D'Arcy McGee

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Council pulls west side road closure bylaw from Agenda consideration

Plans to close a road on the west side of the city, part of a large scale development between Park Avenue and Graham Avenue have apparently hit a bit of a snag, as City Council removed the required Bylaw from consideration at this weeks Council Session.

Mayor Brain noted the decision to remove the Bylaw from the Agenda from Monday's meeting at the start of proceedings at the Council meeting.

Reading out a clarification statement related to the decision to withdraw the Road Closure Bylaw Motion for that evening's session.

Noting some background related to the proposed road closure bylaw and the sale of closed road lands adjacent to Graham Avenue, advising that the City had removed the item from the Agenda.

The Mayor then informed the public that it had been discovered that the during the preparation of a secondary survey, that this process was unusable park land and not road right of way and as a result, the City is not currently able to proceed as indicated in the public notices related to this matter.

A public notice advising of the City's plans was posted to the City of Prince Rupert website on January 21st.

The proposed housing development that covers a fair amount of territory on the west side, was the subject of much discussion over the last year, with a number of issues and concerns raised at the time by some council members and residents of the area.

Housing issues again dominate Council's attention, leading to some heated discussion
Concerns over Graham Avenue road extension dominate Park Avenue Public Hearing
Park Avenue Housing Development to get Second Public Hearing

Councillor Thorkelson looks to include Senior's Housing in Park Avenue Development planning

Park Avenue proposal receives petition push back

A Road Closure bylaw for the most recent
City Council meeting was pulled from the
Agenda for Monday's meeting

The topic of the road closure has also caught the eye of one local resident and was the subject of an expansive letter to the editor this week in the weekly newspaper.

The letter outlines a number of concerns that the resident has when it comes to the prospect of the road closure, as well as calling into question some of the decisions that were made in relation to that proposed housing development.

There was no indication at Monday's council session when the bylaw would be returned to Council for further discussion or how the City would move forward on the issues related to it.

For more items about Housing issues in the region see our archive page here.

For more background on City Council discussions see our Council archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Victoria Viewpoints: Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Provincial scene.

Expect LNG to remain a B. C. political football
Clark needs Trudeau to approve Pacific NorthWest LNG project
B. C. needs new approach to provincial care for aboriginal kids, watchdog says
B. C. LNG minister says 'we're not afraid' of federal environmental tests
Aboriginal kids deserve better
Highway culture won't invade Gabriola
Feds add pipeline consultations, delay Kinder Morgan decision
B. C. LNG minister heads to Ottawa for talks

Ottawa Observations: Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene from January 27, 2016.

Liberals get it right with focus on home care
Why resuming ties with Theran will be slow going for Canada
Diplomats welcome Canada's shift to engage Iran, as Tories pile on questions
Liberals boost Russia, Iran relations, but can 'sunny was' deliver on international stage?
UN report increases pressure on Ottawa to halt Saudi arms deal
Canada could face $50 billion in deficits over two years, economists say
Ottawa adds additional steps to pipeline reviews
Governments must commit to greenhouse gas policies, NEB warns
Trudeau government sends letter to U.S. Senate committee that’s dissecting Canada’s ‘fast-track’ refugee plan
Canada's foolish pipeline flubs
Trudeau aims to build trust first, Energy East later
Warnings about Iran’s nuclear intentions fall on deaf ears of Liberal government
'We are in limbo:' Senators return to the chamber with little idea how institution will work
Pipeline projects to face new environmental regulations
Parliament Hill basement excavation could cost $50M or more
Canada has 'responsibility to lead by example,' UN environment chief says
Trudeau adopts Obama's oil strategy
PM selfie and the refugees
Tories raise concerns about Canadian diplomats' safety in Iran
Conservatives cherry picked certain Syrian refugee files: documents
Federal government to announce new tradition rules for assessing pipelines

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LNG Minister Coleman anticipates CEAA draft report on Pacific NorthWest LNG within weeks

BC LNG Minister Rich Coleman
expects that the CEAA Draft report
on the Pacific NorthWest LNG
project will be released within weeks

The day is apparently getting close for the much anticipated delivery of the draft report from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, a document which will outline whether the Federal agency will grant conditional approval for the 36 billion dollar Pacific Northwest LNG Terminal at Lelu Island.

Deputy Premier and LNG Minister Rich Coleman has been making the media rounds this week, sharing some thoughts on that draft report process, which he believes could be delivered to the Federal cabinet for consideration by late March.

The LNG Minister continues to remain optimistic on the fate of the proposed development, noting through his interviews that he believes the project is doable and adding that from all indications that he has received from federal contacts, it's a sentiment that he says is shared at the federal level.

LNG Minister Rich Coleman
outlined his observations on recent
developments on the LNG file
in the province this week

Minister Coleman also had some thoughts related to yesterday's news reports on the prospect of new guidelines on gas emissions related to energy projects, which will see changes in the review process to require further tests to determine impact on climate issues.

It's an issue that he doesn't believe should raise fears in the province, particularly when it comes to the government's hopes for progress on LNG issues and development.

Both Coleman and B. C. environment Minister Mary Polak will be heading to Ottawa to discuss those issues with federal politicians, ready to provide the British Columbia perspective on how those changes may impact on the provinces plans to develop an LNG industry.

Some of Mr. Coleman's discussion points can be reviewed from the articles below:

B. C. set to discuss LNG industry with federal government
B. C. LNG minister heads to Ottawa for talks
Trudeau's upstream GHG regulations could mean big changes for B. C. oil patch

More background on the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG project can be found on our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

Recreation Department to introduce new registration system in February

The Recreation Department will be rolling out their new software system for registrations in February, a highly anticipated addition to the city's information collection system that is hoped to provide savings and improved access to the department's programs.

The topic of the new registration software program was reviewed for council during the November 23rd council session, as part of an overall discussion of Recreation Department finances and capital spending planning by the City's Recreation Director Willa Thorpe.

In addition to a look at some of the financial issues, recreation fee increases and maintenance related notes, Ms. Thorpe offered up a thumbnail sketch of the new software program which is to replace the antiquated system that the City currently makes use of.

Highlighting for council what the new software is expected to provide for the city, tracking trends in recreation use and identify those demographics that make use of the Civic Centre and what participation levels are found at the Recreation Centre.

You can review that November presentation from the City's Video Archive starting at the thirty eight minute mark.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review

A short reminder on the introduction of the system was posted to the Recreation Department Facebook page, you can get a head start on the registration process by updating your information for their data base here.

More items related to developments from Prince Rupert City Council can be found from our Council Discussion page.