We'll need piles of cash to rebuild the pilings...

"On a cash-flow basis, it is not a problem, we can get the work done. But on a budgetary level, we don't want to see taxpayers bear more of the burden of this than what we budgeted for." -- Mayor Herb Pond providing his take on the cost of ferry dock repairs for the Alaska Marine Highway.

Yet another financial surprise for the financially strapped North coast, as the state of dis-repair to the transportation link to Alaska is expected to be somewhere around the million dollar range, a fair amount above the 300,000 that the city had previously budgeted for the project.

It's an amount that makes the cost of repairs for the Alaska Marine Highway Dock at Fairview a tad higher than perhaps the City of Prince Rupert first anticipated. And with that surprise coming ashore, the city is looking towards Victoria for a bit of assistance in footing the bill for the much needed repairs.

Suggesting that the city has been carrying a greater burden for providing tourism facilities for the Northern Gateway, Pond is seeking a sharing of that burden from the provincial government.

The repairs have fast become a priority, as the Alaska Marine Highway System prepares for its busy transportation season starting with the American Memorial Day weekend in late May. With that date in mind, the city announced that for expediency it will be seeking out a contractor shortly. Said Mayor Pond, "Because of the need for speed, we are going to be working with people we know can do the work and who are already in place. We are talking to local contractors who have the expertise,".

Now while this is good for local employment and local industry, the normal procedure for a publicly funded project would be to seek out competitive bids and then make your choice as to which is providing the best value for the dollar to be paid.

With such a short deadline in place, that probably won't be happening.

What should be of interest to the community though, is how city council let this one slide as long as it has. How exactly has the cost of repairs ballooned from the 250,000 dollars reported in the Daily news as recently as this February, to the near million dollar total that has arrived today?

If memory serves correct there were concerns about the Alaska ferry dock last year (and original work took place in 2006 to repair the pilings at that time), so should not the groundwork for a replacement dock not have been put in place then, shouldn't negotiations with the province over shared funding have taken place as well at that time.

The events of this week seem to suggest an evolving situation over these last few years, that has led things to get to the state that they are at the moment.,

We have to wonder if like a famous campaign slogan of a few years ago "That it's the Prince Rupert way?"

Now with time moving fast upon us, it's a scramble to rebuild and yet another financial surprise for the city. Perhaps some answers can be provided to the community, whenever our city council can find a quorum to meet again.

The Daily News featured the details of the pending project as their front page story in Tuesday's edition.

CITY WANTS VICTORIA TO HELP WITH REPAIRS TO FERRY DOCK

Benefits of Alaska ferry felt throughout region, so others should help: Mayor
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Pages one and two

The city of Prince Rupert is going to have to float a million-dollar tab in order to fix the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) dock for this summer season.

But given the regional impact of the facility, the city is hoping it will not be left alone in the boat.
Herb Pond, Mayor of Prince Rupert, said city staff are still drawing up the full scope of the work needed to the dock but it looks like it will cost about a million dollars to fix the many small items that need repairs.

"It's a whole bunch of stuff. If it was just any one of the items that was off, you wouldn't think twice ... but the sum total requires a pretty extensive rebuild," he said.

Last week, following an engineering report that deemed the dock unsafe, the city informed the AMHS they would need to shut down the dock.

Service was halted for two runs but at 3 a.m. Sunday, the AMHS vessel, the Matanuska, successfully unloaded at the B.C. Ferries dock, relieving concerns that service for the northern state would have to be halted while the city fixed the dock.

"We're extremely pleased that Matanuska and now the Taku can tie up in Prince Rupert and lessen any potential scheduling conflicts for our passengers," said Dennis Hardy, deputy commissioner of Marine Operations. "Certainly, we appreciate the invaluable cooperation exhibited by the B.C. Ferries leadership and staff."

Pond said the city will be proceeding as quickly as possible to repair the dock, hopefully by the Memorial Day long weekend in late May.

"Because of the need for speed, we are going to be working with people we know can do the work and who are already in place. We are talking to local contractors who have the expertise," he said. In the meantime, the city hopes to hold vigorous discussions with the province about helping to fund the repairs.

This year, the city budgeted about $300,000 for dock repairs, leaving $700,000 unfunded.
"We want to use this as a catalyst to do what really needs to be done, which is, see this burden be shared more broadly than just Prince Rupert's shoulders," said Pond.

"For expedience, we will do the work, but recognize that for too long we have been solely carrying that responsibility for the province. If people are coming through this gateway in large numbers, they are also coming through Smithers, Terrace, Telkwa, Prince George and all the way through the province," Pond said.

Studies done during the summer of 2006, following the sinking of the B.C. Ferries vessel Queen of the North, brought to light the economic importance of Prince Rupert as a northern ferry gateway.

With reduced service levels, the whole tourism region from Prince Rupert to Prince George and right down to the Lower Mainland, suffered from reduced tourism traffic.

This summer, the AMHS has actually planned increased trips to Prince Rupert and focused on marketing the route and is working in coordination with B.C. Ferries.

"Alaska has renewed interest in the Prince Rupert Gateway. They are putting more sailings per week all summer long. They've increased their marketing and offered some special fares. That's exciting, in that sense, there's an awareness of the value of this gateway and we want to respond in kind," said Pond.

But the city's been punching above its weight for some time when it comes to carrying the costs of being British Columbia's northern gateway, he said.

"It is largely due to our continued involvement in Alaska that these opportunities are happening and we don't get any help on that. That's okay, but we now are going to turn to our provincial counterparts and others and say 'how do we share the cost of this,'" he said.

"On a cash-flow basis, it is not a problem, we can get the work done. But on a budgetary level, we don't want to see taxpayers bear more of the burden of this than what we budgeted for."

Pond also tipped his hat to B.C. Ferries CEO David Hahn, Capt. Stephen Poole, the Northern marine superintendent, and the many agencies that were involved in making the switch, including the port authority, Canadian Border Services and US Customs.

"They have been absolutely unbelievable on making this thing work.

"I phoned David Hahn almost right away and he said what do you need? It is just so encouraging to see such as strong local effort from all of these folks."