Wheelhouse looks to claim title for Best Tasting Room Design for 2018

You never know who you may run into in the Tasting Room
of the Wheelhouse Brewing Company in Prince Rupert

With their work complete on the CityWest Phone book competition, Prince Rupert's legions of online voters can now turn their attention to the next voting opportunity in the community.

A chance to help propel Prince Rupert's Wheelhouse Brewing Company to the top of the list when it comes to the Best Tasting Room design in BC.

The competition, which is now underway is part of the 2018 British Columbia Beer Awards and has the Cow Bay area Craft Brewers in a race with fifteen other breweries across the province.

You can cast you ballot here.

Voters can click on their choice once a day, the competition comes to an end on September 14th.

The British Columbia Beer Awards will be handed out on Saturday October 20th at the Croatian Cultural Centre in Vancouver, this year marks the 9th annual edition of the festival that salutes the province's growing Craft Beer industry.

Find out more about next months event here, updates on the competition can be found from the BC Beer Awards Facebook page.

You can follow along on the state of local voting from the Wheelhouse Facebook page.

For more items of note on the Prince Rupert Commercial scene see our archive page here.

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BC Budget consultations destined for Haida Gwaii; skip over Prince Rupert for another year

This years list of budget consultations will take the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government  Services to a range of communities across the province, though residents of Prince Rupert and the North Coast will once again have to make some plans for travel, should they wish to provide for an in person appearance at the annual gatherings.

This year, the Committee is heading to Haida Gwaii, with Masset to play host to the members on September 19th, one day previous the committee will be holding sessions in Prince George and Smithers.

Each fall the committee offers the opportunity for residents of the province to share their ideas on how the next provincial budget should be crafted,  as British Columbians are invited to speak at public hearings, or provide a written, audio or video submission to the panel.

This fall, the consultation period takes place from September 17 to October 15th, with fourteen communities listed to this point for the information sessions, with Prince Rupert once again missing from the list of consultation opportunities. 

Prince Rupert last hosted a Budget Consultation session back in October of 2016, an event which offered both municipal officials and residents of the region to share some of their concerns over how the province approaches its budget decisions

Since that 2016 consultation,  Terrace for the most part appears to have become the destination of choice for the provincial government when it comes to engaging with residents of the Northwest and North Coast.

With a number of recent consultation projects making their way to the Skeena Valley and skipping Prince Rupert.

Among them, a review of the Greyhound route abandonment plans, the Rental Housing Task Force, and last years Budget Consultation process. 

Both Terrace and Prince Rupert did host consultation sessions on Poverty reduction earlier this year

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice shared the details of this most recent consultation process through her Facebook page in late August, noting that follow up information will be provided as it becomes available, though to this point there have been no updates related to the time for the Masset session, or other notes related to the consultation schedule.

As part of the consultation for the 2019 BC Budget residents can also take part in an online survey, that project will seemingly be launched once the engagement process gets underway on the 17th of September.

On line registration for the public hearings will open on September 7th at 9AM, how to access those opportunities and some further notes on the consultation process can be viewed from the  Legislature website here.

For more items of note on provincial issues see our archive page here, a wider overview of the provincial political scene is available from our D'Arcy McGee portal.

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Vopak updates its project notes for Ridley Terminal plans

New documents posted to the Port of Prince Rupert website provide a wider glimpse of the planned export terminal for Ridley Island that has been proposed by the Dutch global shipping giant Vopak.

The international materials shipper was already involved with the ongoing work at the AltaGas Terminal at Ridley Island holding a 30 percent stake in that project and as that work began, Vopak decided that they would like to have a much larger footprint on the North Coast, announcing their intention to develop their own terminal facility at the industrial site.

It is a project which will provide for marine shipping services and employment on the North Coast for at least the next fifty years at terminal facilities on Ridley Island,  a timeline that may be  even longer depending on when the project has reached the end of its operational life.

The Dutch Global shipping giant Vopak is moving forward
with its plans for a bulk fuels terminal facility on Ridley Island

In late July Vopak completed the full scope of their Project Description, the document which is now available for review from the Port offers up a wide overview of the project and how it fits into the long term land use management plan of the Port.

Among the notes in the Introduction to the project is the description of the range of products that could be shipped through the Terminal facility upon its completion.

The project will store Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (propane), Clean Petroleum Products (diesel and or gasoline) and methanol on behalf of Vopak's customers.  Vopak will build the project and manage the day to day operations of the bulk liquids storage facility. 

All products will be transported from various locations across Western Canada to the project via the existing Canadian National Railway line. Customers of Vopak will be scheduling the transportation of the products to site and will ship the products from the jetty to international markets.

So far Vopak has engaged in consultation with the First Nations of the North Coast, local governments and other community stakeholders, as well as environmental agencies with the Federal and provincial governments.

