Prince Rupert's Business sector pushes back when it comes to recent guidelines

The City of Prince Rupert's $200,000 consultants report, down-town design guidelines and parking bylaw may be gathering dust for the foreseeable future, that is if a group of Prince Rupert business owners can convince council of what they see is the error of their ways.

Council which recently implemented its business design guidelines heard from a trio of business leaders on Monday night, there to explain that the City's newly introduced  guidelines are impossible to comply with and are putting prohibitive costs on local business owners if they wish to upgrade their properties.

John Marogna, Richard Lutz and Richard Wright spoke before Council on Monday evening and painted a dire picture for the local commercial class, which they suggest won't be helped at all by the city's recent moves.

With a declining economy and a recent exodus of residents out of the city, local business operators are barely hanging on and with the City now adding on extra burdens many fear for their future in the city.

With spending by customers falling locally and the number of their visits declining, the businesses of the city are suffering a double hit from those revenue shortfalls while at the same time facing a growing economic hit from rising taxes, utility fees and charges.

The trio providing a letter endorsed by 46 other business owners who took issue with the City's parking regulations and with the development guidelines.

Parking not surprisingly has once again become a hot button issue for the local business community, an ongoing battle with City Hall that never seems to find a resolution. It by far has to be the most discussed issue in town, and one that always seems to end up with somebody mad at City Hall.

The Mayor offered up his thoughts following the presentation, suggesting that until the economy of the city improves it may be a wise move to hold off on the implementation of the guidelines that have raised so much concern.

And that would seem to be the most sensible approach, if for no other reason than to make things as simple as possible for local business owners to renovate their properties around town, especially those that have deteriorated noticeably along the city's downtown core.

If the city does decide to hold off on its new guidelines, it would be nice to see the local business community take charge of the unsightly mess that some of the properties in town have evolved into after any number of years of neglect.

Still, with 200,000 dollars already spent, one must wonder if there was any kind of feedback provided to the guidelines before implementation, if so, why those concerns didn't find their way into the finished product is an intriguing question.

Beyond that, considering the nature of the city's economy over the last ten years or so, putting any kind of roadblock in the way of improvement seems like an unwise strategy, which is something you might have thought would have been considered before implementation as well.

By putting further pressures on the tenuous state of the city's business class, the risk of further closures to a sector that is struggling seems to be likely. It also could work against attracting any new businesses to the city once they tally up the assorted costs, taxes and charges that it seems are required to operate a business here.

The growing discontent from the existing business class certainly doesn't paint the picture of a business friendly community, an image that the city will have to present if it wishes to bring new opportunities and new services to the city.

Otherwise, the traffic heading out of town towards Terrace and beyond, will only get heavier and heavier.

Shaun Thomas of the Northern View provided some background on the issue and a thorough review of the presentation to council on Monday night.

Prince Rupert Zoning Bylaw items
Prince Rupert Parking study

Not just a raise in pay; but endless days of Swim and Play!

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”— Napoleon, from George Orwell’s Animal Farm

“It was why them, and not us!?”— Michael Curnes, City of Prince Rupert director of recreation and community services, explaining the genesis of the complimentary recreation centre pass program for all civic workers

It’s been a good couple of weeks to be a city worker as the City of Prince Rupert in addition to coming to terms on a new five year labour agreement has also throw in the added bonus of free trips to the city’s recreation facilities.

In a surprising development for a still struggling and cash strapped town, Prince Rupert City council approved a plan to provide all city workers with complimentary passes to the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre and the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre, designed to promote a healthier lifestyle for those that work the daily grind of civic employment. The move apparently will patch over some hard feelings on the city worker side over the current arrangement which sees the city’s firefighters and RCMP officers provided with the complimentary passes.

Interestingly enough, the decision wasn’t made public during the recent contract negotiations (neither at the time was the progress and issues around those contract negotiations), nor was the subject up for discussion during the tax increase debates of the last few weeks, but rather the decision was announced and voted on in the same night, that after the city had approved yet another tax increase for the city’s residents of 4 per cent for this tax year.

Considering the buzzword during the last election was to be transparent and open, the kind of oh, by the way, announcement of the plan doesn’t seem to fit in with the much declared intentions to hold up to that standard of the last election campaign.

Only councilor Ken Cote seemed to realize the poor optics of the day, as he was the only member of council to vote against the plan. It’s a vote that seems to put him on the other side of the aisle of those that seem a tad out of touch with the feelings of the taxpayers of the city these days.

While most residents probably wouldn’t object to their city workers receiving a discount to the Civic Centre and Earl Mah facilities (much like those who work in private enterprise benefit from a staff discount), or perhaps even have the union and the city split the difference on the wellness initiative through a payroll deduction plan.

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But in an era of spiraling taxation and a declining tax base, those that are left in town and on the hook to finance all of the city’s human resources and healthy lifestyle initiatives might be a little upset.

It’s an ironic twist that may find some of the city’s taxpayers subsidizing their civic employees to take advantage of those fine civic centre facilities, while they themselves probably can’t afford to pay the fees required for those that aren’t civic workers.

We suspect that there may be a wee backlash on this idea, and that the issue may come up in front of council a few more times before November’s election comes around…

Council members may wish to invest in some asbestos garments, as it could prove to be one of the hotter issues to come along in a year that has provided no shortage of head shaking decisions from the city’s governing circle.

The Daily News featured details of the plan in Thursday’s paper.

City staff to get free access to recreation facilities
By Patrick Witwicki
The Daily News
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Pages one and two

The City of Prince Rupert introduced a new City Employee Wellness Program policy at Monday night's council meeting, meaning all full-time city employees will get to use its recreation facilities for free.

They join an elite group alongside RCMP members and firefighters, who now have free access to all the recreational facilities, including the Russell Gamble Gymnasium and the Earl Mah Aqauatic Centre.

Instructional paid-for programs, like pilates, are not included.

The move was about making city staff healthier, and would add benefits such as reduced WCB claims due to health, and also enable the city to attract and keep employees, said Michael Curnes, director of recreation and community services.

"It is making a difference," he said.

“We still need a lot of adult mentors.”

But Coun. Ken Cote was not pleased with the proposal.

He believes it gives the perception that the city is showing favouritism to the “elite” working class of Prince Rupert wile others in this town cannot afford to attend the gym, even one night of the week.

“I understand your intent, but I’m having trouble with it,” said Cote.

“Why wouldn’t we just offer it to all the citizens of Prince Rupert?”

Curnes said that option just wasn’t feasible , and he said that the fact that the employees would still have to pay for all of the recreation department programs alleviates the cost of giving 107 full-time employees complete complimentary access to the facility.

“If we were an utopian society, maybe we could do that, but we’re just offering this as an employee wellness program,” said Curnes.

Coun. Tony Briglio said that if there were other people in town who worked for other businesses or corporations, that they should be pushing for some type of wellness program as well. He also suggested that it would be a wise decision for businesses to offer such programs because they keep employees happy and also help attracts potential workers to Rupert.

“What we’re really talking about here, is we’re going to keep the employees healthier,” he said. “It speaks well for the City of Prince Rupert that this is about how we treat our employees, and you would think this will save us money over the years (in WCB claims)

But Cote still didn’t think the policy was fair.

“This policy just makes us look like Cold War Russia, where full-time workers get all the benefits, and the taxpayers pay for it,” he said. “The facility is run by our taxpayers, many who work part-time and have a couple of children. They’re living on a scrape-by wage, and they’re having a lot of trouble paying for this.

