Pond ponders the positives

Mayor Herb Pond provided an optimistic forecast for the coming year for Prince Rupert, one filled with opportunities and change for the North coast.

In a front page story, in the first edition of the Daily News for 2008 the mayor spoke of those "concepts" that may soon become concrete.

With change will come the need to make sure that the city is prepared to offer those ammenities that industry needs for a vibrant economy. In his thoughts for the Daily, he touches on housing, telecommunications, infrastructure airport concerns and a need to keep a watchful eye on spending.

All elements that he feels are needed to help make Prince Rupert the "next great port city", a theme that seems to be the new clarion call and positioning statement for the future of the city.

Of course, it being a new year's message of sorts, it focused very much on the potential and the future, with little mention of the many controversies of the last few years. Those issues that many in the community are still concerned about and are keeping a watchful eye out for as well.

Some issues that we're sure will pop up again as the year progresses and will no doubt be recounted for the Mayor at city hall and in the letters to the editor pages over the months to come.

CITY MUST BE READY TO GRAB OPPORTUNITIES IN '08: POND
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Pages one and three

Prince Rupert's mayor is looking forward to a measured economic recovery in 2008, one that allows the city to keep stride with the changes taking place.

Looking back on 2007, Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said the port city came a long way in its goal of becoming a gateway for the Northwest corridor that stretches between Prince Rupert, along Highway 16 to Prince George, east to Edmonton and beyond.

"In 2007, we moved from a place where a lot of people were hoping it would happen but not believing it would happen, and we went from that all the way through to a point where everyone agrees it works," said Pond.

Maher Terminals and CN Rail have been moving COSCO containers through the new Fairview Container Terminal since late October, breaking speed records for the movement of goods from the West Coast to Chicago.

"I believe, in 2008 we will see some announcements around Phase II of the Fairview Terminal but more importantly we will begin to see some of those economic opportunities that right now are just concepts," said Pond, speaking of the associated warehousing components, fisheries and forestry opportunities that could stem from development of the new trade corridor.

While this will be exciting for the local population, Pond said the city needs to remain focused on ensuring all the amenities are available for new industry while at the same time, keeping its finances in line.

Making sure housing stock meets the needs of new and current residents, ensuring telecommunications meets the needs of industry, and ensuring airport infrastructure is maintained and expanded are all elements of ensuring Prince Rupert becomes Canada's next "great port city", said Pond.

There were some movements in that direction in 2007. The installation of the new CityWest fibre link between Prince Rupert and Terrace was a big key to meeting the technology needs of industry, said Pond.

In 2008, Pond would like to see seating capacity at the airport expand.

"There have been times in the last year when air carrier capacity in and out of our community has been a limit to our growth and activity. I am aware of instances where meetings have been cancelled or relocated simply because of the air capacity," said Pond.

The city will also continue to assess future opportunities to improve access to the airport, located on Digby Island.

When it comes to the city's finances, Pond said they intend to continue to keep a careful watch on spending.

"We need to continue to keep a close eye on finances. The challenge for council will be as other entities become financially healthy I think the demands on the city will increase. It was fairly easy to have people understand our economic condition when their economic condition matched ours - when their homes weren't worth much, when their incomes were challenged."

As the local economy improves, he said the city may begin to sound like the party pooper.
However, they haven't forgotten the measures they undertook in 2004 to cut $2 million out of the budget, the funds lost from no longer receiving Watson Island Pulp mill property taxes.

They need to carefully manage the funds to ensure the most pressing needs are met and there is proper planning for future needs, he said.

"We have to stay the course of being financially responsible while meeting the needs of a growing community. I am sure we will see pressure on policing for example. There will probably be pressure on recreation and even though we have fabulous facilities, they haven't been updated for a while and of course there's our basic infrastructure (water, sewer and roads) in that area. We have a lot of work to do."