North Coast Review

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Emergency Services Files: April 2018

Pacific Western takes to the roads as new Transit Operator in Prince Rupert/Port Edward

Renovations continue on the Saskatoon Avenue location for
Pacific Western Transportation, the Alberta based company
has taken over Transit services in Prince Rupert and Port Edward

So far, the only real change in the nature of the city's transit system is where the buses park at the end of the day, as Pacific Western Transportation takes over the delivery of transit services in Prince Rupert and Port Edward.

The city's Yellowhead Industrial site is the new home for the transit fleet, with the Pacific Western Offices set up in the old Yellowhead Auto Repair building on Saskatoon Avenue.

While the renovation work continues on the new offices and garage facility, a temporary bus corral has been set up at the site of the old Bowling alley.

BC Transit made note of the official changeover on their website over the weekend, posting the key information required for passengers to access route and service information.

Pacific Western Transportation secured the services after a competitive bid process was announced by BC Transit last year. The Alberta company will inherit much of the fleet that was run by First Canada over the last few years, including some new vehicles recently introduced into service.

As they began to move into their operations phase and assemble their staff, Pacific Western reviewed resumes of those who worked for First Canada, as well as to post a range of career opportunities through their twitter feed.

You can still access some background on those opportunities which may still be available from this link

Pacific Western is also taking over the Transit service in a number of other Northwest BC communities, adding to the growing list of British Columbia towns and cities where they provide transit.

More background on the road to Prince Rupert for Pacific Western can be found below

January 30 2018 -- New Northwest Transit Operator begins process of seeking management and staff for upcoming changeover
January 11 2018 -- Alberta Transportation giant selected to provide Northwest Transit service starting in April

More notes on transportation across Northwestern BC can be found on our archive page

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Monday, April 2, 2018

New Tax Increases part of your budgeting burden as April gets underway

April 1st brought a range of new
taxation measures in place in BC

Smart consumers spent March 31st taking care of the essentials of the weekend, as April 1st loomed on the horizon over the weekend and with it a range of tax increases taking effect on a number of goods and services in British Columbia.

Gas prices will see an uptick of 1.2 cent per litre as the carbon tax program moves ahead, the first of what will be a number of similar increases to be phased in four times a year, over the next few years.

Taxes on gas at the pumps
went up on April 1st

The carbon tax is just the first of what industry observes suggest will be a summer of price shocks related to a range of issues that affect the price of gas in the province.

If you can't afford the gas increase, you probably can't afford a luxury car, but if you can, the price of luxury is now at least 5 per cent more, with the taxes on luxury cars now at 15 - 20 percent depending on how high end you want to go.

The same goes for high end housing with the province's somewhat controversial "speculation tax"

Cigarette smokers were buying in bulk on the 31st as the price per cigarette went up 2.8 cents or 56 cents per package. Those who buy by the carton can put aside another $5.60 for their future purchases.

It's also going to cost a bit more
for your favourite alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverages also take an additional 1.5 percent in federal tax, with more to come based on the rate of inflation on an annual basis.

Provincial licensing fees for home Inspections also are on the march upwards, with a 36% increase now in effect.

BC Hydro costs have also taken a jump, with the BC Utilities Commission moving forward with a planned three percent increase in effect April 1st, having turned back an attempt to freeze the rates by the NDP government back in March.

You can review the schedule of changes as of April 1st for all areas under provincial control from the BC Government website

Some reviews of the hit to your pocket book can be found below:

No April Fool's Joke: New B.C. taxes and fees go into effect today
No April Fool's Joke: Canadian Alcohol taxes increase 1.5 per cent
B.C. tax hikes on gas, luxury cars, tobacco
Taxes go up on fuel, booze and cigarettes on April 1
Carbon tax increasing Sunday and other things that will coast you more starting April 1st
Throng of tax, fee and rate hikes further raise cost of living in BC
The Taxman cometh and you will pay more starting April 1

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Greyhound cancellation and Highway issues among themes from Regional District meeting of March

Members of Regional District will be in a letter writing frame of mind in the next few days, as they act on one of their discussion topics from the March 23rd Regional District meeting held in Prince Rupert.

