THURSDAY, october 12, 2017 Vol. 74, No. 41
Serving Fort St. John, B.C. and Surrounding Communities
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alaskahighwaynews.ca
“The Only Newspaper in the World That Gives a Tinker’s Dam About the North Peace.”
locals look for end to site c debate
fsj-dc rivalry begins
respite home close to reality
Site C A4 & A5
SPORTS B1
ARTS B6
Condill demolition starts soon
crossing continents
matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca
When You Are Out in the Field, Time IS Money. QUALITY PARTS, EXPERT SERVICE! Aleisha hendry Photo
American adventurer Jackson Foster gives his bicycle a routine maintenance inspection during a stop in Fort St. John last week. Foster is cycling from Anchorage, Alaska, to as far south as he can get. See story on A14.
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Site C river diversion delayed to 2020
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matt preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca
BC Hydro will miss its September 2019 deadline to divert the Peace River to build Site C—a one-year delay that will push up the dam’s pricetag by $610 million. The Crown utility informed the provincial utiltities commission of the news Oct. 4 as part of its response to the commission’s ongoing inquiry into the now $8.9-billion project. “BC Hydro has encountered some geotechnical and construction challenges on the project and the risk to the river diversion timeline has now materialized,” President and CEO Chris O’Riley
Chris O’Riley
wrote, citing the results of a construction review with the dam’s main contractor, Peace River Hydro Partners. “While this will set some activities back a year, we had a one-year float built into our schedule and are confident we can still deliver this project on time, by November 2024.” The Peace River needs to be
diverted between Sept. 1 and Oct. 1 in any given year when water levels are lowest. It’s a critical milestone that would allow contractors to start building the kilometre-long, 60-metre high earthfill dam. The delay is expected to increase Site C’s costs by 7.3 per cent from $8.335 billion to $8.945 billion, O’Riley said. However, contingency funds remain to “prudently manage risks on the project,” he said. Those risks include generating station, spillway, and Highway 29 realignment work yet to be procured. “We will work to mitigate those challenges,” O’Riley said. See DELAY on A5
Bernier hones message ahead of leadership debate matt preprost
Demolition of the Condill Hotel could start as soon as next week. City council was poised to award the $457,480 contract to NAPP Enterprises of Prince George at a meeting Tuesday. Moira Green, the city’s director of strategic services, told residents gathered at the museum Oct. 5 to celebrate the historic 75-year-old building that the demolition was expected to start Oct. 15 depending on permitting and contractor mobilization. Work is expected to be complete by mid-December. The city took possession of the hotel Sept. 29 and is looking to make demolition quick to “prevent any negative impacts on the downtown associated with vacant and derelict buildings,” an administration report notes. After demolition, the site— comprised of three separate titles and lots—will be sold for development and fall under new downtown zoning and building rules. Updates to the city’s official community plan are expected before the end of the year, Green told residents, which will allow for innovative, multiple uses of the land to bring more people and activity to the downtown. “We’re going to add people, activity, the whole spectrum, day time and night time,” she said. See CONDILL on A15
City, union make push to hire more disabled workers Aleisha Hendry
editor@ahnfsj.ca
ahendry@ahnfsj.ca
Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier is making the most of a break in the legislature this week. Bernier has been working his way throughout the province and into the northwest, travelling from Richmond on Sunday to Vanderhoof on Thursday as he seeks support for his bid to become leader of the BC Liberals. matt preprost Photo “The leadership race is part Peace River South MLA interviewing about his bid for the BC Liberal leadership of our rebrand, discussions of in Fort St. John on Oct. 7. our core principles, with new leadership and new ideas,” including former ministers province balanced. Bernier said at an event in Fort Mike De Jong, Andrew “We have to cater to the St. John on Oct. 7. Wilkinson, and Todd Stone, and entire province,” he said. “We have to remind (voters) Bernier, a former education Conservative MP Dianne Watts of what happens in rural B.C. minister in his second term also vying for the job. as MLA, is one of seven With the party’s first and why we need rural B.C. just currently running for his party’s leadership debate set for Oct. like we need Vancouver.” leadership—with a Lower 15 in Surrey, Bernier says See BERNIER on A3 Mainland-dominated cast he’s focused on keeping the
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The City of Fort St. John and the BCGEU have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a program to hire people with developmental disabilities. The program would see adults in the community with developmental disabilities be matched up with employment opportunities with the City. “When you have the city hiring people with developmental disabilities, it really is being a role model for the rest of the community,” said Cindy Mohr, executive director with the Fort St. John Association for Community Living. See HIRE on A15
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