The scope of the project will see a terminal facility with capacity for the operation of six rail tracks within the PRPR Road Railway Utility Corridor and up to 50 rail car unloading racks. Six pressurized LPG bullets, one full containment LPG storage tank and 12 carbon steel storage tanks of varying volumes.

The shipment facility will also feature a 200 metre long causeway and 800 metre long trestle with two berths for for vessels to take product to international markets.

A storage tank farm, causeway and 800 metre shipping jetty
which can host two ships at a time is part of the
blueprint for development on Ridley Island

Projected employment figures for the project, suggest a significant boost to requirements during the construction phase with the anticipation of a work force to number 300 or so during the two year construction period. Vopak states that they believe they can recruit up to 60 percent of that workforce form local sources.

Many of the out of town workers will be housed at the existing work camp in place in Port Edward and transported to and from the site by bus, though they don't anticipate making full use of the camp facilities owing to their desire to hire locally.

Upon completion the Operations of the Vopak terminal will provide employment for between 40 to 50 people, with the company expecting to be able to tap the local employment market for 70 per cent of those positions.

Project Costs for the terminal are broken down into three segments:

Development and Construction Costs: 750-850 million dollars
Decommissioning Costs: 5 to 10 million
Annual Operating Costs: 40 to 50 million

The Project Schedule is outlined as follows:

Environmental assessment and engineering design 2018-2019
Permitting and Environmental management plans end of 2019
Construction activities 2020 to 2022
Operational In Service Date 2022
Operations and Maintenance 2002 out to a minimum of 50 years (2072)
Decommissioning, abandonment and reclamation sometime after 2017 when the Project has reached the end of its operation life.

The Dutch company notes that the Federal government has not provided any financial support for the project and Vopak does not have any plans to apply for Federal funding.

The project is noted as still in the conceptual stage, with the design of the development to be further defined over the course of the environmental effects evaluation, though the company also observes that no major changes or gaps related to the design are anticipated.

The range of elements of the proposed development found in the forty five page report can be explored in more detail here.

As the timeline observes, the next year or so will be turned over to environmental review work and further consultation, Vopak has also provided a copy of their terms of reference for the Draft Environmental Review, which forms their initial approach to the process now underway through the BC Environmental Assessment Office.

The details of the overview from the EAO can be found here, with the comment period set to start tomorrow September 6th, with the end date for the comments in this phase noted as October 9th.

Two Open Houses are planned for this month related to the Vopak plans:

Tuesday, September 25 at the Port Edward Community Centre from 4 to 7 PM

Wednesday, September 26 at the North Coast Convention Centre in Prince Rupert from 5 to 8PM

Among some of the themes to be explored from the Environmental Assessment are: Air Quality and GHG emissions, Noise, impact on neighbouring properties, marine and fish habitats and other marine issues and Mitigation measures

You can review the Terms of Refernce document here.

For more items of interest related to the Vopak development see our archive page here.


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Terrace edges out Prince Rupert when it comes to Chances revenues in most recent gaming review

Prince Rupert's gamblers prefer the slots over bingo, though revenues are
down slightly from previous years at the Fist Avenue Gaming Centre

In Prince Rupert, the slot machines remain King when it comes to how Rupertites look to spend their gambling dollars, with Chances Prince Rupert's First Avenue West facility bringing in over 10 million dollars in revenues for 2017-18.

The numbers come from the annual report of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, which recently posted its findings for all of the province's gaming facilities in the province, results which have the Prince Rupert and Terrace locations both marking the same volumes as found in many similar sized communities in British Columbia.

For Prince Rupert the slot machines delivered 9,080,000 in revenue for the reporting period, while Bingo players put 1,274,000 into the Chances coffers.

The Prince Rupert results are down slightly from the financials for 2016-17 when the Chances facility reported gaming machine revenues of 9,780,000, both years are down from the 2015-16 revenues when Chances Prince Rupert reported revenues from the slots of just over 10 million dollars.

Chances Terrace had a somewhat more prosperous year than its western neighbour, with the Terrace gaming facility receiving revenues of 12 million dollars, the vast majority of it, 11,086,000 dollars from the slot machines, while Bingo delivered 934,000 in revenue.

Chances Prince Rupert and Terrace are the only two gaming establishments in the region, however Northwest residents who travel the Highway 16 corridor have helped to propel the Treasure Cove Casino in Prince George to close to the 60 million mark from the last year. 

With that facility receiving 45 million in slot revenues, 2 million dollars from the tables and close to 10 million from Bingo.

The prospect of larger volumes for the Prince George gaming location could be delivered once Treasure Cove completes its current expansion program, which will see additional space for gaming machines provided upon its completion.

Slots rule the roost at Chances facilities in Prince Rupert and Terrace

When it comes to return on investment for communities that host gaming facilities, Prince Rupert's share of the provincial gambling revenues came to 372,233.81 last year, which made for a 100,000 dollar decline from the year previous.

