City Council members ask many questions of Port representatives over Pinnacle Pellet Project

As we mentioned over the weekend, Monday's City council session was destined to be one of the more interesting of gatherings of late, with a number of delegations making presentations to Council.

Among the most anticipated of the evenings entertainment, was a review of the Pinnacle Pellet Plant project courtesy of the Port of Prince Rupert.

Responding to a request to appear, originally issued by Councillor Joy Thorkelson a few months ago, the Port of Prince Rupert made a presentation to Council updating the process and progress of the Pinnacle Pellet Plant project.

The Port sent two representatives to Council Chambers for the update, a session which accounted for  over 1 hour, of the nearly 3 hour council session.

Offered up to the eager councillors for the  hour long research session were Andy Cook and Ken Veldman, who faced a number of inquiries from council members  about the contentious project on the west side of the city.

After about a twelve minute technical explanation of what is planned for the development by Andy Cook, the Mayor turned the forum over to the city Councillors.

Leading off the question period was Councillor Carlick-Pearson with questions about the construction phase and impact on the neighbourhood, followed up by Councillor Thorkelson who focused on who was responsible for the mitigation process and if the Port is in charge of enforcing issues of concern with Pinnacle.

Councillor Thorkelson also had issues over perceived "flippant" remarks in the past on other Port Projects, seeking clarification on the chain of complaint should people have concerns on the latest development.

Councillor Rice followed up on Councillor Thorkelson's concerns and as might be expected, the environment was high on her agenda for discussion. Seeking out clarification of the Environmental Assessment of the Port compared to what Federal Environmental Assessments might have in place.

Councillor Rice also had questions on employment levels at the Pinnacle Plant upon completion and operation.

Councillor Garon took over the questioning from Councillor Rice seeking clarification on the method of use for monitoring equipment regarding the site and how it will track any dust issues from the project.

Councillor Ashley had issues on the monitoring process as well, asking whether the Port will be keeping the lines of communication open between the development and the city. She also had bylaw and safety concerns over the project, particularly regarding the noise bylaw and how the turn around time of the vessels calling on the plant may impact on that.

She also had concerns over the presentation phase of the Pinnacle project and the perception of promises that "were made" regarding the model presented, a prospectus which featured a waterfront walk for the area near the Pinnacle Plant.

While the Port couldn't offer up any kind of answer on the Pinnacle sketches, that question offered up the chance for Ken Veldman to provide an update on the Port's vision for waterfront access for the public in the city, which seems focused east of Kwinitsa.

Councillor Kinney followed up with his thoughts on the project, expressing confidence that safety concerns will be addressed by the Port and welcoming the prospect of further development in the city which will lessen the tax requirements on the city's residents.

The conversation then circled the Council chambers again with Councillors Rice and Thorkelson putting forward their final thoughts on accountability from the Port to the residents of the city.

The Mayor brought an end to the lengthy interrogation, thanking the pair for their time and information provided, advising that they were welcome to stick around for the public input section of the council session.


You can review the wide ranging discussion from the city's website coverage of the proceedings. ( you can listen to the audio feed here, the video feed has yet to be posted to the city's website)

The opening statements from the Port begin at the 1:45 mark, running to about the 13 minute mark.

The Q and A from the councillors picks up the remainder of the session from 13 minutes to about 1 hour and 9 minute mark.

You can also review our archive material on the Pinnacle Pellet Plant, which can be found here.

Presentation Day at City Council

This Monday nights session (October 22) of city council (or at least that part which isn't held in closed session) could make for an interesting evening of entertainment on the city's live feed.

A number of delegations are making the trek to council to share some news, or offer up their thoughts on developments on the local scene. As the Agenda of the Regular Meeting of Council outlines, updates are the order for Monday night.

Among the nights march of the delegations, a bit of background on the proposed Petronas-Progress LNG project for Prince Rupert will be provided by Ms. Tessa Gill, Head of Stakeholder Management, Mr. Steve Dunk, Manager of Regulatory Affairs and Policy, Progress Energy. They both will provide an overview of the Petronas-Progress LNG Project and advise about the upcoming Open Houses for the project

One of the city's favourite topics of conversation will also be on the agenda for Monday, as CityWest comes to council chambers to provide an update. Local residents will hear from Jack Payne, Vice Chair of CityWest, Bill Craig, the CEO of CityWest and from Chris Marett, the CFO of the company. The topic for the night will be the General Annual Shareholders Report.

If ever there was a company that catches the imagination of the local population it's CityWest, the city owned telecommunications company that can start up a debate with little prompting. In past appearances before council,  details on corporate expansion and financial return to the city made for lively debate around town.

And yet, for the first time in a long time, an update from CityWest will not be considered the main event of a council session.

Instead that honour will go to the Pinnacle Pellet Plant developers, a delegation from the controversial project for the Prince Rupert waterfront will be in Council Chambers to make their presentation.

