We're going to get a head start on the Long Weekend travel and a chance to get one final break in this exiting COVID summer.
As we head out, we take leave of our blogging themes for the next little while, with a return target of somewhere along the lines of August 9th or so.
Towards those preparations to head off into the sun (we hope), we had offered a sacrifice and ministrations to the Weather Gods for our loyal readership.
That as we sought to secure a full ten days of sunshine for the North Coast in our absence.
Alas, it would appear we only partially appeased the Weather Deities with our offering.
As a result, we can offer up mostly sunny skies to shine on Prince Rupert during our absence, though we shan't talk about next Tuesday and Wednesday if you don't.
While we take a break from the delivery of new and original content, feel free to browse our archive pages found as part of our right hand column and catch up on some of the themes you may have missed in recent weeks.
We'll see you back on the other side of forecast period.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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| A push towards the elimination of single use plastic items may soon get underway, that after the BC government amended regulations for how local government can address the issue in their community. (chart from the Gov't of Canada website) |
If they wish, Prince Rupert City Council can now take advantage of some new rules, designed to allow local government to institute bans on plastic bags and certain single use plastic without requiring provincial approval.
In an announcement from Tuesday, the provincial government outlined how they have amended a regulation under the Community Charter to allow local governments to ban single-use plastics, including plastic checkout bags, polystyrene foam containers and plastic utensils, which includes stir sticks. Previously, municipalities required ministerial approval to implement a plastics ban.
George Heyman, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy noted how the province was responding to the desires of local government across the province with the measure.
“Communities across B.C. have made it clear they want to be environmental leaders by taking steps to ban single-use plastics. We will continue to work with all levels of government to protect our land and waterways from plastic pollution and the harm it creates. Local governments wanted the ability to act without delay, and now they have it.” |
| A call for comments is underway related to a proposed amendment for an parcel of land in the Prince Rupert Industrial Park area (photo from Govt of BC documents) |
The application which is posted on the government department website, outlines an amendment to the current use of the land as Log Handling/Storage, with the applicant looking to add a fuel transfer operation.
This is an application to amend the use of an existing Licence of Occupation, licence #SK916696. The current use is Log Handling/Storage. The requested use is Commercial General A.
The project is a fuel transfer operation where diesel fuel and gasoline would be barded to the site and fuel transferred from transport barge to the storage barge A.T.L. 810 and then transferred as needed from the storage barge either to a truck loading arrangement on the shore and loaded into trucks or to a loading arrangement on the storage barge capable of delivering to smaller vessels.
The applicant owns the adjacent upland property (171 Mish-Aw Road Prince Rupert).
The Synopsis for the Application notes that the property is zoned as M3 with a range of permitted uses which include: (c) Marine transportation, (e) Transportation terminal, (f) Bulk commodity storage and terminal, (h) General industrial, (i) Marine commercial, & (j) Marine fuel station.
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| The location of the area in question related to the current opportunity for comment process (from the BC Gov't website) |
The deadline to submit comments related to the application is listed as August 18th on the government website; though an advertisement of the notice in the weekly paper notes of deadline for comments of September 4th.
You can watch for any changes to the comment period deadlines as well as to review the full application and supporting documentation here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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| Graham Anderson from Ecotrust Canada provide Prince Rupert City Council with an expansive overview of some energy initiatives that could be a good fit for the community |
Prince Rupert City Council is on board when it comes to the development of a feasibility study towards a community energy initiative that was outlined to Council on Monday evening.
A preview of what Ecotrust Canada has in mind for the region was provided as part of the Committee of the Whole session for Monday, with Graham Anderson the Director of Community Energy Initiative providing for a short overview of the work of Ecotrust on themes of community energy initiatives.
His presentation also noting as to how Prince Rupert would be a good fit for the Home Energy Retrofit program, something which addresses the issue of Energy Poverty.
