Kitimat Northern Sentinel, November 26, 2014

Page 1

K

I

T

I

M

A

T

Sentinel

Northern

Years est. 1954

www.northernsentinel.com

Volume 60 No. 48

MK Marina sale to take hold Dec. 4 After nearly 40 years of being in the marina business, the Kitimat-Stikine regional district is selling MK Bay Marina to the Haisla Nation. In a deal set to close December 4, the Haisla Trust Society is to acquire the lands, improvements, buildings and all equipment. Through its corporate business arm, Haisla Business Operations Inc. and its business partners, the Haisla Nation will upgrade, manage and develop the MK Bay Marina, located southeast of Kitimat and adjacent to Kitamaat Village. The Haisla are to pay the regional district $875,000 which breaks down to $704,300 for the land and improvements, $5,000 for the a Crown water lease and $139,000 other items including remaining assets, trademarks and goodwill. Sale negotiations had been underway for years and also involved Rio Tinto Alcan which had owned the land on which the marina is located in the first place before selling it to the regional district in 1975 for the development of a public recreational facility. The sale agreement contains a covenant so that the marina will continue to operate as a public facility. “[The] Haisla Nation commits to ensuring the public recreational marina maintains a minimum baseline of 1150 linear feet, 7 boathouse spaces and 117 slips of recreational moorage space in alignment with the current configuration. Haisla Nation intends to run a public marina that is equal or superior to the existing marina in terms of quality, public access and level of service,” states a November 19 regional district press release. Current employees will transfer over to the new ownership structure. Haisla chief councillor

Ellis Ross noted that the marina is right in the middle of Haisla territory. “It generates economic activity and we think its future is even brighter with some upgrades and a greater ability to take advantage of the current and future economic activity on the Douglas Channel,” he stated in the regional district release. The Haisla Nation is also discussing the development of a commercial loading facility on adjacent lands that are owned by Rio Tinto Alcan. Rio Tinto Alcan official Paul Henning called the sale a “bold step” by the regional district and said it clears the way for more development in the area. The land holding is 1.6 ha with about two-thirds of that amount consisting of a dredged out basin. The crown water lease is 4.54 ha with less than half of that amount currently used by the marina, said regional district administrator Bob Marcellin. There is no long term debt to be repaid and it is expected once everything is complete the net balance will be allocated back to the four areas of the regional district which supported the marina – Kitimat, Terrace, Thornhill and the rural area surrounding Terrace which extends all the way south to Kitimat. Marcellin also noted that to operate effectively and at current capacity the marina also depended on additional lands owned by Rio Tinto Alcan and the Haisla and was used by informal arrangements. This isn’t the only recreational facility to be owned by the regional district over the years. At one time it also operated a ski facility at Kitsumkalum Mountain north of Terrace beginning in the mid-1970s which ultimately suffered because of lack of snow.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

1.30 INCLUDES TAX

$

“We think its future is even brighter with ...a greater ability to take advantage of the current and future economic activity.”

Nathan Wilson looks at his totem pole, which he began carving in February. The project concluded with a grand celebration at Mount Elizabeth Middle Secondary School, where the totem pole was raised in the school’s lobby. More on the totem pole on page 3. Cameron Orr

PM477761

The stories of Angus MacLeod...page 6


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.