What we have here, is a failure to communicate

Port Edward is not happy with
the City of Prince Rupert and
the increase in fees for use of the Ridley
Island Road waste disposal site

The two municipal government offices are but seventeen minutes apart, but when it comes to communication, Port Edward and Prince Rupert are in different time zones it would appear.

Members of Prince Rupert City Council it would seem are going to have to work on their cooperation skills, or at least make a better effort at communicating their messages.

Particularly it seems when it comes to dealing with other local governments or organizations.

The latest flare up of mis-communication, or missed messages comes from Port Edward which is just a little bit upset at the sticker shock of new user charges at the Prince Rupert Landfill site on Ridley Island Road and a lack of interest from Prince Rupert when it comes to readdressing the issue.

Some background on the District of Port Edward's concerns can be found from this report last week from CFTK Television, which highlighted the unhappiness of District officials on the topic of the new charges which have brought an increase of forty five percent for their landfill fees.

The topic of the land fill rates goes back to December of last year, when City Council approved a range of fees for non-residents to make use of the Ridley Island site.

The Discussion at the time of the setting of the new fees did observe as to the impact that it might have on neighbouring communities, particularly the nature of the impact on Port Edward.

You can review that conversation from the City's Video Archive from the 36 to 56 minute mark.



In the CFTK TV report of last week, Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain observed as to the nature of the communication between the two communities on the land fill topic noting that "we did sit down face to face with all of Port Edward Council around this issue; to have those kinds of comments made I think are just more emotionally charged comments around the tipping fees and that Port Ed needs to realize is that they do have quite a discount, where as Rupert doesn't"  

More than a few miles on the
 highway are between Prince Rupert
and Port Edward these days

The near fifty per cent increase in tipping fees has left District officials to give consideration to other options for their waste disposal requirements, with the District exploring a range of potential solutions for the community.

And while Mayor Brain may believe that the City discussed the issue in a full fashion with the District, it would seem quite clear that the council in Port Edward is a little less than impressed with their larger neighbour and its concept of community engagement beyond the city's borders.

It's not the first time this year that other local officials have taken issue with Prince Rupert's approach to cooperation and communication, earlier this year School District 52 outlined their concerns over a land zoning session, expressing their disappointment with how Council members received their concerns on that topic.

More background and notes on Port Edward issues can be found found here.

For more items related to City Council Discussions see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review