Monday, December 31, 2018

Blog Watching Year in Review: A Month by Month look at the top stories of 2018 for Prince Rupert and area

YEAR IN REVIEW 2018

For our Blog watching feature for year's end we offer  a trio of headings to provide for a glimpse of some of the news highlights of the year soon to end.

Category number one will be the Overall Top story, as determined by the amount views the article received over the course of the last 365 days.

Category Two will feature those stories of note from Prince Rupert City Hall, while our third category explores some of the key topics of the year from Business or Industrial footprint in the community.

All of which have been determined by the viewer count for the stories through the year.

In some instances, the dominance of the story in the overall category will find it also topping the list in the other two categories. At the bottom of each section you will also find links to additional blog resources to review themes in more detail, listed by the month.

When it came to some of the large stories of the year, the state of the city's business sector frequently attracted attention as stores would open, some close and others relocate, among the trends of the year a growing migration to the Cow Bay area for some of the city's retail sector.

The LNG sector also migrated in 2018, with Kitimat now the focus for the current burst of activity, 2018 delivering the end of two more proposed developments for the Prince Rupert area.

The fishery continued to dominate the discussion on the North Coast, both politically and economically, all while stocks continue to see troubles and employment prospects declined for the once thriving industry.

The Port continued to loom large on the horizon for the future of the city and region, with LPG proposals moving closer to completion, expansion plans at the port continuing on and many other potential developments noted as under consideration as the year moved forward.

On the political scene, provincially a referendum that would have seen our electoral system change went down to a significant defeat, with British Columbians including those in the North Coast and Skeena ridings indicating that they preferred to stay with the current First Past the Post system.

At City Hall, there was much talk of infrastructure, another chance for the Mayor to showcase his Hays 2.0 plans, a municipal election which delivered an all male contingent and returning Mayor Brain to office by acclamation.

And all of it was overshadowed by years end, that as the residents of Prince Rupert heard notice that they needed to bring the last two weeks of December for 2018 to an end by boiling their drinking water, with no indication as to how far along into 2019 we may have to go before the supply will be deemed safe.

So pour yourself a glass of your finest boiled water, or crack open a bottle from your supply of booty from the shopping expeditions ... 

Our Lists of the year, unfold as follows:

Most Read -- All Inclusive


January

End of January brings latest store closure for downtown Prince Rupert


February

Highway 16 accident claims life of Prince Rupert woman


March

Woodside bows out of LNG Terminal development plans for Grassy Point


April

Pembina grabs some storefront space downtown


May

Pinnacle Renewable Resources signs second Japanese agreement


June

Councillor Niesh joins online conversation on civic staff salaries


July

Port Authority advances plans for Ridley corridor, as Dutch giant Vopak looks to expand its footprint in Prince Rupert


August

Ridley Terminals goes back on the market


September

Prince Rupert, Port Edward, Smithers absent from coalition of communities penning LNG Resource letter


October 

One down, dozens to go! As Northern Savings purchases Dairy Queen building on McBride


November

Controversy swirls around Legislature Speaker over ousting of officials


December

Mayor Brain wades into Boil Water discussion on Social Media over the weekend


See our right hand column feature North Coast Review Backgrounders for links to archives of the year on a range of topics of note for the region.

Also as part of our right hand column options we have a North Coast Review Extra Edition feature which offers more in depth reviews of some of the larger issues of the Northwest this year.

Tracking the year in politics is fairly easy as well from our right hand column listings as well, just check out our archives for both the House of Commons and the Legislature for items of note from the North Coast and Northwest in 2018.

Those who have deeper interest in the federal and provincial scene will find our companion blog D'Arcy McGee of interest, where we have archived notes from both Ottawa and Victoria.


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Municipal government

2018 saw much talk of the city's infrastructure with Council discussing plans for replacement of the Woodworth Dam the main focus with council members finally delivering on the plan by revealing the successful bid in November.

Success was found for the McKay Street Children's Park though the creation of a Dog Park, right beside it stirred up some discussion upon its opening.

A Tsunami Warning early in the year also made for some concerns, with the city looking to address issues related to better notification by introducing a new mobile app for such occurrences. As part of their work on emergency preparedness initiatives the City also mapped out areas susceptible to flooding dangers.

Mayor Brain provided for a second version of the Hays 2.0 plan this year, an update on the plans of Council to address immediate needs along with some longer range issues as well.

Things were fairly quiet when it came to Watson Island, with Pembina still listed as the only tenant so far of the city's new logistics park, the site will see a housing camp developed however as the construction plans for the LPG terminal continue to move forward.

Concerns on housing also continued to percolate in the community, with progress seen on an Elders/Seniors residence on the east side and work now underway in the development of supportive housing on Park Avenue.

However, when it comes to many of the residential projects reviewed over the last few years, few if any have yet to find their way to development in the wake of lack of momentum on the once highly anticipated LNG projects.

