIy policy," said i4Ir. Vinson, "is the same that has been tried and proven for seven terms of office, a policy of Progress." The ma- jority of ratcpayers at the elec- tion of 1928 «pproved of his pol- icy and elected him, he said, on his Progressive Program. The ratepayers approveil of the by- law submit ted calli»g for the wideni»g and paving of Marine Drive from KVest Bay west. This work, the Reeve said, is &veil in hand. The work is about half fiiiished and well ahead of sched- ule, and I fully expect it to be completed early in the spring. The iNelson Creek EVater System was completed during the year, also the Queen's Avenue Water main which g;ives better pressure to the higher levels of the Broth- ~ r's Creek wa ter system. I might say that steel and cast e lI' g, 'PP~ y V V VINSON Seven Times Reeve Who, with the councillors, has been highly complimented for successful termination of the P. G. E. Railway negotiations. iron pipe was used in these sys- tems making them permanent. The volunteer Fire Brigade has given wonderful service, but the time has about arrived when a proper Fire Department must be installed !n order to protect our dwellings, which have a value of $3,226,492. The addition to the i~Iunicipiil Hall ivhich the ratepayers approved has been completed for many years to come. The Cou»cil has at last arrived at an agreement with the P.G.E. directors anil the Public Works Department regarding the dis- continuing of the train service and the arrangements arrived at are satisfactory to the Council. The hlunicipality is now in a po- sition to have a new steel and concrete bridge built across the Capilano River and the first four miles of the hlarine Drive wid- e»ed anil paved; something that has been required for a number of years. The Council promised the ratepayers that when an ar- rangement was reached they would have ari opportunity to ap- prove of it. The voters will be calleil upon to approve of the (Continued o» Page 8) The Council Stewardship Meeting There was a large and attentive audience at the Hollyburn Theatre last wednesday night on the occasion of the annual stewardship meeting at ivhich the reeve and council gave an account of the affairs of the municipality during the year just past. Reeve Vinson called on the chairman of the various committees to report to the meeting on the work of the de- partments in their charge. The Reeve making his address last of all. COUNCILLOR J. T. lVATT Councillor AVatt, chairman of the Finance Committee, stat- ed that we in IVest Vancouver could look forward with opti- mism to 1929. He congratulated the board of school trustees in that they had turned back to the council $2400 of the money allotted to them for school purposes. The estimates taken as a whole had not been exceeded. In those cases where this had occurred it had been counter- acted by underspending by other committees. In striking their estimates they had figured $35,000 worth of tax arrears coming in, whereas $9,000 less than this had been collected. Of course the unpaid amount was drawing interest at the rate of 8 per cent., and, if finally unpaid, the land in question would revert, so that the municipality would not suffer any eventual loss. They had expected to make a handsome profit on the transportation system, bQt the 20 minutes service de- manded by the public had cost $7l800 more per month. They had issued the debentures for the additiun to the municipal hall and the hlarine Drive extension bearing a rate of only 4i/ per cent, and had made a good deal, as the first sold at a rate of 94.96 and the second at 94.55. They had also made a profit of $ 10,000 during the year by the exchange of bonds alnady held in the sinking fund for issues just as sound but which were cheaper in price or drew a larger rate of interest. COUNCILLOR lV. BI. JACKAIAN Councillor Jackman, chairman of the transportation Com- mittee, said the council's thanks were due to the local press and the public of West Vancouver for the restraint shown dur- ing the protracted negotiations with the P. G. E. directors over the stoppage of their service to IVhytecliff. This had been of great assistance in enabling such a satisfactory deal to be made, as it had shown that West Vancouver residents were a unit behind their council. In considering transportation matters, it was necessary to remember the increased mileage covered this year by the ferries and busses as a result of the more frequent service. Passenger fares on the fenies for the year amounted to $71,208.80 against an expenditure of $49,197.21, while bus Tares had amounted to $ 18,438.75 as against an expenditure of $ 17,608.96. The actual total deficit on th. whole system was $ 12,313.35, but, as there had been a capital expehditure of $ 10,- 651.91 for re-engining the Sonrisa the actual total net deficit was $ 1,661.44. The ferry committee decided that one of t~vn things must be done, either to build a new ferry or to re- engine the Sonrisa. He himself had voted against the latter, but had made a mistake in so doing, because the Sonrisa was the most efficient boat in the service by virtue of her capacity to stand heavy weather. The council had decided to build a new boat, but, while they had carried 14,000 more passengers in 1928 than in 1927, there had been such a falling off in the number of passengers during the summer months as to render such an expenditure unwarranted. This divas due, and he blamed nobody for it, to the number of people who went i» by private auto. It was a safer trip to the city by water than by auto, and this was proved by the fact that they had carried in 10 years 6,283,218 passengers and not one had been hurt, lost or killed. They were at the parting if the ways, and it was a case of either operating the boats or leasing them. To a question as to the liability of the municipality in the event of an accident involving loss of life, he stated that the council had been advised by the best legal talent available in Vancouver that the liability of the municipality was limited to $37 per ton of the boat's weight. COUNCILLOR R. FIDDES Councillor Fiddes, chairman of the water committee, stated that