The Agenda for the Committee of the Whole Meeting provides the line up for Monday, with Ken Veldman, Director of Public Affairs and Andy Cook , Manager, Planning and Design for the Port Authority destined to provide for a Monitoring Update on the Pinnacle Pellet Plant.

The Port had been requested to appear by council, mainly at the urging of Councillor Joy Thorkelson, requested to explain recent decisions moving the project forward. Considering the volume of concern from the West side of town, we imagine that the public section of council chambers will be full and attentive to the update from the Port officials.

For those that can't head down to Council for the theatre to come, just  grab some popcorn and your favourite beverages and tune into the City's streaming broadcast of the proceedings from council at 7 PM

For your background work on the three topics of discussion Monday, we have some information packages if you will in our North Coast Review Archives, find our backgrounders below.


LNG Terminal Development

Communication on the North Coast

Pinnacle Pellet Plant Development

Pinnacle Pellet Plant plans moves forward slowly

The latest proposal for waterfront development is proving to be a contentious issue for residents on the West side of the city, as the Pinnacle Renewable Energy Group's plans for a pellet terminal and storage facility provides for a vocal debate over what should, or should not be developed on the Prince Rupert waterfront.

Pinnacle's plans as outlined in a comprehensive prospectus, would provide for a storage facility and shipping terminal along the shoreline near where Prince Rupert's grain elevator once stood, providing for the first real industrial use of that are since Prince Rupert Grain relocated to Ridley Island in the eighties.

It's perhaps because of that absence of use that has provided for an attachment to that section of the waterfront, residents on that side of town, having had little industrial development take place until the recent rejuvenation of Fairview terminals into what is now the container port.

Since then, the volume in both numbers and audial content on the waterfront rail lines has caused for controversy on the west side, residents weary of train horns tooting and rail car couplings coupling and all of that.

Now, much to their horror it would seem the prospect of yet more development on that stretch of waterfront is sending some of them to the verbal barricades as it were.

The debate which at times gets heated, offers up any number of potential problems that opponents can think up, some of which may or may not be grounded with actual proof. The scope of the argument ranges from health concerns over potential pellet dust, to property value declines, though in the latter category, some of the opponents perhaps have an over inflated view of their property values.

Many of the concerns are listed on a webpage called Pellet Free Neighbourhood, where opponents of the project list their talking points on the issue.

Based on the idea that the city is now a major shipping port,  those opponents may not be on the firmest ground on the debate, with the planned expansion of the Container port the rail corridor along the waterfront will remain as a marshalling yard for the foreseeable future.

Likewise, if historic precedent is any benchmark, the area in question with the Pinnacle proposal is indeed industrial, so it shouldn't really be a surprise that it would return to it's original use as opposed to the waste of scrubland it has become of late.

As it seems at the moment, the waterfront appears to have been divided into sections, the area from Kwinitsa to the east a more resident friendly space, the walking trail, the parkland, the cruise terminal and the Cow Bay redevelopment plans making it the destination for leisure and public use.

West of Kwinitsa, is for the most part a marshalling yard for CN, much of the land yet to be reclaimed for any other use from the historic fire on the waterfront of the seventies, the further you move towards Fairview the concept of it still being industrial seems still quite viable.

The City, as seems the case of late in anything contentious, appears to want to sit on a fence waiting for the winds to blow one way or another, offering up little evidence that it is fully committed to bringing any new industry to town.

The City recently issuing a call for input on the waterfront development, though we're not sure exactly how that would impact on the Port of Prince Rupert controlled space, which the city probably has little input or control over, other than offering up helpful suggestions.

Considering the city's less than solid financial footing these days, with a tax base that has declined over the last decade, one would think that the city would have an opinion or two on development and be inclined to welcome the same, at some point it would be seem that the city is in need of the growth and the benefits that could come from that.

Prince Rupert being a port city will either move forward based on the strength of its position in the world of shipping or it will stagnate again, the Pellet plant proposal would appear to be sending a message of confidence in the future as a shipment location.

The key to the financial well being of the city is to create an atmosphere of further development, sometimes that means that hard decisions and opinions have to be made and eventually accepted.

The file on the Pellet Plant proposal grows by the day, some of the reviews can be found below.

Invest Northwest BC -- Westview Wood Pellet Terminal

Northern View-- Pinnacle Pellet hosts forum on proposed Prince Rupert Pellet export terminal
Northern View-- Environmental Assessment for Pinnacle Pellet terminal in Prince Rupert ...
Northern View-- Prince Rupert Council asks for extension on pellet terminal environmental...
Northern View-- Prince Rupert Port Authority sends letter addressing wood pellet terminal ...
Northern View-- Major pellet shipping facility proposed for Prince Rupert waterfront
CFTK-- Proposed Pellet Terminal brings Concerns Over Waterfront Access
CFTK-- Pinnacle Renewable Energy Holds Open House in Prince Rupert
CFTK-- Rupert Resident Brings Pellet Concerns to Council for a Second Time