“Everyone pays for that facility, but only a select group gets to use it.”

Coun. Joy Thorkelson seemed to be riding the fence during the debate and suggested council put the initiative in effect for one year to see how things go, and then reopen the debate.

“I believe that employees should have the best,” she said. “I believe in more medical benefits, wage increases.. nothing is too good for the working class, and I think we should promote health.

“On the other hand, I spoke to the firefighters, and they said they feel uneasy about what the community was saying, so some are using it, but many aren’t.”

She added that it would be diligent to ask if the workers want this benefit, or if they would prefer not to have it.

“If the workers want this, all employers should be giving their employees time for health,” she said. “Because if they don’t want it, all we’ve created is bad feeling between city workers and the public.”

Curnes said that the main reason both the RCMP and firefighters felt uncomfortable was for that exact reason – the city workers felt they were being left out.

“It was why them, and not us!?” he said “This does equalize it”

Coun. Briglio requested that council strike the sentence in the report that read “upon retirement, will be issued a lifetime pass,” because it could cause further grief in the community, especially if a full-time worker, for example, has only lived in Rupert for two years, while others may have toiled for more than 30 years.

“This would be opening a can of worms,” he said.

Cote added: “I don’t get a pension and I’m close to retirement, and I can choose to jump up and down and do calisthenics, and I’ll be just fine.”

In the end, council approved the report with the amendments to the retirement clause, and to Thorkelson’s suggestion that the report get reopened after one year.

Cote voted against, but the motion went through 5-1.

Council serves up a plate of fish n chips, financial tips and a search for a twin on the agenda for work tonight.

Monday’s city council meeting will offer up a smorgasbord of civic governance with a full agenda planned for our local political leaders to look over.

The Green Apple will once again be on the “to do” list, this time a request for an extension of the deadline for compliance to repair the pilings that hold the restaurant in place at the corner of McBride and Third Avenue.

The folks at Chances are seeking an endorsement from council, of its bid for an extension of its hours of operation, so as to allow for “patron participation” at the Gaming centre on 1st Avenue West.

Council will also receive a report from the office of the Projects and Initiatives co-coordinator where a request for funding to host the Performing Arts Festival in 2009 has been submitted. The Festival which would be planned to run from May 25-29 of next year, would hopefully draw up to 1000 visitors to the city in the sunny month of May and provide a boost to the local tourist economy. The Host committee is seeking 10,000 dollars in funding from Council and would like to have the city waive rental fees and other costs on the Civic Centre and Lester Centre for the Arts.

Of course before you can agree to provide funds for anything, you actually need some money in the bank. Also up at council tonight is a final look at and a vote on the revenue anticipation borrowing bylaw. A procedure where the city can head over the CIBC bank machine and take out some cash and have a float on hand to keep things rolling until the tax revenues filter on in. The document on the agenda for tonight’s meeting suggests a nice tidy sum of 1 million dollars as a desired amount; be patient however, it might take a few minutes to punch in all those numbers at the ATM.

Wrapping up the highlights for tonight, is the search for a twin for the City of Prince Rupert. The Province has launched a new initiative to reach across the Pacific Ocean and make friends with cities in Korea, Japan, India or China. Council will consider their options and consult the travel agents, all in order to determine which may be the best bet for our Pacific strategy and any required cross cultural visits.

You can peruse all the details on these and more items on the agenda direct from the city’s website, where tonight’s blueprint for action has been posted.

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.

Most dogs and cats are still welcome, but the elephants will have to go!

Noah would have a real problem bringing the ark to shore in Rupert if a couple of new bylaws come into effect.

The city of Prince Rupert turned its attention to the animal kingdom this past week, with a number of proposed bylaws that will reign in the current concern over roaming dogs, feral cats and a previously undeclared worry over elephants and their fellow travelers in the circus.

The city has outlined new rules and licensing requirements for pet owners regarding their pets and created a couple of new zones for dogs to roam off leash, all in a bid to get a bit of a handle on the leash on the escalating calls for the banning breeds and holding pet owners more accountable for their pets behavior (and vice versa we assume).

Rupertites can browse through the different bylaw components from the city's website.

And while the bulk of the interest will be those changes for the world of domestic pets there is also a change in attitude towards exotic animals, with the city providing a lengthy list of exotic and non domesticated animals it would see banned from the city.

From Apes to porcupines, walruses to whales and many, many more, none shall be setting up homesteading rights on Kaien Island should the bylaws be approved at the November 26th Council meeting.

For those with a taste for the exotic, you can scan the city's directives from the website, 21 pages of possibilities to see if your potential pet gets the seal (though seals are banned by the way) of approval

An indirect casualty of the new laws would be the traveling circus that arrives in town once a year; if it were to travel to the north coast again it would have to leave the elephants outside of the city limits.

Perhaps they can spend some time on the outskirts of town and chat with the deer that still will no doubt enjoy the freedom of the city, as they have for so many years.

The Daily News has full details on both proposed bylaws in the Friday edition of the paper. We recommend playing The Rover's The Unicorn as you read along...

New laws call for cat licences, dog fines
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, November 16, 2007

Pages one and three

The city's proposed animal control bylaw could limit the number of cats and dogs people can own, require signs for "dangerous dogs" and increase licence fees.

The public got a first look at the bylaw on Tuesday night. Council gave it two readings and the city is looking to get feedback from the public.

"We urge everybody to have a look on the website and it will be available at city hall in hard copy," said acting mayor Joy Thorkelson.

"It certainly is going to be controversial because we haven't done anything like this before."
Coun. Nelson Kinney said the bylaws have to do with the protection of children and adults, and was developed following a number of complaints about dangerous animals.

"People should go over all of this before they make a decision against or for," he said. "This is very important for our kids and our mail people."

The bylaw is available on the city's website and people can comment on the website or attend the meeting Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. at city hall to provide their views.

To start with, the bylaw limits the number of cats and dogs a person can own to three, and under the new bylaw both dogs and cats shall be licenced.

Annual licence fees are also increasing by as much as 50 per cent, with a lesser fee for spayed or neutered animals.

If a person currently has more than three animals, their animals will be grandfathered in as exceptions, however in future no new exemptions will be granted. Rather, anyone requiring a licence for more than three cats and/or dogs will have to apply for a kennel licence.

The bylaw also includes a section of prevention of cruelty that allows the bylaw officer to take action against people mistreating animals.

Under the bylaw, all animals shall be kept with suitable water and food, in a clean environment with the opportunity for daily exercise. Choke chains will not be allowed and people will not be able to keep an animal enclosed without adequate ventilation - for example in a car in the summer with the windows rolled up.

The bylaw provides a much more comprehensive regulatory environment for dogs, including regulations for both vicious dogs and some specific breeds.

Under the new bylaw, dogs must be on leashes unless they are in either Moresby Park or McClymount Park, newly-designated off-leash areas. In addition, people out in public spaces with their dogs will have to carry a baggy to pick up excrement.

Anyone who owns either a vicious or restricted dog will have to meet guidelines for containing the animal as well as posting signage to inform the public.

The bylaw defines vicious dogs as any dog that, according to municipal records, has killed or injured a person or another animal or aggressively pursued or harassed a person. A restricted dog includes the following breeds - pit bull, Italian mastiffs, Argentinean dogo, Fila Brasileiro among other variations.

