Campaign underway Sensible B.C. signing up canvassers. Page 33 Carnavale time Venice the theme for third annual cultural festival. Page 41 raiders win Junior football team pulls out victory on the road. Page 3
Building worldclass facility Page 27
Celebrating
1988
2013
Years
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013
www.nanaimobulletin.com
VOL. 25, NO. 43
www.countryclubcentre.com
Seaspan discussing transfer of property rights to Nanaimo I
hands-on inspection
Const. Martin Mindel checks out a crab after successfully avoiding getting pinched while helping crab fisher Rex Jeon get it untangled from his trap at the public crab fishing pier at Maffeo Sutton Park Thursday. Mindel spent time socializing with park visitors and fishers while checking for fishing licences and legalsize catches.
CHRIS BUSH/THe NewS BUlleTIN
deal would open up development possibilities on south waterfront. By Tamara Cunningham ThE NEwS BULLETiN
Seaspan Ferries is in talks with the City of Nanaimo about releasing a key part of the south industrial waterfront as it considers moving operations to Duke Point. Nanaimo officials and Seaspan Ferries have been in confidential negotiations about the potential transfer of right-of-way claims on the Wellcox railway land. Bill Corsan, the city’s manager of real estate, said the discussion alone is a huge step forward and if successful, it could open up greater possibilities for redevelopment along the water’s edge. The City of Nanaimo bought 10.8 hectares of the south industrial waterfront for $3.4 million in March. Local officials and residents envision a changed waterfront, with parks, shops and a transportation hub. But officials have also known significant challenges stand in the way of immediate development. Seaspan alone ties up six hectares of land and water with a statutory right-of-way, preventing the city from making use of the area so long as the company holds the claim. The Island Corridor Foun-
dation holds a hectare. Corsan said the city planned to hold the land in trust for future development and help create a vision for the area that could be rolled out once “serious encumbrances” like land claims were dealt with. Negotiations for right-of-ways weren’t expected for another four decades. But Seaspan Ferries recently approached the city about the potential to work toward making the Wellcox property free and clear as it looks to consolidate its downtown terminal with Duke Point. “It’s huge,” Corsan said. “[When the city purchased the Wellcox Railway land] we were told not to expect Seaspan to be leaving anytime soon, so it’s quite fortuitous we are having this discussion in the first year of ownership.” Seaspan Ferries has owned the right-of-way to water and land at the south industrial waterfront for close to 20 years and only started to reconsider when it purchased Van Isle Barge Services in Duke Point two years ago. Seaspan Ferries vice-president Steve Roth said it no longer makes sense for the company to operate two terminals in such close proximity to one another. Seaspan has made a bid to barge garbage at its Duke Point site for a potential waste-to-energy incinerator, but Roth said the two projects are not “tied at the hip.” u See ‘ISLAND’ /4
JEWELLERY SERVICE
GOLD RECYCLING
250.585.1648 Mon - Sat 10am - 5pm 3392 Norwell Drive, Nanaimo
WE B U Y GOLD