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| Telus has proposed the placement of a cellular communication tower in the area adjacent to the BC Hydro site on Highway 16 |
"I put forward the motion that we refuse this location, as, cause of the same as the previous one. Which, it's the location it's not so much the height that they've changed. So I'm thinking that we should put forward the motion to basically refuse the location but to work with Telus, and again with the proposed locations that we have given them" -- Councillor Wade Niesh providing the motion for discussion on a tower proposal from Telus on Monday evening
Councillor Wade Niesh led the charge on Monday evening, as Prince Rupert City Council dug in its heels over a proposed cellular communication tower, expressing its lack of support for a location that Telus would prefer to build an area near the BC Hydro site on highway 16.
The councillor provided the wording for a motion Monday that will urge the communication company to find another site for their tower, with the city having offered up a stretch of land along Highway 16 as their preference.
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| Duelling opinions on cel tower location choices. Telus prefers a location near the BC Hydro site. The City would rather see a location along the Highway on the east side of Mount Hays |
The decision to make their thoughts clear to the communication giant came following an extensive report from the city's contract planner Robert Buchan, who charted some of the background to what could be a percolating dispute between the City and the national communication provider.
Among the themes introduced by Mr. Buchan was how the Telus site has already been noted by the city as being in a high profile location that does not meet the preferred location criteria as outlined in City council policy.
"The report before you is seeking Council's direction on whether or not it wishes Telus to proceed with community consultation on a proposed cel tower adjacent to Highway 16. The city has already given feedback once on a previous version of this, but that proposal has been amended reducing the size of the tower from 50 metres to 30 metres.
However it is still in a high profile location that does not meet the preferred location criteria as outlined in Council's policy regarding this. So we're wondering whether or not Council wants to give feedback now asking Telus to find a new location, or whether it should procede with community consultation on this and render a decision at a later time" -- iPlan planner Rob Buchan
Mayor Lee Brain sought some clarification on the path forward for council on the topic, with Mr. Buchan outlining some of the background to the issue for the council members.
"Staff have been certainly working on this for some time, Mr. Pucci before myself and we've given quite a number of alternative locations and we've asked them to actually give us an area identifying the entire, I guess an area that would work for their specifications.
We haven't seen that yet, we are aware that they are looking at other options but they are very interested in this particular location. But given its sensitivity at the gateway to the municipality, we thought that council may want to weigh in on this now, and if you're ok going to public consultation you can let them know that.
But if it's simply not a suitable location I think it's reasonable for council to advise Telus of that at this point. We would still work with Telus to find a location that would work for them. -- -- iPlan planner Rob Buchan
With Councillor Niesh's motion the spark of the debate, two of the city's six councillors spoke to the topic
Councillor Adey inquired as to the preference by Telus and if there are any technical reasons that may be behind their choice.
Mr. Buchan provided some notes on that topic, though he noted how technical themes were not part of the skill set of City staff.
"No, just the results of those technical reasons. They say that the other locations we've given them don't work for them. Though we're not in a position to be able to assess whether or not that is completely accurate or not because it's not our skill set. We're aware, or hear that other cel providers do have service, community wide service without this location so it's not clear to us why it wouldn't work for them as well"
Councillor Mirau endorsed the position of Councillor Niesh, noting how the city should not seek out a public notification for something they wouldn't agree with in the first place.
"I tend to agree with Councillor Niesh on this piece, I don't think we need to go to public notification for something that we wouldn't support in the first place. So I think it makes more sense to try and find a location that works best for both parties and then move from there."
Other than the mention of the proposed location in a 'gateway' area, neither staff or Council members expanded on any other reasons as to why they were opposed to the Highway location adjacent to the BC Hydro site.
You can review the full report from iPlan from our preview of the council session from Monday.
The Discussion of the Telus tower placement plans can be reviewed from the City's Video Archive starting at the 28 minute mark.
More notes related to Monday's Council session can be explored from our Council Timeline Feature.
A wider overview of past Council discussion topics is available here.
