Tuesday marks what will be the Final State of the City presentation from Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain, the larger stage of the Lester Centre, serving as the companion piece to the update that came to your mailbox with your tax bill, or that which is currently available online as part of the Annual Report just released by the City's communication office.
The Lester Centre Presentation set to be an epilogue to the Rupert 2030 Vision presentation of a few years ago and perhaps one which will provide for a check-list on how all of the proposed projects, initiatives and council vision planning from 2019 is coming along.
This week, Mayor Lee Brain provided a bit of a teaser message through his Social Media portal, with a hint of a Major announcement to be made at the gathering of June 28th.
We know Tuesday won't bring the announcement of his stepping aside from the mayoralty, that came in January, but perhaps he'll let the audience know what his next career path may be, as he prepares to take his leave of Municipal politics.
Outside of any immediate needs on infrastructure issues, there could be some thought heading into the final months of their term that an outgoing Mayor and Council perhaps should be holding back on any more major announcements on vision planning themes until a new elected collective is in place.
Allowing the next Council to decide if that's the path ahead and allocation of municipal resources that have for their vision for governance.
As for the work that the Mayor and Council have taken on during this term and the one previous, the Tuesday session should at least bring an update on something that has been a long running narrative for this Council since the first term for the Mayor and some of the current lineup of councillors.
The Woodworth Dam has been the signature piece for Mr. Brain since day one of his time in office, the subject of videos and occasional updates at one point, the information flow seemed to slow somewhat as it fell behind its original schedule in the last year or so.
The momentum for replacement of the pivotal piece of water infrastructure was inherited from the Jack Mussallem period of the mayoralty.
However, the completion of the project, which will include an option for hydro generation at some point in the future (if allowed by provincial authorities), has had some delays along the way.
The last update from Operations Director Richard Pucci in March had the Grand Opening set for the Spring, but there has as of yet, been no formal announcement yet of the wrap to the eight years plus of planning and construction.
The most recent note on the project came by way of a short mention by Chief Financial Officer Corinne Bomben upon the release of the Annual Report, the document noting of its completion in the Spring of 2022.
In an update on Capital projects byMs. Bomben on June 15th, the CFO spoke to the project with a caveat that the Dam project was 'finalizing'.
The Mayor may have been working out some of his talking points for Tuesday earlier this month, his address for the Graduates of Charles Hays Secondary made for a bit of a retrospective of his time in office, speaking of his vision to take office to Save the City, along with a few thoughts on infrastructure, the dam in particular got a mention that night.
The Mayor observing for those at the ceremony that the water supply "is almost fixed".
Infrastructure themes will loom large on Tuesday, those travelling to the Lester Centre from the west side perhaps will give some thought to those as they transit along McBride Street's expanded water line work, which will be a topic for Council at the final council session for June on Monday evening.
A potential update on the plans for the Prince Rupert Gateway, Waterfront Development, expanding Marina District and may others will mark the Mayor's Farewell to Municipal times on Tuesday.
The State of the City presentation one that most likely will chronicle some of the Mayor's successes, the ongoing challenges that he faced as Mayor and perhaps a snapshot as to how he views where the city is at, as he plans for his exit.
Many of the projects that made for the Mayor's focus for eight years were launched as part of the Mayor's Redesign Rupert initiative.
To refresh your memory on some of the topics of three years ago, see our archive that tracked a few of the elements of the Vision planning of the time, Mr. Brain will fill in the newest details on Tuesday at 7PM
As noted by the Mayor, those that can't attend the public gathering can follow along through the city's video options.
City Website
City of Prince Rupert Facebook page
More notes on the work of Council during the Mayor's time in office can be reviewed through our Council Discussion Archive page.