the major portion of the Nelson Creek System supplying EVhytecliff and the vici»ity had been co»structed in 1928. It was noiv the best system in the district, and the work, more- over, had been done practically by all local labor. Water would have to be provided between this area and Caulfeild, where they had a system purchased from F. Caulfeild for $4,500. There was again another ai.ea between Caulfeild a»d IVest Bav without any water servic'e, ivhich would require their attention. The next system, that at IVest Bay, showed a» operating sui~lus of $809. The Brothers Creek System, ivhich served the district lying east of IVest Bay to the Capilano, divas the largest. The summer shortage had beeii largely remedied by the construc- tio» of the net Queen's Ave. pipeline and the division of the sprinkling hours. The council had ivanted to put a new by- law to improve the water services ge»erally, but had found they could not do so by virtue of the special act under which the system had first come into being. This divas the reason for the putting of the plebiscite as adviseil )&y the inspector of municipalities on 19th instant, and he recommended everybody to vote for it. The council was applying for membership in the )Ietropolita» IVater Board, because in case of accide»ts, The P. G. E. Ry. Deal Is West Vancouver satisfied? SVe think AVest Vancouver is not only satisfied but grateful. Grateful to obtain so much financial solace for the cancellation of its one and only railroad and grateful that the members of the council had the ability and acumen to negotiate so successfully to this end. As a matter of fact we believe that the railroad directors and the provincial government could have withstood our municipality'a claims for compensaton. IVe admire them ior the broad-minded view they chose to take. Reeve Vinson and the councillors have proved their worth to the municipality and the people of KVest Vancouver are showing their recognition of the masterly and business-like manner in which they conducted the negotiations. iso matter what happened we would, and very, very soon, have had to build a new roadbed on BIarine Drive and a new bridge over the Capilano. This P. G. E. Rly. settlement is a God-send for it is a clear and actual saving to the municipality of that sum of money, i.e., $245,000. The taxpayers can figure this out and see just what it means to them. As we have said before we like to hand bouquets rather than brick-bats. There's a bouquet coming to Reeve Vinson for thus arranging one of the biggest things that has ever happened to SVest Vancouver. IVe believe in giving credit where it is due. Four Election Meetings Next Week There will be four public meet- people in the Hollyburn Theatre ings in IVest Vancouver next on wednesday night. xveek at which addresses will be given by the candidates. 11r. Leyiand will be heard in Reev $ i h ed f the Ho 1 lyburn Thea tre on Thurs- a m~ting Gi the Hollyburn Thm. '~ "'g tre on 51onday night and anoth- Candidates for all offices are er in Ambleside Hall next Friday invited to speak at each of these i~lr. Gisby will address the meetings. a member would get the preference over a non-member, and the membership cost nothing. COUNCILLOR BLAIR Councillor Blair, chairman of the Board of EVorks, said that the estimate for his department had been $30,000, and he had spent over $29,000, and so had kept within the amount allotted which, he thought, was satisfactory. This sum had b:en spread fairly equally over the various wards. They had spent so far $97,000 on the Marine Drive con- tract and $43,000 was charged back to the government. They were holding back 15 per cent. A good jnb was being done, and he was of the opinion that the road would outlive the bond issues. Referring to the sum to be given by the provincial government for the cancellation of West Vancouver's agree- ment with the P. G. E. he stated the cost of Marine Drive con- struction from IVest Bay to Capilano and the building of a new bridge over that river ivould cost $"87,000. The road would be 20 feet wide and the bridge 22 feet in width. The Parks Committee, of avhich he was chairman, had been allotted an estimate of $ 1,500 and had spent $ 1919. He ivould have liked to have spent much more on this work. ~Iemorial Park in particular divas in a prominent position in the municipality, and should have more attention given it. POLICE COiDIISSIONER ilcTAVISH In the unavoidable absence of Commissioner R. C. Procter, Commissioner 41cTavish presented the police report, showing that there had been an increase in receipts of $706.50. Their estimate had be n $ 12,000 and they had spent $ 11,690.56, which included the purchase of a net side car. REEVE VINSON Reeve Vinson, who spoke last, referred in glowing terms to the amicable relations which had existed throughout the year between himself and the various menibers of the council. It had been a great pleasure for him to work ivith them. Every chairman had given a full report of his department, and therefore there was no necessity for him to enlarge further on the work they had accomplished. The estimated revenue he said could oiily be based on that of the previous year, and consequently with changing con- ditio»s and especially in a rapidly grooving district like lVest Vancouver mistakes were bound to occur. There was absolute ly no room for pessimism a» regards the future of the district. The determination of the P.G.E. directors to cancel the service had come as a distinct shock. So far as the deal for $245,000 now consummated was concerned, the members of the cou»cil had had as much to do with it as himself. It was the best deal they had been able to make after long negotiations, and in his opinion was an excellent one. The passenger service to Whytecliff was in any case can- called for good, although the line was nnt to be aba»doned, The P. G. E. directors, however, had kept faith with IVest Vancouver, in that they were running a line of busses on the same schedule as their trains. A vote of thanks to the reeve and council for their work in 1928 proposed and seconded by members of the audience divas carried unanimously.