Other themes on communications notes can be explored from our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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| Prince Rupert residents received the new garbage and recycling bins over the last few weeks (photo provided by NCR reader) |
The city's launch of the new garbage and recycling program is still creating a few more questions than it has answered, with the size of the new city supplied garbage cans making for some conversation at the Monday night City Council Session.
Judging by some of the confusion over the mid summer roll out of the program, another information campaign may be required by the City to help clarify some of the still fluid views of how the twin programs are going to work.
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| When the city's curb side recycling program starts in September, the product will be taken to the Kaien Road Regional Recycling centre for further action by the facility |
Earlier in the evening, during the Committee of the Whole session the city's recycling program was noted by one city resident, who had asked Mr. Pucci what happens to the recycling material once it will picked up at curb side.
In reply, the Director of Operations observed that it would then be taken to the Regional Recycling Centre and that they decide on how to dispose of the material according to their own policies.
You can review the themes of garbage and recycling from the City's Video archive from both the Committee of the Whole session of Monday night 23 minute mark and later in the Regular Session towards the end during the Councillor's Comments or Question segment Fifty minute mark.
For more notes related to Monday's Council Session see our Council Timeline Feature.
A wider overview of past Council Discussion themes is available from our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
The Province of British Columbia will launch an intensive effort to get the word and the jabs out on vaccinations, with Doctor Bonnie Henry and Doctor Penny Ballem outlining the plans for an August blitz to get anyone who wants to be vaccinated in a line at a range of vaccination opportunities.
The program which launched yesterday and set to last until the end of August with British Columbia vaccination teams to spread out across the province to attend community events, making use of vax vans and mobile clinics to get more people vaccinated with their first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Health officials note that while registration and booking using the provincial Get Vaccinated system is still encouraged, these events will allow eligible people to walk-in and receive a vaccine without a scheduled appointment.
“The rollout of mass COVID-19 vaccinations for B.C. has been the effort of a lifetime, and this accomplishment is shared by every health-care worker who has helped us stay safe, every front-line worker who has kept our communities going and every person in B.C. who has chosen to be vaccinated – I am thankful to each and every one of you. For those who have not yet been vaccinated, it is easier than ever to get your first or second dose. Join the millions of people in our province who have taken this step, not just for themselves, but for their larger community." -- Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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| It's another shift to the south for CityWest with the announcement of an agreement with the Central Coast Communication Society based in Bella Coola and the Central Coast (photo from CCCS webcam array) |
It's time to place another dot on the map for CityWest's latest venture, with the Prince Rupert based communication company noting of a new joint collaboration on the Central Coast.
In an announcement released on Tuesday, CityWest officials outlined how the telecommunication company would be collaborating with the Central Coast Communication Society, an Internet sevices provider based in Bella Coola.
The arrangement will make it possible for the Bella Coola Valley to be connected to a world class fibre to the home network, a communication vision that is shared by both organizations.
The area of coverage for the collaboration will include Bella Coola, 4 Mile, Hagensburg and the territories of the Nuxalk First Nation.
"This official collaboration will empower us to extend service through the rest of the valley, to execute on the society's greater vision for connectivity and to create some amazing opportunities within our business for the staff with CCCS." -- Stefan Woloszyn, CEO of CityWest
A key element of the collaboration will be the introduction of the Connected Coast project which is expected to land in Bella Coola by the beginning of 2022.
The fibre to the home network will then be constructed shortly afterwards, something that will bring last mile service to the residents and business of the Bella Coola Valley.
James Hindley, the Network Administrator and Executive Director of CCCS, noted of the opportunities that the arrangement with CityWest will bring to the region.
"We're very happy to strike this deal with CityWest, a company that values customer service as much as we do, and because of the benefits it brings to our communities. With this collaboration, we'll not only build a real fibre-to-the-home network, but we'll also see local employment of our existing technicians and local governance will be maintained"
It's the third significant announcement from the city of Prince Rupert owned communication company in recent weeks, you can review some of their expansion plans from our archive page here.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
