Retrospectives and anticipations

The Northern View of January 9th took full advantage of Mayor Herb Pond’s way with words, to fill a couple of articles looking at the state of Prince Rupert heading into 2008.

From a review of where the city stands with Sun Wave Forest Products (no shame for anyone, but it’s time to move on), to those bright lights of the container port, the Mayor suggested in the articles that Prince Rupert had begun to turn the corner in 2007.

He was enthusiastic about our spot on the world stage, mentioning the many invitations that the city has received in the last year to spread the word in communities throughout North American and beyond.

He wasn’t exactly heavy in the details department in the articles, making his comments more of a vision statement, than an actual line by line account of the year just past or a timeline for the year to come.

As we head into 2008, the Mayor feels that a lot of our questions will be answered. With investors apparently poised to set up shop in our town, the Mayor believes that 2008 will see some of those projects announced.

It would seem that prosperity is still just around the corner, we guess it’s just a matter of which corner and how far away it is.

Mayor says city making good progress with Sun Wave
Shaun Thomas
The Northern View
January 9, 2008
Page Two

With December 31, 2007 having passed without pulp being produced by Sun Wave Forest Products at the Watson Island Mill, Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond says the city remains in productive discussions with the company to ensure that they live up to their obligations to the benefit of North Coast residents.

“We have been able to drive home the point that they have not been able to fulfill their commitment under the partnering agreement and nobody has to hang their head in shame over that, it just is what it is. Now we need to move on, and moving on involves a number of things. It involves that site being put into productive use for job creation, it involves seeing taxes that are owed caught up and paid and it involves ensuring that there is a business enterprise out there that can pay taxes moving forward,” he said, noting that the total owed by Sun Wave is in the millions of dollars.

“There are really two amounts of money. There is the amount of money we owe at other levels of government on their behalf in terms of school taxes and those sorts of things and those were never part of a partnering agreement and are outstanding. They are certainly over $1 million although I can’t remember the exact number. Then there is the municipal tax portion, which is probably in the $3 million range.”

And while Sun Wave did not put the land to use for industrial or job creation purposes Pond said that he remains confident that, should the company choose, it wouldn’t take long to find a tenant for the site.

“There is a lot of interest in that property. That property is one of the most desirable investment sites on the west coast of North America.”

“Hopefully this is the year that we put the last of that story behind us and we start talking about the future,” he added.

MAYOR DISCUSSES 2007, 2008
By Shaun Thomas
The Northern View
January, 9, 2008
Page three

As the New Year gets underway, Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond is reflecting on the successes of 2007 and looking ahead to what could come to the community in 2008.

Citing the opening of the container port at Fairview Terminal and investment in the community by a number of new and existing businesses, Pond said that the last year was one where the community started to turn the corner.

“2007 was a year of returning slowly to health as a community. We had families returning, family-supporting jobs entering the community and seeing some improvement as a result of that in retail and other sectors. We still have a long way to go, but 2007 was a year of substantial improvements on a number of fronts.”

“Without doubt it was a year when we continued to be invited to step onto the world stage and where we cultivated increased interest in what is happening here in this North Coast community and the Northwest in general/ It was really positive and it is leading to more,” he said in regards to the numerous conferences and events that the city was invited to in communities throughout North American and beyond.

With 2007 seeing people and jobs returning to the community, Pond said he sees 2008 providing more good news for the city.

“I think 2008 is a year where a lot of our questions will be answered. It is where the picture becomes clearer as things come in. We all knew a container port would be good for the community, but we didn’t understand and we still don’t understand all of the opportunities that are going to generate.”

“We are certainly dealing with investors whoa re interested in setting up businesses and taking advantage of the transportation complex that exists now. I think in 2008 we will see some of those projects announced, we sill see increased business through the container port and hopefully in 2008 we will hear some good news about phase two. It will be a year of continued growth as we return to health,” he said.

And while the city has yet to determine the priorities for 2008 and could be looking at a 10 year infrastructure plan, Pond said he would like to see some infrastructure maintenance or improvement projects get underway in 2008. Among the projects that could be part of 2008 are improvements to the airport and a bypass road.