The bylaw officer has to keep impounded animals for three days after which they can offer it for sale, adoption, transfer to an animal shelter or euthanize the animal.

For a full copy of the bylaw, visit www.princerupert.ca.

Elephants may have to pack trunk under rules
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, November 16, 2007

Pages one and three

The city's new animal control bylaw will no longer allow exotic animals in the city, and effectively outlaw circus performances.

The public is invited to comment on the proposed bylaw at the next public council meeting, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m.

However, not every council member was sure how the outlawing of exotic animals and circuses would work.

"I do have a comment in regards to circuses, carnivals, live shows and performances of animals. When we were discussing this bylaw, it certainly was not my intent to stop any business from coming in to town," said Coun. Kathy Bedard.

A circus has visited Prince Rupert every year for the past number of years, with a show that includes performances by elephants. Under the proposed bylaw, that would end.

"My concern was more around the personal ownership of exotic animals rather than circuses. If I have concerns, it's around that," she said.

Coun. Nelson Kinney replied that other municipalities have banned circuses and travelling animal shows.

"All over Vancouver and in various places, they have stopped the circuses from coming to town with their animals. It's has to do with cruelty, as they say," said Kinney.

Coun. Sheila Gordon-Payne wanted to know what people would do if they already owned an exotic animal - would they be required to give it up?

"I would like, if our staff was able, to give some thought with the process of this bylaw if we adopt it, so we don't pass it and have all kinds of problems after," said Coun. Sheila Gordon-Payne.

"I want to know what I do if I already own an ant eater. There will be exotic animals in our community and I would like to know how we would address that."

Coun. Tony Briglio stressed he did not want to see the bylaw sit on a shelf gathering dust.
"In terms of any bylaw, it really falls back on the ability to enforce it," he said.

Animals listed under exotic species included non-domesticated animals such as alligators, apes, bats and bears, beavers, porcupines, wolves, raccoons, venomous snakes, boas and pythons, venomous turtles, frogs and lizards, seals and walrus elephants whales dolphins, among many others.

One species listed that has been offered for sale within city limits includes hedgehogs.

Accounting error not in your favour, do not pass go, do not collect 5 million dollars!

It’s the kind of news that no politician wants to be delivering to the taxpayers, but when they drew the straws at city hall it fell to councillor Sheila Gordon-Payne to outline that the city had lost 5 million dollars from its budget due to an accounting error.

Ms. Gordon-Payne, who was holding the title of acting mayor this week while Mayor Herb Pond was out of town, was the bearer of the bad news at a press conference Thursday.

During that press conference, the city explained that it was a “logic error” that resulted in the five million dollars being counted twice, providing a rosier picture for city staff than what really is there.

The double count was discovered by the recently hired Christine Yew, the city’s manager of budgets and accounting who found the error during a routine process of balancing the books. Who no doubt has already passed her next seven years of evaluations with this one bit of forensic accounting work.

Due to the sudden decline of available cash the city has decided to cut $1.9 million in projects which they had hoped to finish by using matching grants, the city will not be paying back any of the money used from the reserve funds taken during the Skeena tax vacation years, which would have totaled 1.3 million this year, as well a number of other purchases have been cancelled or deferred until 2008.

The city was trying to put the best spin on the situation on Thursday, by issuing a press release that stated; no layoffs will take place and no negative property tax effects will be felt by the citizens of the city. Gordon-Payne explained that “This is not going to look good but it is not going to harm our financial situation.” “I view it as it puts us a year behind in our rebuilding”

Council and Mayor won’t be available to discuss the situation until the next council meeting after Thanksgiving, as they had a reduced work month in September with only one council meeting planned due to their upcoming trip to Vancouver and the annual UBCM meetings.

Perhaps they could host a symposium for their fellow municipal counterparts, a cautionary tale on financials somewhat along the lines of “You’re never as rich as you think you are”

The Daily news had all the details and the official story from city hall on the front page of Friday’s paper.

CITY LOSES $5M FROM BUDGET FOLLOWING ACCOUNTING ERROR
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, September 21, 2007
Pages one and three

The city of Prince Rupert made a $5.1 million budgeting error and has had to cut its project list for 2007 in order to balance the books.

At a press conference on Thursday, city officials confirmed that, in the budget documents released in May, the utility revenues were counted twice, resulting in revenues being over estimated by $5.1 million.

"Through the usual budget process, as staff was preparing their budget report for October, it was discovered that there was a $5.1 million error in the budget we prepared," said acting mayor Sheila Gordon-Payne.

"Clearly, this comes as a blow to council and staff. That being said, it is important to keep this in context. This is a budgeting error that was caught in a timely manner through routine checks and balances. The management team has already implemented a plan to address the problem. We will finish the year with a balanced budget."

City staff have gone through their departments and cut $1.9 million in projects it had hoped to complete using matching grants. In addition, the city will not be paying back any of the money it used from the reserve funds during those years it was spending, but not actually receiving, Skeena Cellulose pulp mill taxes. The city had planned to put back $1.3 million this year. Other purchases such as new technology have also been cancelled or deferred until 2008.

On the other hand, neither the city's unions nor the taxpayers will feel any direct impact, said officials.

"There will be no need for layoffs and no negative property tax effect on the citizens of Prince Rupert," said Gordon-Payne.

Christine Yew, the city's manager of budgets and accounting, located the error. Yew was recently hired by the city and she found the mistake during a routine process of balancing the books.

Dan Rodin, the city's new chief financial officer, described the mistake as a "logic error," an error in the numbers initially used to create the budget. He said it was the type of mistake that is very difficult to spot once a budget is in place and they were fortunate Yew found the error so early in the city's financial year.

"When you are putting together a budget, you can have two types of errors. You can have mathematical errors, where something simply doesn't add right, or you can put things together in a way that isn't logical," said Rodin.

"The first type of error is pretty easy to figure out ... but when you have a logic error, once you are heading down that track, often people will look at it and go 'that makes sense' because it is already in front of them and they are not going through that act of creation again."
Council will implement a 2007 financial plan bylaw amendment at their October meeting to ensure a balanced budget while maintaining all city services and competing all planned essential public works.

"This is not going to look good but it is not going to harm our financial situation," said Gordon-Payne.

"I view it as it puts us a year behind in our rebuilding. Certainly, the town is looking better and we thought we would continue with quite a momentum this year - we took two steps forward, now we are a step back."

When the walls come tumbling down

A downtown building in long time disrepair and deemed a serious fire risk to neighbouring homes has been ordered to face demolition by Prince Rupert City Council.

Council last week passed the motion seeking the removal of the apartments at 1021 Second Avenue West (besides Raffles Inn); the required demolition must take place within 30 days. The building which is owned by a resident of Terrace was originally zoned as duplex, but now holds 11 electrical meters in the building. Fire and building inspectors cited a number of problems with the structure such in their recommendation that the building be destroyed before a fire breaks out and spread to those buildings located close by.

The owner has thirty days to take action, failure to do so will see the city destroy the property and bill the cost back to the absentee land owner.

The Daily News featured the story as its front page story in Thursday’s paper.

CITY DEMANDS OWNER TAKES WRECKING BALL TO BUILDING
Councillors, the fire chief and city hall staff say apartment is a serious fire risk
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Pages one and two

A derelict apartment building next door to the Raffles Inn is a huge fire hazard to neighbouring homes and needs to be torn down, according to Prince Rupert city council.

