S TANDARD TERRACE
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VOL. 26 NO. 11
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amara janssens PHOTO
■■ National Aboriginal Day vera dudoward shows baby Tatiuna Maxwell the drum along with Chuck Dudoward, back, and mom Jenna Maxwell, right, during National Aboriginal Day celebrations in George Little Park on Friday June 21. People young and old came from all across the northwest to take part in the festivities.
Council goes to the dogs THEY MAY have only been minor changes to the city’s animal control bylaw but they did spark a debate among council members leading up to the formal adoption of the changes Monday evening. The debate June 10, in which the change bylaw was given first, second and third readings, lead to discussion about a dog ban for public events with George Little Park being specifically singled out. “It’s a park. We ought to think of ways of strengthening our hand there,” said councillor Brian Downie, who acts as liaison to the Riverboat Days organizing committee. Downie said that typically the fes-
tival lets people know about its no dog rule through published information. But the potential for a biting incident and the cruelty of submitting a leashed dog to a mass of people were considered reasons to beef up the rules about dogs. The debate swung between soft and hard approaches to the presence of dogs at festivals and in parks. Mayor Dave Pernarowski suggested a non legally binding measure of posting signs, a tactic used by the Skeena Valley Farmers Market which sets up shop each Saturday in the large parking lot area on the western edge of George Little Park. Councillor Lynne Christiansen, who
sits on the market’s governing body, said the dog-free policy has been difficult to enforce, even with signs. Councillor Marylin Davies agreed with the position take by councillor Stacey Tyers that policing might not be the best way to solve potential problems, and suggested trying outreach. The by-law amendments do make clear that walking dogs off-leash within city limits is to be only allowed on a certain portion of Ferry Island. The bylaw amendment further adds that a dog being walked off of its leash “shall at all times remain with visual surveillance and under the direct control and responsibility of an owner or possessor.”
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
BC Hydro power line cost soars BC HYDRO has dramatically increased the cost of its Northwest Transmission Line, adding more than $150 million to the price tag when compared to previous figures. The new figure is now $736 million, a massive jump over a price range released just this spring of between $561 million and $617 million. BC Hydro has been steadily increasing the estimated cost of the 344km power line running north of Terrace since an initial figure of $404 million was suggested when the provincial government crown corporation first began planning construction in the latter part of the last decade. Speaking last week, BC Hydro vice president Bruce Barrett said a large portion of the additional costs come from difficulties in clearing the power line’s right of way and in building roads to the right of way. “Drilling and blasting alone is 10 times more than original estimates,” said Barrett in describing the challenge of going through more difficult terrain that first anticipated. Contractors are building 205km of new road and improving 280km of existing roads to provide access to more than 1,100 sites where power line structures are being installed. The line itself is approximately 344km long, stretching from BC Hydro’s Skeena Substation south of Terrace north to end at Bob Quinn on Hwy37 North. Barrett also acknowledged time pressures in completing the line by next spring to meet contractual obligations to the power line’s first two major customers – Imperial Metals which needs power to run its Red Chris copper and gold mine now under construction and AltaGas which is building three run of river hydro projects to feed power into the line. Red Chris is scheduled to be completed next spring and AltaGas has targeted the same time period to finish the largest of its three projects. That’s meant working through the past two winters under not always ideal conditions, said Barrett. At the same time, Barrett said BC Hydro’s costs have increased because of the high level of economic activity in the region. Large scale construction projects such as Rio Tinto Alcan’s rebuilding of its Kitimat aluminum smelter and work on potential liquefied natural gas projects have created a shortage of people and equipment, causing prices to rise. “We’ve had to bring in people and equipment from all over,” said Barrett. “BC Hydro has not built a project of this size in a remote area for some time.” The new transmission line figure of $736 million is part of BC Hydro’s adjusted service plan costing for its operations which will be officially released tomorrow as part of the provincial budget. BC Hydro’s board has already approved of the new cost figure and has tacked on an additional $10 million as a reserve.
Cont’d Page A2
Grad 2013
Final hearings
Referee awarded
Graduates celebrate the end of high school and scholarships awarded \COMMUNITY B1
Enbridge’s joint panel review hearings ended sooner than anticipated \NEWS A5
Terrace referee Cam MacBean wins BC Hockey officiating award \SPORTS B4