Among the highlights notes released by the Regional body is the plan to send a correspondence to Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen, the letter described as "in support of bringing the federal government to the table to discuss, safe, viable transportation options in light of the Passenger Transportation Board's decision to allow Greyhound service to the northwest region to cease commencing June 1st, 2018"

The Regional District Board met
on March 23rd in Prince Rupert
for their March session

Other items of note from March 23rd meeting included some success for the NCRD when it comes to their application for a pair of programs hosted by the Northern Development Trust, the positive outcome came from applications for the 2018 Economic Development Capacity Building and Grant Writing Support programs.

Minor Soccer on Haida Gwaii also received some good news through the Regional District, with the Regional Government announcing a partnership opportunity which will see the Youth Soccer League gain extended liability coverage provided by the Municipal Insurance Association of B.C.

The Board also has some highway safety items in mind, with the focus on the Carwash Rock area and Kasiks along Highway 16, with Regional District set to make a submission related to safety conditions to the TransCanada Yellowhead Highway Association's Annual General Meeting to take place on April 8, 2018.

And North Coast Regional District has wrapped up their three month budgeting process, having adopted the North Coast Regional District 2018-2022 Five Year Financial Plan.

You can review the full outline of their work from March here.

Nelson Kinney, who passed away the day following the Regional District meeting of the 23rd, was a member of the Regional District Board, as of yet, the City of Prince Rupert has not outlined which council member will take Mr. Kinney's place on the Regional body.

More items related to the work of Regional District can be found on our archive page here.

To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.

Pembina grabs some storefront space downtown

Pembina the Alberta based energy company looking to build an
LPG terminal at Watson Island has a new downtown office location

As they look to move forward with their plans for development of a Liquid Propane Export Terminal on Watson Island, Alberta based Pembina is taking up some prime real estate in downtown Prince Rupert.

Prince Rupert's latest in project proponents has taken over the offices that once hosted the Pacific NorthWest LNG project, with Pembina putting their stamp on the Capital Mall building with some front window signage over the last week.

The new office provides the company with a storefront presence in the downtown area, one within but a few steps from their landlord at Watson Island in the City of Prince Rupert.

As for the proposed LPG terminal, there has not been much in the way of new information related to the project to be found on the Pembina website, with the Mayor Projects section hosting the early details of the Watson Island terminal development.

The Prince Rupert plans also made for a segment of 2017 Annual Report for the Alberta energy company, with the timeline for the 250 million dollar project still pointing towards the terminal going into service in the middle of the year 2020.

On November 29, 2017, Pembina announced approval for the development of its proposed liquefied petroleum gas export terminal in Prince Rupert, B.C. The Prince Rupert Terminal is expected to have a permitted capacity of approximately 25,000 barrels per day of LPG with the LPG supply primarily being sourced from Pembina’s Redwater fractionation complex.

The Company continues to progress stakeholder consultation and detailed engineering work to support facility design and various permit applications expected to be submitted throughout 2018. The expected capital cost is approximately $250 million and the project is anticipated to be in service mid-2020, subject to regulatory and environmental approvals.

The pace of the project and what's ahead could make for part of the Hays 2.0 Plan Information update planned by Mayor Lee Brain for April 25th at the Lester Centre.

You can find more about the early days of the Pembina plans from our archive page here.

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Real Estate Tracker: Week ending April 1, 2018

Our weekly review of the listings of the local real estate agents, tracking those properties which appear to be driving the local price structure for the North Coast.

Every Monday, we look over the listing prices of the past seven days and outline the Top 10 asking prices in the area, providing a snap shot as to where the Real Estate market may be trending on a week to week basis.

The listings below are purely for information purposes, for further background on the properties recorded, see our links page for access to the individual real estate listings.

The Archive for our weekly review can be found here.

Our list of the top ten priced homes for the week ending April 1, 2018 is below:

Prince Rupert Real Estate, West Side,

Week ending April 1, 2018

Prince Rupert Real Estate, East Side,

Week ending April 1, 2018

The past week found the realty listings starting to heat up as the Spring viewing season arrives, with a number of new entries in the mid-range of the various realty agency boards and a spurt of listings found out in the Port Edward area.