“It poses an unsafe hazard to the community and the public,” said Douglas Jay, the city’s corporate administrator.

Acting on the advice of its staff, council decided last week to pass a motion seeking the removal of the apartment at 1021 Second Avenue West within 30 days.

“It’s the large grey structure that has been in disrepair for some time,” said Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond.

According to the city’s building inspector and fire chief, the apartment building has broken doors and locks and a lack of windows, which increases the potential for a fire to spread to neighbouring buildings.

The building’s owner lives in Terrace. Despite having attempted to have the situation remedied for the past year, staff say they have gotten nowhere.

“It is perceived there may still be an occupant in the building which causes the fire chief great concern,” said Jay.

The building was built as a duplex but there are now at least 11 electrical metres in the building.

“There was never a permit taken out for the add-on of these additional units, yet our property records indicate it was built as a single or duplex,” said Jay.

“There’s no way the municipality can say this complies with code. When you look at the photos taken by the inspector when he poked his head through windows, you can see some of the walls have never been properly filled in with any drywall or approved fire separation,” said Jay.

“The concern is you have a wooden hull here and should there be any vandalism, even petty mischief, an accidental spark… would easily go through that building quite quickly and because of the size of that building, the volume of the fire would be so intense, it would easily jump to the property next to it as it is not really fully set back five feet as according to the bylaw.”

If the owner does nothing and the city has to destroy the property, the cost of the destruction will be billed back to the property owner.

It is expected to cost between $10,000 and $15,000 to remove.

This is not the first property the city has asked owners to remove. In recent months, the city has approached a number of owners about removing derelict buildings including homes at 511 Cotton Street and 701-5th Avenue East.

However, the city has yet to take any action in regards to the Inlander apartments, despite the fact that councilors have gone on the record with their concerns about fire safety in the building after the fire chief raised a number of issues back in 2005.

Two years ago, council insisted the owner repair the front of the building because of the influx of cruise ship passengers.

Let's talk over drinks

The debate about the liquor application by Chances Community Gaming Centre will be given an extra look, Prince Rupert City Council mindful of the increased interest in the application has provided an extra session of council for interested citizens to provide their opinions on a new liquor dispensing establishment in the community.

Council only was scheduled to meet once this month, as the meeting of the 24th has been scrubbed as the mayor and council make their plans to attend the annual UBCM convention, which is the provinces yearly meet and greet of municipal and provincial politicians. The local political class will mingle among their own in Vancouver from September 24-28.

However before they pack their bags some tidying up on the liquor issue is required, the interest in the Chances application has resulted in council holding a special meeting on September 17th. The special sessions seems to have come about due mainly to the intervention of councillor Joy Thorkelson, who has been a strong advocate for more public input into the liquor application.

Thorkelson lobbied her fellow councillors successfully to add verbal comments to the written commentary process and with that verbal process now in place for the 10th, the actual decision to send its blessing or not on to the Liquor board will not be voted on until the special session of the 17th.

The Daily News outlined some of the background on the issue on the front page of it's Wednesday edition.

Council refuses to call 'time' on liquor debate
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Pages one and seven

Prince Rupert city council has decided to deal out more time to allow people to comment on the Chances Community Gaming Centre liquor licence application.

The three-week written comment period on the application was supposed to close Mon., Sept. 10, at 4 p.m., but Coun. Joy Thorkelson pushed council to open up the meeting to verbal input from the public as well.

"I thought we would be having a public hearing and making the decision later. I hate being rushed into decisions. I find this a weighty decision. I don't think this will be an easy decision.
"I thought there would be some time for some reflection," said Thorkelson.

"I would be a lot more comfortable if we made the decision now to allow public input on Sept. 10 and then had a meeting on the 17th."

Council originally intended review all the information gathered and make their decision at the Sept. 10 meeting because they only hold one meeting that month.

The Chances Gaming Centre is hoping to open by Sept. 28 and needs to have its liquor licence approved by the B.C. Liquor Control and Licensing Board at that time.

So, council agreed to open the floor to verbal comment at the Sept. 10 meeting and hold a special meeting to decide its opinion on the issue on Mon., Sept. 17.

"There's nothing wrong with taking that time. This is a big decision to some people and it's bigger to others," said Coun. Tony Briglio.

The Chances Community Gaming Centre is applying for a liquor licence from the province and the city is currently collecting public comment about the application.

"The public has the opportunity over a three-week period to provide us with comments in a written format that we will summarize and provide in a report to council at the Sept. 10 meeting," said Douglas Jay, corporate administrator.

The application was made to the provincial Liquor Control and Licensing Board, which referred the application to the city.

It will accept comment from the city including the location of Chances, its proximity to other social and recreational facilities or public buildings, person capacity and the proposed hours of service, market focus, traffic, noise, population density and trends, relevant socio-economic information and community impact among other criterion.

Chances is proposing to offer liquor service from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week, and must cease when the gaming centre closes.

According to the Chances' application, the target market is between the ages of 22 and 60, with an average income and education level. It includes the local population as well as a large number of tourists in its expected clientele.

"The proposed establishment is centrally located and blocks away from where the cruise ships dock. With the positive economic future of the region, it is anticipated that a large number of our clientele will be guests to the city," wrote Craig Briere, Chances Gaming Centre.

Chances has preliminary support for its application from the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, which is licensing the gaming activities at the centre.

While the city can submit an opinion on the application, it does not have the ability to approve or deny the application.

"Ultimately, we are not the decision-making authority. We are one of a number of agencies that are being consulted. It is the liquor control branch that is the final decision maker. One of the ways we can do that is provide community input," said Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond.

City looks for volunteers

The City of Prince Rupert is looking for a little help from its citizens as they try to fill some openings on a number of local committees.

The Daily news outlined some of the openings and requirements to apply and Rupertites can always check out the city website for further information.

City committees offer chance to get involved
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, June 20, 2007

The city is looking for a few good men and women to join the ranks of its committees, including the new Green Advisory Committee.

The city has vacancies on a number of committees including the Board of Variance, board of Tourism Prince Rupert and the Airport Society, as well as the newly created Green Advisory Task Force.

Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said it is an opportunity for residents to help set the direction of Prince Rupert for the future.

"Serving on one of these committees would be a great way to get involved with the community ...," said Pond. "There are many talented people in this community have a lot to offer and it would be terrific if we could tap into their energies, ideas and enthusiasm."

The Board of Variance is a three-person committee that is required under the Local Government Act, with the responsibility of making decisions on land issues where a person is seeking an exception to zoning or a similar bylaw as a result of a possible hardship. As these applications can have an impact on neighborhoods, it is important that the board of variance be in place to adjudicate these type of applications, says the city.

The Green Advisory Task Force was established recently by council and has a mandate to develop a Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Plan for the community.

The city is seeking two members of the community under the age of 30, two of any age, and members from identified stakeholders.

The longer-term mandate of the task force is to develop an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan that allows the city to assume an important role in leading the community toward a more sustainable operation.

The Board of Tourism Prince Rupert acts as the governing body for the organization charged with the responsibility of promoting and developing the tourism sector in Prince Rupert.

The Airport Society has the mandate of overseeing the direction of the airport on Digby Island and to advise the city on its future direction and management.

Anyone interested in serving on any of these committees can submit a letter of intent to the city, identifying the particular committee that they are interested in serving on. Such letters should be received by June 29 and can be submitted in person, by mail or by email to cityhall@princerupert.ca. They should include a statement of the applicant's qualifications and a brief outline of experience, skills and ideas that they have to offer to the committee. People can include a resume if they wish.

