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• Seeks cash from council Kayaker Gray plans millennium project JL *J By Chris Malette o. The Intelligencer Bernie Gray says his kayak adventures make him a floating Belleville billboard. So, maybe council might like to float a little money his way for the promotion, he wondered Monday. Gray was before city council describing his second leg of a solo sea kayak adventure that is expected to take him from Flori- da, through Central America and the Panama Canal, north up the coast of Mexico, California and on to Vancouver by spring of 2000. In 1996, he paddled alone from Belleville to Florida, a distance of more than 6,000 km. He is planning the 15,000 km trip to Vancouver, from Florida, as a millennium project, in conjunc- tion with some local schools, and told council he plans to pro- vide constant media and com- puter links while he makes his way along his route. He is asking council for $7,000 to cover about one quarter of the costs in underwriting his trip. "Any time the kayak was pho- tographed," said Gray of his 1996 voyage, "the name Belleville was in the forefront and was men- tioned in all the articles and broadcasts done on my trip. Even when there were no interviews, the kayak was a floating bill- board for Belleville." Council decided to give Gray's proposal consideration at its final budget deliberations in April. Intelligencer file photo by Chris Malette Bernie Gray.