InteriorNEWS THE
108th Year - Week 44 •
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
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Sophie Gross, 16, tests her welding skills at the Northwest Community College mobile trades unit last week. Story on page B1. Alicia Bridges photo
Details presented PRGT pipeline permits on four-storey hotel By Alicia Bridges
Smithers/Interior News
By Chris Gareau Smithers/Interior News
Proponents of the proposed four-storey Coast Hotel at Main and King Streets were in Smithers Sunday night to give council and curious Boston Pizza customers a more detailed look at what it would look like inside and out. Amenities include a two-storey waterslide, pool, indoor and outdoor hot tubs, a conference room, bike and ski tune-up shop and storage, bike wash station, fitness room, and a large lobby that serves breakfast. The 11,775 square-foot, four storey building would also house
83 rooms for visitors, and be surrounded by 83 parking spots on a 60,694 square-foot footprint behind the Boston Pizza. There would be two entrance/ exits each on Main and King. A traffic circle would be built at the intersection of Main at King, and the small section of Ninth Avenue between the streets would become part of the parking lot. The small triangle piece of land east of Ninth would also be used as part of the development. Smithers council passed first and second readings in July of a variance to allow the hotel to be four storeys, which is not allowed under Town bylaws. See PLAYGROUND on A2
TransCanada is one step away from starting construction of its Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline project after receiving the final permits it needs from the BC Oil and Gas Commission. The company last week obtained the last of 11 permits it requires to start construction of the 900 kilometre pipeline, which would transport natural gas from north of Hudson’s Hope. PRGT president Tony Palmer said the BCOGC permits were the last major regulatory step for the pipeline itself. “Receiving the full complement of 11 pipeline and facility permits is a major milestone for
begin with site preparation for worker camps and right-of-way clearing. However, the CEAA process has stalled while the agency waits for material it requested from the company on June 2. According to the CEAA, the assessment process was paused on day 263 of its one year timeline when the agency wrote a letter to Pacific NorthWest requesting additional information. “In response, the proponent submitted draft material which was reviewed by the Agency, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Natural Resources Canada,” said spokesperson Karen Fish in a written response to questions from The Interior News. See CEAA on A4
KARATE AND KICKBOXING WORLDS Bulkley Valley martial artists chop and kick their way into world championship.
I’LL BE THERE TO SHARE THE LAND Independence found by living together in Hazelton area cohousing project.
GRIZZLIES LOOKING FOR ICE CREAM Smithers Secondary students enter the Grizzly Den for chance to run ice cream truck.
SPORTS/A9
THREE RIVERS/A15
COMMUNITY/B1
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Rogers Granulated Sugar 10 kilo. see last page in A
the project, and concludes an exhaustive regulatory process that we embarked on more than two years ago,” said Palmer. But TransCanada is waiting for another project to get federal environmental approval before it starts construction. Gas from the PRGT pipeline would be liquefied and exported from the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG facility, which is owned by Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas. That project at Lelu Island near Prince Rupert still needs federal environmental approval from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA). Only if Pacific NorthWest LNG gets a green light from the CEAA will TransCanada proceed with pipeline works, which would
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88 Nov 11, We will remember