For more information on the various committees or vacancies, contact the city's administration department on the second floor of city hall or visit the city's web site at www.princerupert.ca under the committees section of the site.

Pond urges calm in Podunk

Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond, having seen his citizens acting as though the end was nigh , suggested that his fellow citizens need to take a deep breath and relax a bit. The Mayor was interviewed on a number of media outlets earlier Wednesday and also posted his comments to the city’s website.

That statement on the city’s website the Mayor reminds residents that our location with water and air access assists the municipality when it comes to re supply and such. Perhaps an observation from the city that there was no reason for any of the panic that was seen earlier in the day.

June 6, 2007
Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond released the following statement at 1:00 pm today:

“There is no need for panic in Prince Rupert. We are not cut off from the outside world. We have excellent air and marine transportation networks that are moving people and supplies. Our emergency and protective services are all fully functional.

Grocery stores are taking steps to restock. Fuel stations are also implementing alternate supply strategies.

It is important to realize that any current shortages are the direct result of hording, not supply problems.

Prince Rupert is famous for sharing. We’ve survived far worse incidents by looking after each other. Let me encourage those people who may have overstocked in a moment of panic, to check that their neighbours are OK. We really do have more than enough to go around.

In the meantime, we are keeping a watchful eye on our upriver neighbours who are facing much more serious challenges, and often with far fewer options available. They have our prayers and support.”

Mayor Pond can be contacted by cell phone at 250-624-1479.

City gets first peek at the seeds of a plan for the future

The much anticipated first draft of the Quality of Life Community plan has been delivered to Prince Rupert City council, and it has made our elected officials sit up and take notice at just how much work is required ahead.

Taken from telephone surveys and invited guest meetings, the plan is the beginning point for a regeneration of not only the city’s look, but its way of conducting business.

The key points, examine the future of the city and the division of zones for development both industrial and residential, appeared in Friday’s edition of the Daily News.

Citizens were urged to download their own copy of the draft plan from the City’s website in order to prepare for upcoming public meetings, though it would appear that no noticeable link to the article is posted on the site yet.

Some of the key points, including those that involve examining the future of the city and the division of zones for development both industrial and residential, appeared in Friday’s edition of the Daily News.

CITY'S BLUEPRINT FOR FUTURE GROWTH STARTS TO SHAPE UP
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, May 11, 2007
Page one

The first look at the city's draft of the new Quality of Life Community Plan this week left council wide eyed at the amount of detailed planning that still needs to be done.

"What strikes me is the plan is not an end but really a beginning place ... all kinds of work begins to jump off the page," said Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond.

Tom Becker of UMA Engineering presented a draft version of the plan that lays out the community's broad vision for the future of the city on Monday night.

It was assembled by UMA and Jennifer Wilson Consultants following a telephone survey and some 20 public meetings earlier this year.

The community as a whole defined a series of attributes local people deemed important for quality of life -good and clean water; clean air; safe environment; a healthy economy; good social services and recreation.

The plan, said Becker, blends the community's vision with the reality of Kaien Island geography and the economics of the Northwest.

"It really blends the social components ... what the community perceives to be important for quality of life as well as the physical elements we traditionally deal with as components of a community plan and the economic forces," said Becker.

"I know Prince Rupert has had its challenges over the years but I think Prince Rupert is going through a period of significant regeneration and economic opportunities and those can be manifested in the plan."

The document includes more than 70 policies in areas including arts and culture, heritage, environmental protection, playgrounds, parks, residential development, transportation, and infrastructure.

It also defines future areas for both commercial, industrial and residential development.
The plan paints the city into four general zones - parks and open space, business/commercial (with a provision for some residential mixed in), business industrial, and residential.

However, it also recommends implementing development permit areas where council would have more control over what gets built and where. For each of the 70 policies, there are action plans and defined measurements, so the city can track its success.

"This document, although it paints broad strokes, is a permissive document. It gives newcomers or anyone who wants to develop in our community an idea of what we would look at, not what we would accept, but what we would look at," said Coun. Tony Briglio.

"Just looking at this presentation, there is all kind of work that jumps of from this - a downtown waterfront plan is one, a downtown development permit area plan, completely reviewing all of our zoning bylaws to see if they align with the policies we chose to embrace or not. This sets some marching orders for staff and others to go out and do some work," said Pond.

Open houses and community presentations are now being planned for the draft document. People are encouraged to download a copy of the plan off the city's web site or look for it at public gathering areas in order to decide if they like the vision for the future.

"This is an opportunity for council and the community to chew on this and then we will come back and have some more discussion," said Pond.

“It’s time to start cleaning ourselves up and looking better”: Mayor Herb Pond

Working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway, working on the highway
Bruce Springsteen, Working on the highway

They’ll be singing the chorus of the Bruce Springsteen song over at the city works yard soon, as the city makes plans to spend 2.2 million dollars to pave local roads, expand the dump and refurbish the Hays Creek Bridge.

The first of the projects will be the rebuilding of Fulton Street from Sixth down to third which was destroyed during the winter by a broken water main and the washing out of the road bed underneath. It’s expected to cost close to 500,000 dollars by the time it’s reopened to traffic.

After that they’ll get to work on some of the troublesome spots around town that are crying out for a sheet or two of asphalt.

The Daily News featured the story as the front page item in Wednesday’s Daily News.

CITY IS TO TARGET POTHOLES, BRIDGES ON ROAD AHEAD
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, May 02, 2007

City council is looking forward to seeing more than $2.2 million in capital works get underway this year — including street upgrading, expanding the landfill and work on the Hays Creek Bridge.

On Monday night, council passed the city’s budget and will be seeking an additional $360,000 in revenue from the taxpayers on an $11-million budget.

“What council was committing to was making some improvements in the community ... it’s time to start cleaning ourselves up and looking better,” said Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond.

“We hope that we can do the work and not be interrupted by another Fulton Street (emergency) but if we are, we have to keep going on these other things.”

City councillors agreed maintaining the city’s quarter-of-a-billion in infrastructure will help prevent a financial crisis down the road.

Bob Thompson, director of engineering for the city of Prince Rupert, said the first item on the city’s list of projects is reassembling Fulton Street, a project worth a half a million dollars.

A broken water main this past winter destroyed the road surface and winter weather has kept crews from repairing the street until now.

Then they have to develop some extra space in the city’s landfill site because it is getting full.
“We have some major development work to do there. That’s about a half a million dollars. Those are two pretty significant projects that have to be done right away,” said Thompson.

In addition, included in this year’s capital works budget is paying the school district for having Charles Hays field fixed last year. The school district and the city are partners in maintaining the field.

“We are very grateful to them for carrying the ball on that until now. That’s about $110,000,” said Thompson.

In addition, the city is hoping to do some work upgrading Hays Creek bridge this year, similar to the work that was done last year on Second Avenue bridge.

“We did some major work on Cow Bay bridge last year on an emergency basis to start the year off, and once we get this work on Hays Creek bridge done, what I call our three heritage bridges will be in good shape,” said Thompson. And the city will spend a half a million dollars fixing its roadways.

“We are doing overlay paving. We pick what we think are the most productive ways to spend our money all over town and pretty well almost every neighborhood benefits. If it’s not your neighborhood, it’s at least a road you have to take to get home so that everyone benefits to some degree from the paving,” he said.

