District of Port Edward and Pacific NorthWest LNG reach 25 year agreement on property taxes

There may be no bigger booster of the Pacific NorthWest LNG project on the North Coast than the District of Port Edward, and with an announcement released today between the two groups, the District has 150 million reasons to be hoping for a positive Final Investment Decision from the LNG proponent for Lelu Island.

On Monday, Pacific NorthWest LNG released the details of a 25 year agreement-in-principle with the District that will guarantee the District of Port Edward 3.25 million dollars per year, escalating over the lifetime of the agreement. 

The money to be paid to the community in the way of property taxes, with a front end contribution from Pacific Northwest for infrastructure improvements in the District.

Increases to potential revenue streams to the District could come with expansion of LNG trains at the Lelu Island site.

Among those infrastructure concerns to be addressed by both the District and Pacific NorthWest LNG will be Water and Sewer System upgrades at an estimated cost of 35 million dollars, as well as construction of the Wampler Way Bypass at a cost of 16 million dollars.

Further background on those infrastructure items can be found as part of the announcement from Pacific NorthWest LNG.

Pacific NorthWest LNG President Michael Culbert outlined the nature of the relationship between the company and the District and the amount of work that had gone into the announcement on taxes.

“Pacific NorthWest LNG intends on being a long-term positive contributor to the District of Port Edward and this agreement-in-principle serves as the blueprint for a multi-decade co-operative relationship that will benefit all residents of Port Edward,”  ... “I would like to thank Mayor Dave MacDonald, Port Edward Council and district staff for their dedication and hard work to get to this day.” -- Pacific NorthWest LNG President Michael Culbert

For his part, Port Edward Mayor Dave McDonald reflected on the opportunity that the development would mean to his community to bring back former residents, particular the young people of the community that have had to leave in recent years to find work.  He also had positive words for the nature of cooperation between the two sides to reach the agreement.

“The bold agreement with Pacific NorthWest LNG was reached on our terms and will ensure that Port Edward residents benefit from the LNG opportunity in the form of increased services, as well as infrastructure upgrades and ultimately, improved quality of life.” -- Port Edward Mayor Dave McDonald

The agreement signed today, will be subject to the project proceeding to the construction phase and will be effective upon the execution of a long term lease with Prince Rupert Port Authority.

There are still two benchmarks to be made before Port Edward can start counting their newfound money, the first a procedural issue related to the Community Charter, which Coralee Oakes the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development said the province would address early in 2015.

The agreement signed today, will be subject to the project proceeding to the construction phase and will be effective upon the execution of a long term lease with Prince Rupert Port Authority.

The other issue of course, and the largest one of all, is the nature and timeline of the Final Investment Decision from the parent company Petronas.

An announcement regarding their intentions towards the project is anticipated sometime in the next three to six months.

One imagines that the Mayor and Council in Port Edward will be keeping a close eye on the financial pages over that period of time, watchful to see how their potential revenue stream is progressing towards that decision.

You can review the background on the Pacific NorthWest LNG project from our archive page here.