The movement from the week made for a a pair of new listings on our list of the ten high end notes, both of which are on the east side of the city, which helps to readjust the balance between properties on either side of the McBride Street dividing line.

With the movement on the week there are now 7 properties on the west side of the city, while three mark the map east of McBride.

Those ten properties delivered a combined value of the $6,669.000 mark to the top end listings in the city.

The lowest mark for the list of ten now is set at 499,00, while our top end from the last week features a price point set at $829,000.

Below find our findings as of the Week ending April 1, 2018

2280 Graham Avenue $829,000 -- Remax
2040 Graham Avenue $769,000 -- Remax
160 Van Arsdol Street $749,000 -- Remax
1881 Graham Avenue $699,000 -- Remax
1027 Borden Street $698,000 -- Realty Executives
1714 Sloan Avenue $679,000 -- Remax
1942 Second Avenue West $649,000 -- Remax
216 Silversides Drive $569,000 -- Realty Executives (new)
988 11th Avenue East $529,000 -- Royal Lepage (new)
1520 7th Avenue East $499,000 -- Remax

For more items related to Real Estate see our archive page here.

For background on Housing issues in the region see our past items here.

To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Blog Watching: Week ending April 1, 2018

The week began much as the last one ended, with the community expressing it's shock and disappointment at the destruction of a stand of cherry trees near the DFO building downtown, with Monday's flow of information starting with a Facebook page post from Mayor Lee Brain.

The final session for March of Prince Rupert City Council took place Monday evening and from our notes on that meeting, two items caught the attention of readers, with a fair bit of interest in a presentation from Ecotrust Canada and the discussion related to Prince Rupert's fading street markings

Premier Horgan stopped in the city early in the week, part of a two day tour of the Northwest which also took him to Terrace and Kitimat. His visit to Prince Rupert, included a tour of the container port, meetings with local officials and some social sessions with area residents.

And the final item of top five most read for the week took a look at the start of the North Coast Fishing industry with the herring catch mostly just passing through the city on its way for processing in the Lower Mainland.

The top story of the week however, puts the focus on the Cherry tree controversy and the reaction across the city to the work of March 23rd.

Prince Rupert's Cherry Blossom Tree Manifesto -- Much of the week found the discussion around the city focused on the destruction of a stand of Cherry Trees near the Federal Office Building on Second Avenue West (posted March 27 , 2018)

That article was followed by:

Ecotrrust Canada to provide update to City Council on range of community plans -- A look at the agenda plans for Prince Rupert City Council last Monday and a planned presentation from EcoTrust Canada. A follow up item later in the week highlighted the range of topics they outlined. (posted March 26, 2018)

Councillor Cunningham seeks report on city's pavement marking program -- The ongoing issue of the city's fading crosswalk and roadway marking lines once again made it to City Council, with Councillor Barry Cunningham looking for a report from staff on the work that was done (posted March 28, 2018)

Tours, Meetings, Social events and Photo Ops make for Horgan tour of Prince Rupert -- Premier John Horgan was in the Northwest for two days, with the first stop on his tour a number of locations around Prince Rupert (posted March 27 , 2018)

Herring season arrives and as the fish rolls in, the trucks (and jobs) roll out -- The North Coast Hearring season is underway, and with the exception of the fish landings and freezing, most of the work will take place in Vancouver again this year (posted March 27, 2018 )

You can find our weekly Blog watching feature posted every Sunday morning by 9AM, making for a handy way to catch up to the week that was, at a leisurely weekend pace.

You can also review the full listings of the week just past from our Blog Archive index page found on the right hand side of the page.

For those looking for updates to items as they are posted to the blog, don't forget about our email alert access.

A daily review of the latest items on the blog can be delivered to your email in box, simply by entering your email address into the information bar, items posted to the blog will be delivered to your e-mail account each day.

You can find the link to that feature on the upper, right hand side of the blog. It can be found underneath the Follow the North Coast Review by Email indicator.

Our archive of weekly Blog Watching can be found here.

To view the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.