Other projects on the books this year include buying a new garbage truck. The city has been limping along with an old and unreliable vehicle for some time.

The city also hopes to finish the design work for the Hays Creek sewer line — this will allow the city to apply for grants for 2008 for a large sewer project. The hope is to go in, renew the sewer lines and move them out of the creek if possible.

“That’s an environmental liability we want to get off our plate. When they first built Prince Rupert, they built the sewer lines in the easiest place which was down the creek beds because it had the gradient there,” said Thompson. “It was good for them but that has left us with a legacy and it’s the last one we have to get rid of.”

They are also hoping this year to initiate a liquid waste management plan, set out a direction for the next 40 years and how deal with the sewage problem.

“We are looking ahead and we are really feeling quite positive,” said Thompson

We would be lumberjacks

The city is still hopeful that the three year old plan to have a community forest licence in the area will soon come to pass. Originally proposed to take advantage of the North Coast Timber mill, which has since been dismantled and shipped overseas, the plan at the time seemed to be to provide value added product for export, providing for local jobs both in the woodlands and at the mill.

Where the process is now is anyone’s guess, apparently stuck in some kind of bureaucratic log jam, waiting for a decision one way or the other. The current freeze at the ministry level on similar applications seems to be the main roadblock the plan becoming viable again.

Regardless of the freeze, it seems like this is a bit of a missed opportunity that perhaps the city should have been more proactive on in the early stages. While the New Skeena deal was falling through and with it the tax dollars that might have returned to city coffers, there might have been a job creating and revenue generating project waiting for the go ahead.

Had the city and the province been on the same page over the Community Forest licence early on, and a little more dedicated to a finished deal, perhaps there would have been a chance to save the North Coast sawmill and create a market for wood on the North coast. But that’s most likely just a bit of Monday morning quarterbacking/

Much of that lumber that is harvested at the moment now disappears as raw log exports which don’t seem to be a generator of processing jobs here. What isn’t explained in the plan now to revisit the project, is what will happen to the timber should they receive approval to harvest it.

Other than the logging jobs created, one wonders where the logs will go for processing and where those jobs will be created. Considering the shaky local municipal finances of late, how much it will cost Prince Rupert and Port Edward to get the plan up and running might also be something to share before knocking on any more doors.

The Daily News revisited the project on the front page of Tuesday’s paper.

THREE YEARS LATER, DREAM OF COMMUNITY FOREST ALIVE
Mayor Herb Pond hopeful logjam on minister’s desk will be cleared soon
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Pages one and five

Three years after Prince Rupert and Port Edward submitted to the province a joint business plan for a Community Forest Licence, Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond still believes there’s hope for the project.

“The real deadlock is at the minister’s office, he said.

“We have done everything on our end to get a Community Forest Licence. We have done everything we need to do. We have filled out everything we need to fill out,” said Pond.

“We are told and we have been told for a few years that our application is on the minister’s desk. We are in the pile, we are near the top of the pile, we will most likely be among the next communities that will be officially invited to apply.

“The minister simply hasn’t approved any in quite a period of time and that’s where the hold is taking place.”

Vicky Grainger, speaking during a North Coast Forest District presentation at a recent Chamber of Commerce luncheon, also said that local district officials have chosen an area for the Community Forest Licence and hope to see it approved.

“We will be moving forward on it and hopefully we will get it through the freeze. Sometimes when there is a freeze on and you are in a different situation as we often are on the North Coast, there’s possibilities to move things forward even though there is a freeze,” said Grainger.

The city has been working on a Community Forest Licence since 2003, but has yet to receive an invitation from the Minister of Forests to apply for tenure.

Under a Community Forest Licence, Prince Rupert and Port Edward could be granted tenure - an area to be harvested and managed by the two municipalities.

The idea was originally put forward to the city by small-scale loggers and salvage operators as a way to access more timber.

The original proposal also included buying the former West Fraser specialty sawmill size in the industrial park as a facility where value-added processing could happen, however that facility has since been sold and stripped of much of its sawmill equipment.

While they are hopeful they will see a licence in the future, Pond admitted they haven’t been beating down doors to see the project come to fruition. The city has had a lot of staff turnover, losing both their chief administrative office and corporate administrator in the past year and currently, the city is focused on the success of the Fairview Container Terminal, which will open this October.

“The city hasn’t been pounding on desks or agitating strongly with people to get on with it because of our own situation… and even because of the state of the industry right now on the North Coast. Both are true, but given the chance, we would proceed,” he said.

“Given the very real demands of making sure that Prince Rupert becomes the next great port city and the gaps that exist on that file, that’s where we are throwing our energy.”

However, a forestry task force report from the City of Terrace noted the container port could also bring new opportunities for the region’s loggers because the empty containers moving back into Asian markets offer cheap backhaul rates.

With 50 per cent of the province’s lumber coming from north of Quesnel, Rupert’s container port could become the destination for much of what the province exports, noted the report.

When the sheep begin to grumble

Perhaps the sound of the bleating off in the distance has taken the Mayor and the City Hall Six by surprise. The latest announcement of yet another tax rate increase has not been received with a welcoming reception of the herd.

Instead, there is some less than quiet grumbling is being heard around the city and it’s starting to get a little bit louder, providing a bit of a backlash of residents wanting justification for the city continually heading to the taxation well.

The Daily News presented some talking points from the normally quiet populace over the almost 4% increase in taxes announced at this week’s city council meeting. Concerns such as past mistakes on key issues around town, a lack of inventiveness in finding new revenue streams and the always possible movement of residents out to Port Ed and its less onerous tax load, were all presented in the article.

The article could serve to be a warning to the mayor and his council that perhaps their subjects, er, citizens, have reached the limit of the taxation, even if it comes with representation.

The key now will be to see if that representation, takes the residents invocations into consideration.

After all there's nothing more dangerous to a politician than a herd of angry sheep!

TAXPAYERS HAVE HAD ENOUGH COUNCIL IS TOLD
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, April 27, 2007
Page one

After three consecutive years of tax increases, members of the public want council to justify another increase.

At a public hearing Monday night, several people relayed their concerns that homeowners have had enough and that council is not focusing enough on finding other sources of revenue.

“The big question is what’s to stop me from moving to Port Ed, paying a lot less taxes, using the city bus to come to Prince Rupert and use the Prince Rupert facilities tax free,” said Bob Wybou, a Prince Rupert resident who has to travel out of town for work.

“It’s getting harder and harder for me to justify living here when in my line of work I can live anywhere.”

“My other co-workers live in other parts of province, have houses worth three times my house and pay a third of the tax.”

This year, the city says it needs an additional 3.2 per cent in revenue, or $360,000, from taxpayers.

Jim Bruce, financial services manager, said it is very hard to compare tax rates between cities. “One of the things you have to look at are what services do you have and what are the value of the homes?” said Bruce.

He noted that in 1996, the average home in Prince Rupert was assessed at $120,000 and taxes were $900, This year, the average home is assessed at $138,000 and taxes are $1,235 (water, sewer and garbage fees are separate.)

“If you look at the past 11 years, your taxes have gone up by $335 overall. If you take a look at the cost of inflationary goods and services, you probably are getting a pretty good deal for your money,” he said.

Barry Cunningham, resident, said at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how the city cuts the figure, residents are paying more.

