Podunk Below the Masthead, Monday, November 30, 2009

Infrastructure money for the port, another surprise for the City when it comes to Watson Island and BC Ferries outlines it's proposed Vancouver to Rupert plans, some of the items of the Monday news cylce.

Daily News, Front page, headline story
PRPA RECEIVES $3 MILLION IN INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING -- Details of Saturday's announcement at the Port of Prince Rupert which saw Conservative MP John Weston bearing gifts. As we outlined on the blog on Saturday, the Federal Government's infrastructure program will provide for a share of three million dollars in infrastructure upgrades to the Port of Prince Rupert.

The passing of Nisga'a Lisims President Nelson Leeson was featured in Monday's paper as well outlining some of his accomplishments over his term of office, including the Nisga'a treaty of which he was a major architect of.

The City of Prince Rupert may have to dig a little deeper when it comes to spending on the pulp mill infrastructure. A broken cast iron gate at the Rainbow Lake Dam is preventing the proper control of the flow of water, with the potential for flooding of Highway 16 if not managed properly. When the City took control of the pulp mill site in September they were under the impression that they had no responsibility for the dam sites that were part of the mill infrastructure, however it appears that's not the case as outlined in an October letter from the Ministry of the Environment.

The sports section featured a review of Midget rep hockey and high school basketball in Monday's edition

(Daily News Archive Articles links for November 30th )

The Northern View
BC Ferries outlines rationale, details for proposed Prince Rupert to Tsawwassen route -- A review of the public information session hosted by BC Ferries Chairman David Hahn, outlining the Ferry Corporations thoughts on a potential Vancouver to Prince Rupert ferry link (see article here)

CFTK TV 7 News
Federal funding announcement benefits Port -- TV 7's review of Saturday's infrastructure announcement (see article here)
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Sahar Nassimdoost's video report on the funding announcement.
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CFTK TV 7 News
Northern BC Residents question BC Ferries -- Details of the Monday information session from BC Ferries outlining the possible changes to Ferry connections in Prince Rupert if the planned Vancouver - Rupert link is put in place (see article here)

CBC Northern British Columbia, Daybreak North
No items for Monday were updated on the CBC Daybreak website

Daily News, Front page, headline story
PRPA receives $3 Million in infrastructure funding
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Monday November 30, 2009

Prince Rupert Port Authority president and CEO Don Krusel made the announcement Saturday.

Because Saturday’s big announcement had nothing to do with Canpotex or Phase II of the container port expansion project, Krusel said he felt he needed to make sure people understood that even the smaller investments matter.

The PRPA will receive $1.5 million of federal infrastructure spending in Prince Rupert.

During a tour of the city Saturday, John Weston, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP, announced that $3 million-worth of projects have been approved by the federal government. Of that money, $1.5 million will come from the Government of Canada with the PRPA picking up the remainder. The funding is being delivered through the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.

“These three projects, while a little smaller than what everyone expects, are critical to improving service at the port,” said Krusel.

Of the promised dollars, $1 million in federal funding will be used for repairs and seismic upgrading to the substructure to extend the economic life of the Atlin terminal.

Work will also be done to the main floor to improve the viability of the Atlin Terminal and enhance services for cruise passengers visiting Prince Rupert.

According to the PRPA, the funding will enhance efficiencies in security operations at the Port of Prince Rupert by renovating the upper floor of the terminal to create a Security Command Centre and centralize all security staff in one location.

PRPA Director of Port Development, Mike Graham, said that this kind of project was needed to ensure the viability of a building that is almost 90 years old.

“When we had that earthquake two weeks ago, I immediately thought of this building. A significant earthquake would render this building unsafe and unusable for quite some time,” said Graham.

Another $250,000 in federal funding was promised to construct a one-kilometre pipeline to connect to the District of Port Edward water supply. This will secure the water supply for existing port related operations on Ridley Island, while creating capacity to support the continued development and build out of the Ridley Island Industrial Site.

These improvements will reduce the risk of potentially shutting down operations as a result of water shortage and the high cost associated with emergency response to water supply failure.
Ridley Island Culvert Replacement project will receive $250,000 in federal funding to replace 340 metres of eroding culverts along the Ridley Island Causeway, which was built in 1982.

Due to the large volumes of water that flow through these culverts at a high velocity, the culverts have reached the end of their lifespan and need to be replaced.

Graham said that because of the type of work involved in the projects, local contractors would have a chance to bid on the projects.

“We are hoping to use local guys for these because it’s all low-tech stuff,” said Graham.

While the three projects were not the big type of announcement some locals had been hoping for, Weston wanted to impress that his government’s ear was bent toward port expansion on the West Coast.

“The conservative government is committed to investments to the communities. We are aware of the expansion plans for the Prince Rupert gateway and Don [Krusel] has done a good job advocating for this community in Ottawa.”