That continued a declining trend from 2015-16, when the Prince Rupert results delivered 509,555 to the City of Prince Rupert.

The province also distributes the gaming revenues it collects from the gaming centres towards a range of community and school groups through the year, you can review the province's report for the most recent fiscal year from our blog item of May this year.

The full report on gaming from the British Columbia Lottery Corporation can be reviewed here.

Across British Columbia the British Columbia Lottery Corporation posted a net income of 1.4 Billion dollars in the fiscal year for 2017-18, an increase of 61.5 million. The income comes from all sources of gambling revenue in the province

The Province of British Columbia also  has released its annual report for 2017-18 from the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, which provides for an extensive overview of the gaming industry in the province and the oversight of the provincial government over it.

That document can be reviewed here.

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

Port of Prince Rupert among list of customers and supply chain partners recognized for leadership by CN Rail

When it comes to sustainability, CN Rail is saluting the work of 40 of its customers and supply chain partners for their efforts  and commitment to sustainability practices for their work in the last year, with the Prince Rupert Port Authority among the list of 40 singled out by the national railway.

As part of CN's EcoConnexions Partnership Program, companies pledge to work to reduce their carbon emission, increase energy efficiency and drive sustainable business practices throughout the supply chain.

The Port along with container lines that are serviced by the Port, as well as a number of forestry companies found across Northern British Columbia make for some of the 40 companies noted by CN for 2017-18.

They will be honoured at special event hosted by CN in Vancouver on October 4th.

More on CN"s program can be reviewed here.

The program engages employees, communities and customers to help achieve goals of reducing emissions, conserving resources and  increasing biodiversity, with one of the CN led initiatives a continent wide tree plant program called From the Ground Up, which has seen CN plant more than 1.8 million trees over the last six years.

The CN program was the focus of a Prince Rupert event in November, where civic and industry officials planted trees near the Civic Centre complex in the city.

The Port of Prince Rupert hosts an aggressive program towards environmental stewardship and sustainability on the North Coast, you can review some of their programs from the links listed below:

Environmental Stewardship
Green Programs for Shippers

For more items of interest related to the Port of Prince Rupert see our archive page here.

The latest notes on CN Rail's footprint in the Northwest can be found from our CN archive here.

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

Prince Rupert RCMP seek public assistance on Third Avenue assault file

A man remains in serious condition at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital after an assault in the late hours of Sunday, September 2nd, and as Prince Rupert RCMP continue to investigate the incident, they are asking for the assistance of the public should anyone have any details related to the incident.

The assault took place at just before 11:30 on Sunday night in the 1000 block of Third Avenue West towards the Five Corners area, following the arrival of RCMP members at the scene, the victim, who is in his early twenties, was transported to the hospital.  

Responding members then began to collect information and potential video surveillance for possible evidence on the file.

The investigation has now been turned over to the RCMP plain clothes  section, which has been working the case file over the last 48 hours, the local detachment is advising the public that they believe this was an isolated incident and that there is no further risk to the public.

An assault in the 1000 Block of Third Avenue West sent a
Prince Rupert Male to hospital on Sunday evening with serious injuries

Should you have information related to the events of Sunday night you are asked to contact the Prince Rupert RCMP at 250-627-0700 or through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

For more items of interest related to Emergency Service responders in the Northwest see our archive page here.

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Incumbent Mayor Lee Brain confirms plans to seek second, four year term as Mayor of Prince Rupert

Mayor Brain has announced he will seek another four year term,
with much of his campaign to be based on further steps in his Hays 2.0 plan

On the first day of the nomination process for the 2018 Municipal election, Mayor Lee Brain has made it official, he will be seeking his second, four year term of office.

The Mayor outlining his decision through a social media post shortly after 4 PM today.

In the post to his political Facebook page, Mayor Brain calls on the work done related to Watson Island, the ability of council to secure long term revenues and infrastructure grants, as well as the challenges that lay ahead when it comes to rebuilding the city's infrastructure in the years ahead as key elements of the last four years at the helm of Prince Rupert city Council.

Much of his campaign seems destined to call upon his Hays 2.0 Blueprint, which he makes note of in the announcement, stating that he believes "this path is the way forward for positive change in our community".

The Mayor noted how his April Blueprint provides for his view of how the community should move forward over the next four years to take the community to what he describes as the next level.

As part of his declaration of his plan to contest the election, he calls on the support of those in the community who share  his Hays 2.0 view to join him in his bid to serve the community for another four years.

The full statement announcing his candidacy can be reviewed here.

So far, Mr. Brain is the only declared candidate for the Mayoralty to this point leading up to the October 20th vote.

For more notes related to the 2018 Municipal campaign see our archive page here.

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