“You still have the same number of empty businesses on Third Street and a fair number of empty houses and a port development that won’t be bringing a lot more taxes because of the port grant (taxation cap). Not a lot has changed,” he said.

“We lost the industrial tax base because of the incompetence of the city and the way they handled the (pulp) mill. It’s now being stripped of assets and shipped away and I don’t see the city out there trying to take advantage of the property and the assets that are out there right now.

“I see them slowly shipping it out on chip barges and the city sitting back and saying maybe it might open one day. While the general public’s perception is that city council is living in a fantasy land if they think that is going to open.”

City administrator Gord Howie said the city is trying to get some cash out of Sun Wave Forest Products to help with this year’s taxes.

Sun Wave purchased the mill after its former owner, New Skeena Forest Products, declared bankruptcy and the mill has not operated since it was sold by the provincial Liberals in 2002. Various mill owners haven’t paid taxes since 1999, when the provincial government stepped in to try to save the beleaguered forestry operation.

(The province pushed the back taxes from 1999 to 2001 on to the new owner, who had an agreement to repay them but then, after three years of not operating, went bankrupt. The B.C. Supreme Court has since dissolved those taxes, so no one is under any obligation to repay them.)

“Part of the agreement with Sun Wave is to negotiate an amenity contribution for those years they are not paying taxes,” said Howie. “We are trying to get some cash out of them to try to help with this year’s budget.

Sun Wave bought the company in the summer of 2006, and 2007 would be the first year of the agreement with the city under which they do not have to pay regular property taxes. “Council has also written several letters now from our lawyers reminding them of their obligations to the city.”
The company has to produce pulp by Jan. 1 of next year or the tax agreement is void. “It seems like pretty weak action, lawyers talking back and forth. At the end of the day it is just costing us more money,” said Cunningham.

On Monday, city council will debate the public input they heard and determine whether to change the budget before it is passed.

City launches new website

Prince Rupert's portal to the world has been launched! And it presents a great introduction to the city's opportunities and potential.

The new re-designed city website offers up a much more informative and appealing destination for those looking for information about the city.

It is far superior to the old one in a variety of ways, it features an entertaining opening intro, has numerous helpful links, a history section, an upcoming events link, lots of photos, maps and a number of categories for locals and visitors alike to browse.

It looks quite professional and certainly presents the city in a dynamic manner.

It seems to have lofty goals as well, included on the site are future plans for information in Japanese, French, German and Chinese.

In addition to the reach out to the wider world, local communication seems to be a goal for the city, as the site announces that it one day hopes to broadcast council proceedings on line. The anchors are also in place as well for a comprehensive on line section, where citizens will be able to pay bills and seek out information from the comfort of their own computer.

For those civic minded citizens, the Mayor and Council section features a number of options for your investigation. City council history, agendas and minutes for current council meetings and a variety of things that local municipal affairs buffs will find quite interesting.

Overall, it's a well done design and makes a very good first appearance for our city on the computers of the world. Locals will find it a useful tool as they navigate the services provided by the city and information about our city. Well worth bookmarkig on your computre for future reference.

Check it out from the opening presentation to that last bit of future planning, by clicking on the city of Prince Rupert site and begin your virtual tour.

Refinanced Hawkair proves a costly thing for Prince Rupert

While the city's residents most likely welcome the rejuvenated state of Hawkair and the travel options it provides to the north coast, it's exit from bankruptcy protection is proving to be something that will cost the city of Prince Rupert some money.

The City's status as an unsecured creditor means that Hawkair will only be paying thirteen cents on the dollar, for monies owed while it suffered it's problems. Which means that whan all the bills are tallied and the final cheque clears, the city is set to lose a quarter of a million dollars in lost revenues due to the protection in place by the courts.

As the airline travelled down its path to refinancing, it rolled up a debt of monies owed totalling $119,920.49 to the Prince Rupert Airport Society and $158,360 to the city for ferry services provided by the Digby Island ferry.

The debt of Hawkair was not just a local concern, the airline had amassed a debt load of over 6 million dollars to a number of unsecured Northwest creditors, now with a new financial plan in place and new investors they will have 500,000 dollars to pay back a portion of what was once owed.

The remainder will be written off by the creditors who are now wiser but certainly not any wealthier.

The Daily News provided a full recap of the situation in the Thursday edition of the paper.

Sale of Hawkair hits city in pocket book
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Thursday, April 05, 2007

The City of Prince Rupert and the Prince Rupert Airport Society stand to lose close to a quarter of a million dollars in the restructuring and sale of Hawkair.

The city is an unsecured creditor and is expected to receive about .13 cents on the dollar owed by the troubled airline.

“It’s not good news obviously,” said Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond.

“We suffered the same kind of hit with Air Canada when they restructured. It just speaks to how volatile this business is and how great the need is for people managing the airport to stay on top of those bills.”

This past March, the city along with the majority of Hawkair’s unsecured creditors agreed to a proposal to sell the regional airline to Alberta-based Bar XH. Hawkair had been under court protection from its creditors for 16 months while it tried to refinance its airplanes and reduce costs.

This month, Hawkair sold its assets to Bar XH for $200,000 in exchange for an agreement to continue air service in the Northwest and the employment for its workers.
The company expects to have about $500,000 to spread around its unsecured creditors, who are owed more than $6 million.

Hawkair owed $119,920.49 to the Prince Rupert Airport Society, which operates the airport, and $158,360 to the city, which operates the ferry service to Digby Island.

However, the city is not alone on the list of unsecured creditors who have agreed to take a bath. Other municipalities and locally-run airports including the Kitimat Terrace airport, are owed $182,785; North Peace Airport services is owed $42,631 and Dawson Creek is owed $64,549.
Pond said council became concerned, as did the airport society, as that debt continued to grow and the company struggled.

“The airport society working with council agreed to put Hawkair on very strict terms so that did not grow any more during the time of their operations. Thank heavens we capped it where it is,” he said.

“But it’s a challenge because what do you do with an air carrier that has flights coming in every single day and is now falling behind on payments. It never happens instantaneously. It happens a little bit at a time and people do the best they can but it’s a hit.

“That’s money that could have been used for upgrading the water system and increasing passenger amenities. It’s behind us. What we have to do now is focusing our business for the future.”

Anxious to make a contribution

The desire of Prince Rupert residents to have more of a say in the Official Community Plan process may finally be close.

Phase one of the consultation process was by invitation only. Controversy surfaced when it was explained that the consultant who conducted the interviews on the prep work for the Official Community Plan, conducted interviews with a select group of citizens. Making for a situation that didn’t sit well with many in the community who felt left out of the initial phase of the process and wondered if the city was getting a complete picture of how its residents really felt.

With that portion of the planning now complete, things move on to phase two, which is supposed to be a more accessible process for the public which wishes to make a contribution. Details of public meetings and consultations are apparently planned for the city’s website.

MORE SET TO GET SAY ON CITY’S PLAN
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Tuesday, April 3, 2007

The first stages of the city’s Official Community Plan (OCP) have not been open enough for some people.

So far, information has been guaranteed through invitation only focus groups and a small random telephone survey.

“My residence was one of the telephones that rang (for the Quality of Life surveys),” said Colleen Wiens, who asked city council last week to outline when the OCP process would become open to the public.

“I was not allowed to participate in the survey because my husband was employed by the city.”

“I don’t feel very happy about that.”