2018 was also the year which saw Rupertites bid farewell to Nelson Kinney, the long serving and popular council member passed away in March, as we moved closer to the fall election, Councillor Joy Thorkelson stepped down following a number of terms of advocacy for the fishery as well as those on the lower end of the financial spectrum in the community.

During the course of the campaign, Mayor Lee Brain ran unopposed, returned to office on election day but not without creating some controversy over his position on payments to Port Edward through the Ridley Island Tax Agreement, a topic that tended to dominate a fair share of the council campaign in the final days.

When the counting was over, the four incumbents in the race were returned, joined by two newcomers, the new council mix highlighted by its all male cast for the first time in close to five decades.

The year ended with a topic that dwarfed all of Council's work in the previous eleven months, with the City under a Boil Water Notice, originally expected to last a month, it now heads into week number three, with little indication that it will be lifted soon.

What caught the interest of the readers through the year looked as follows:

Most Read -- Municipal Government


January

Tuesday morning Tsunami Warning may spur on calls for better public alert system for Prince Rupert


February

March 30th the deadline, as utilities bills hit the mail for Prince Rupert residents


March

Prince Rupert's Cherry Blossom Tree Manifesto


April

The Mayor's Hays 2.0 Update ... There's a Bit of Woe, Some Blame to Show and a dream to sew ... BUT mostly we need some money to Flow!


May

City's approach to housing leaving many gaps when it comes to affordable options


June

Councillor Niesh joins online conversation on civic staff salaries


July

City seeks Requests for Proposal for Woodworth Dam Construction


August

Return of Redesign Rupert heralds Phase Two Plans


September

Prince Rupert, Port Edward, Smithers absent from coalition of communities penning LNG Resource letter


October 

Mayor Brain dials up the rhetoric on Ridley Tax Agreement with Port Edward


November

Horizon North highlights Watson Island plans in review of ongoing projects


December

Mayor Brain wades into Boil Water discussion on Social Media over the weekend


Our archive of the year on the Municipal scene includes the following elements:

Council Discussion Topics

Overall Municipal archive notes (including Port Edward, Regional District and area First Nation communities)

School District and Education Notes for the Northwest


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Industry/Retail

2018 heralded the fade from view of two more LNG prospects, with the Australian energy company Woodside and global energy player Exxon-Mobil both putting their options for Prince Rupert on the shelf.

The departures left the area with none of the major proposals remaining on the drawing board from the heady days of LNG momentum in the region.

Prince Rupert's losses have been Kitimat's gain, as the Valley at the North end of the Douglas Channel now takes its place at the forefront of the LNG industry on the North Coast, with work moving forward for the LNG Canada project.

With LNG out of the picture for now, the Port continued to be the dominant driver of the local economy, with the AltaGas LPG Terminal progressing well on Ridley Island, while Pembina's Watson Island plans continue to move forward.

Fairview Terminal continues to make for the focus of the local scene, with one expansion complete and plans under way for a future one, the volume of goods through Prince Rupert reached a milestone moment earlier this month, setting the table for what is hoped will be another strong year in 2019.

First Nations in the area continued to feature in Port development discussions and work, the latest coming through work on the connector road between Fairview and Ridley Island which will see much of the container traffic through the city soon to be redirected away from the urban area.

A little further down the road, plans are under consideration for some impressive logistics parks to be created to capture increased movements through the port in years to come.

One unknown however still has our attention from the waterfront as the Federal government puts Ridley Terminals up for sale, with local First Nations to be allocated 10 percent of the terminal share prior to any deal coming to a close.

Some of the stories of the year are as follows:

Most Read -- Business/Industry


January

UFAWAU identifies range of problems to be addressed for British Columbia Fishery


February

Eagle Spirit interests consider Hyder, Alaska as back up plan for oil shipment terminal


March

Woodside bows out of LNG Terminal development plans for Grassy Point


April

Pembina grabs some storefront space downtown


May

Pinnacle Renewable Resources signs second Japanese agreement


June

Eagle Spirit Energy hails proposed pipeline to Grassy Point as 'cleanest energy project on the Planet'


July

Port Authority advances plans for Ridley corridor, as Dutch giant Vopak looks to expand its footprint in Prince Rupert


August

Ridley Terminals goes back on the market


September

Vopak updates its project notes for Ridley Terminal plans


October 

One down, dozens to go! As Northern Savings purchases Dairy Queen building on McBride


November

Metlakatla, Lax Kw'alaams to retain 10 percent stake ... as Ridley Terminals goes up for Sale


December

Exxon Mobil Imperial bow out of environmental process for WCC LNG Terminal proposal at Tuck Inlet


For more background on the region's industrial and commercial sector see the following:

Industrial Archive

Commercial Sector Archive


Our archive of weekly Blog Watching for the year now ending can be found here.

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