The Northern View, August 12, 2015

Page 1

PRINCE RUPERT VOL. 10 NO. 32

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

FREE

Re:Build Rupert to tackle infrastructure

GAME TIME

20-year plan looks at $288 million deficit

Feature Heart of our city: Herb Pond Page A5

BY KEVIN CAMPBELL PRINCE RUPERT / The Northern View

The City of Prince Rupert has heard the public’s outcry concerning potholes, cracked sidewalks and derelict roads and city council is ready and willing to address every single one in the city. That’s the theory and developed plan behind ‘Re:Build Rupert’, a new initiative developed by Mayor Lee - Mayor Lee Brain Brain, council and the engineering department designed to identify, fix, replace or generally improve every asset and piece of infrastructure that the city owns over the next 10 – 20 years and beyond.

“We have been stagnant for the last 15 - 20 years.”

News Banks Island Gold’s uncertain future Page A3 Shaun Thomas / The Northern View

The editor of the Prince Rupert Daily View Chronicle (Michael Gurney, right), goes over the game plan with gungho reporter Chester McDougal (David Smook) during a performance of Deadline during Udderfest last week. For more on Udderfest, see Pages A13-A14.

See Re:Build on Page A2

Contract awarded for Watson Island demolition BY KEVIN CAMPBELL

Business

PRINCE RUPERT / The Northern View

Ridley Terminals posts Q1 loss Page A8

Sports A wrapup of Riverboat Days Page A11

STIN I L W E N

Watson Island has found its industrial grim reaper. More than a few things may be headed to the mechanical afterlife through the decommissioning of a very large portion of what was once the Watson Island Pulp Mill. Its assets will be removed by NRI Group, an Ontario-based asset management firm familiar with paper mill sites throughout North America. “We are pleased to be able to move forward with the decommissioning of the pulp mill, which will enable the site to be repurposed so that Watson Island can again contribute to the economy of Prince Rupert,” said Mayor Lee Brain last week. Currently NRI Group, who earlier signed the demolition contract with the city, is in the planning stages with Stantec, an engineering

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-Mayor Lee Brain consultant, to determine which portions of Watson Island will be decommissioned as part of a complete two-year process that will begin on the island immediately. “Right now they’re doing preliminary work on budgets and estimates and that type of thing and what the plan is exactly going to look like,” said the mayor. To whom the assets may be sold to and what will be retained is also part of the planning process. There are some areas that won’t be affected by the decommissioning and have been identified as being in good

standing condition, such as office buildings, but the majority of the site will be decommissioned. What the city would like to see happen with that land is still up in the air due to a legal dispute between WatCo, a wholly-owned company of Colonial Coal, and the city regarding who owns the land. “We still have a certificate of pending litigation (CPL) on the island through our legal claim with WatCo ... Basically until that CPL is removed, we can’t really sell the island right now,” said Mayor Brain. “It’s a very attractive piece of property. It has huge strategic value for the region. It’s got a wharf access, rail access and truck access. If the site were to be cleaned up and flattened and ready for industrial use, we believe that it could really contribute to Prince Rupert’s economy, get the tax base expanded again and be a really good compliment to other industries that are trying to settle here.”

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