Others have expressed concerns that the selection process for focus groups was not representative, raising concerns the document will not reflect the community’s will.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to look at the Official Community Plan, some of us have been really looking forward to having some control over how our life is in Prince Rupert,” said Peggy Davenport, who added for her part she was happy to have taken part in the focus groups.

“Appreciating the fact that an awful lot is not in our control because of what’s going on with the port and there’s a lot of big guys out there with big money who have a lot of power, within our own community, we still need to have some control.

“We appreciate our parks, we appreciate our clean environment, we appreciated the ability to walk when we go into town and do our shopping, to be able to live without a car – these kind of things.”

City Administrator Gord Howie explained that the consultant hired to perform the Quality of Life survey determined employees, and clearly those related to employers, would not be included in the initial fact collecting process.

However, the next step - a series of public meetings that will soon be listed on the city’s revamped website – will be open to everyone.

“The data gathering that’s been done to date wasn’t really the planning part of it, it was the part that says who is Prince Rupert, what do they value and what needs to be done right,” said Mayor Herb Pond.

“The planning part is the part that now comes, and it becomes a much more public process that says where are we going to have parks, and how many of them are we going to have,” he said.

”It’s not like this is raw land with no plan, we already know the downtown core is the downtown core, the waterfront is the waterfront, we know which areas are currently parks, so we can work with those.

To the well, to the well, to the well once more!

Prince Rupert residents must be wondering if their local politicians will ever stop coming up to them asking for even more money than they already provide.

Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District is seeking more money from a shrinking taxpayer base, after approving a five year financial plan at a rather combative Friday meeting.

The plan was approved despite the uncertainties expressed by three of the district councilors, who questioned some of the financial figures that were being used to develop the plan.

The heated meeting included an interjection from Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond, who was participating in the Friday evening meeting by teleconference. Pond expressed his outrage at the questioning of the accuracy of the figures by declaring those accusations are baseless and spurious allegations.

The Daily News featured a review of the Friday night fireworks and a bit of background on the controversial issues in the Wednesday paper.



SOME DIRECTORS QUESTION DISTRICT'S NEW BUDGET
The Daily News
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Page Three

The Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District will spend an additional $243,000 in 2007 terminating its administrator/planner and hiring new staff — and it looks like it will be asking tax payers to foot the bill.

At Friday night’s meeting, SQCRD board members approved a five-year financial plan that sees the budget balloon from $587,964 in 2006 to a projected $831,757 in 2007.

“We have kept this budget equal to last year with no increases except in areas of administrative cost going up,” said Tony Briglio, director for the city of Prince Rupert and vice chair.

Projected audit and legal expenses are expected to increase $87,000 in 2007 (up from $13,067 to $100,000,) plus an increase in salaries of $100,000 due to the termination of Beil who was doing three jobs (from $196,145 in 2006 to $300,000) with staff benefits also doubling (from $26,000 to $54,000.)

The amount of money it will be requisitioning from member municipalities — including Prince Rupert, Port Edward, Masset, Port Clements and the village of Queen Charlotte — is up from $180,000 to $266,978. These municipalities in turn will be asking their taxpayers to foot this bill.

Other oddities in the budget included an anticipated $244,000 grant in lieu of taxes listed in the 2007 budget that did not exist in 2006 that was used to balance the numbers.

Three directors refused to support the budget. They were Des Nobels, Ian Hetman and Karl Bergman.

“I tried and tried and tried to understand this budget and I can’t see anyone being comfortable with this,” said Karl Bergman.

“There are nothing but questions.”

Nobels said he believes the budget will increase taxes for his constituents, yet they were not able to have comment on it.

The draft budget was passed out to members of the public in attendance at the meeting just prior to the public comment period.

He added that he believes the budget will eat into the district’s reserves. In the past, he said, the district has passed balanced budgets that either maintained or lowered the requisition from taxpayers. However, in this year’s budget that is not the case.

Janet Beil, former administrator planner at the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District, took a look at the figures during that period and described them as “totally inaccurate”.

After pointing out what she believed were glaring inaccuracies between 2006 and 2007 figures, she questioned how they could do this to the taxpayers.

“I am just wondering how small municipalities are going to pay for this budget, especially municipalities that have lost assessment value,” she said.

However Carol Kulesha, representing the Village of Queen Charlotte, said they were following the provincial process and had only had a very short time to put together the budget.
“Is everything perfect? No. Things are difficult when you are in the midst of revamping things. Nevertheless, we have followed the process of the ministry,” said Kulesha. She added that the numbers are based on those provided to them by auditors. The regional district will be having auditors do an even more in depth analysis in the coming year.

Allegations that the figures were inaccurate seemed to infuriate director Herb Pond, city of Prince Rupert, who participated in the meeting by teleconference.

“These are baseless and spurious allegations. They are not identifying any single truth but laying general statements to which they have never once in our process, which has been extensive, objected,” said Pond.

“The broad statements that cast aspersions on the best work that could be done under the circumstances should be stopped.”

At this point, chair Barry Pages ended the conversation and the budget was adopted with the three members opposed.

Many have left or will leave to seek out work

The findings won’t come as a real surprise to anybody that has stuck around Prince Rupert for the last five years, Prince Rupert’s Quality of Life study unearthed a factor in our recent de-population that probably wasn’t too hard to force out of people.

Surveying the intentions of 475 people over their plans for the next few years, 84% of the respondents said they believed they were here for more than the next few years, 8% were destined to move on in the next two years while another 8% just aren’t sure what their plans are yet.

Of those destined to leave 39% were leaving to seek out a better job, 11 per cent to get education or training, 13 per cent were set to retire elsewhere, 12 per cent wanted a better quality of life and 12% wanted a better climate.

Considering the unseasonably large dump of snow on Wednesday and its effects on our roads today, we’re thinking that many of those that left must have been snow plow drivers and that the 12% that chose climate may find a few more converts to their gripes by tomorrow morning…

Full details on the depopulation question were found in Tuesday Daily News.

‘WORK’ WAS A BIG REASON FOR EXODUS FROM RUPERT
“Retirement’ and ‘climate’ other big factors says pollster
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, March 27, 2006
Page three

Prince Rupert’s Quality of Life community survey took an in-depth look at a long-standing problem – depopulation – and identified reasons why people leave the community.

According to consultant Jennifer Wilson, of the 475 people surveyed between November and February, 84 per cent believed they were in town for more than the next two years, while eight percent said they planned to leave and eight per cent said they were not sure.

“It’s really important to be grounded in this information so you know why people chose to stay or choose to leave,” she said at a council meeting last week.

Of those leaving, 39 per cent said they were leaving to find a better job, while 13 per cent said they were leaving to retire. Twelve per cent said it was to find a better climate, another 12 percent said it was for a better quality of life and access to medical services and 11 per cent said it was to get education and training.

Wilson went on to explain that as part of the Quality of Life Plan, the city should look at ways to improve in these areas in order to retain more people.

Prince Rupert lost more than 10 per cent of its population between the 2001 and 2006 census counts.

Statistics Canada released the population counts for communities across Canada earlier this month and Prince Rupert’s population, a number than had been the subject of much speculation, dropped from 14,463 in 2001 to 12,815.

The 12.5 per cent drop in population was in part due to the closure of the Watson Island Pulp mill in 2002, as well as a downturn in fishing and forestry.

Overall, the Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District – which includes the North Coast and Queen Charlotte Islands – dropped by 9.4 per cent, from 21,693 to 19,664.