Some Prince Rupert residents will have to keep on boiling their water, as a Water Advisory remains in effect
Continued conditions of turbidity in the City of Prince Rupert's drinking water supply means that the Water Advisory first put in place on August 17th will continue on, the latest advisory one which was delivered by the City on Friday afternoon.
"During today’s available weather window, City staff conducted a fly-over of the watershed and identified a few additional small landslides that were not originally identified as they are not visible from the ground. These slides are believed to have contributed to the water’s continued elevated turbidity.
Although turbidity has slowly been decreasing since the Advisory was put into effect, it is still not at low enough levels where the Advisory can be removed by Northern Health’s Drinking Water Officer.
As soon as we are able to remove the Advisory, an update will be provided via the City’s official channels, including our emergency alert system."
As was noted on the 17th, along with the City of Prince Rupert's Water Advisory, was a notice from Northern Health that children, pregnant women, the elderly and persons with weakened immune systems should drink boiled water at this time.
Other than notes on the landslides as a potential cause for the ongoing issue, as well as the update that the level of turbidity was decreasing, the city did not provide any background on the testing that has taken place, or provide any documentation towards the results from it.
City of Prince Rupert CFO Corinne Bomben is preparing a 2020 budget update set for early fall
With the impact of COVID-19 as part of the narrative for the June variance report at Monday's City Council session, the City's Chief Financial Officer Corinne Bomben noted for Council members that her office was preparing a Budget update for early fall.
The need for an amendment was something that was noted back in June when City Council adopted the 2020 budget, her findings for the fall set to provide some clarity on the financial themes and revenue impacts for the city as a result of the COVID-19 virus.
The report one destined to provide for some conversation for the municipal officials.
Ms. Corinne Bomben offered up that blue print for the upcoming months in response to a query from Councillor Blair Mirau.
"We adopted the last budget under the impression that we were going to have to make an amendment given the signifiant impact that COVID-19 has had on the budget. I'm wondering if you guys have a rough time frame on to when that Budget amendment will be brought back to Council."
In reply the CFO observed that the work is still underway
"We are in the process of having a Five Year Financial Plan Budget Amendment scheduled for September, we believe maybe pushed to the beginning of October"
Councillor Randhawa followed up with a question related to some of the potential revenue losses to date, with Ms. Bomben noting that some costs have been cut where they can, noting however that many of the elements where losses are currently being realized are among essential services.
"Well, there's no changes that we can really make to the budget necessarily right now, cause a lot of our costs are essential services ... the airport ferry is one of the other ones that we've lost revenues in, but we've still maintained the operation mainly for things like emergency services. Keeping the airport open for any of the medevac services that sort of thing. So, we've cut costs already where we possibly can."
As for the financial impact Ms. Bomben offered up a thumbnail guide to the hit on revenues the city has faced and the measures taken.
"The revenue impacts are definitely being felt for us, it's not going to change taxation for this year, what we're doing is that we're trying to modify some of our service delivery where we can right now, in order to stop some of the bleeding as best we can. What possibly would end up happening is that we would end up being in a bit of a deficit this year. But fortunately for us we're not a profit driven organization. In which case we're not going to post anything like the losses like a private enterprise would, because we're generally supposed to be covering costs"
Towards options for the review of the fall, she offered up a few themes being explored.
"Now obviously taxation is our last item basically to balance our budget and because our revenues are depleted right, we're hoping that some of the savings that we've been able to garner in some of the other areas will offset part of it"
As for the June variance report delivered previous, Ms. Bomben observed that the financial results of June, were much the same as they have been over the last few months previous, given that most COVID restrictions and transition to essential services that are still in place.
Among some of the other highlights of the report, was a review of the progress on capital work projects that are now under way.
Ms. Bomben also noted that the City could now consider the prospective loan bylaws for the Woodworth Dam and Ridley Island landfill site projects; that after the Alternative Approval Process came to an in late July.
Chris Armstrong form Muskeg Press has outlined the ten finalists in the book publishers Influenced project
The creative forces behind local publisher Muskeg Press have worked their way through the large volume of contributions to their summer writing project; narrowing down the field to ten finalists for Influenced, a collection of short stories that have been written through the COVID-19 pandemic period.
We first made mention of the project back in April just as the initial call for submissions was issued, with prospective writers asked to submit their work of writers for poetry or prose works of 5,000 words or less.
At the time, Muskeg Press owner Chris Armstrong observed that there was only one requirement: the stories must not mention COVID-19, instead serving as distracting narratives for the writer and the reader.
The concept was inspired by the spirit of Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron, a collection of short stories written by Giovanni Boccaccio in the 14th century, after a plague had ravaged most of Europe.
The response for the call for submissions by the June 30th deadline was impressive, with over 700 contributions offered up for consideration by Muskeg Press, with Mr. Armstrong making note of the impact that such a large overview had on him.
“It was very humbling to get all these stories from writers from so many different paths, on a personal note, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life to read all these submissions over the course of a month."
From the extensive review has come the final list of ten, with some familiar Prince Rupert authors among the top tier of all that came in.
“Inheritance” by Conar Harris
“Open Door” by Rudy Kelly
“By the River” by Shannon Lough
The strength of the local writing community was also something that impressed the Muskeg owner over the course of the last month of developing the finalists list.
“When we announced the call for submissions, we were hoping for some local content, so we’re very happy to see local representation in the anthology,”
The list is brought to the full contingent of ten with these works:
"Puck Fair” byJohn Paul Davies
"Blue” byAngie Ellis
"In the Forest, Under a Claw-Shaped Moon”by Sharanya Manivannan
"Chasing YourGirlLovesMe27”by Evan Manning
"The Transcendentalist”by Will Russell
"Cuddlefish” byDrew Taylor
"Trash” byDavid Ward
The finished work of Influenced will be published later this year, once another familiar name in Prince Rupert writing has put the finishing touches on the project.
John Farrell, will revisit some of his past days of writing, with the former Daily News reporter and accomplished writer on both sides of the Pacific taking care of the editing duties for the collective work.
More information on the book, including information on all the writers and their take on the stories, will be on the Muskeg Press website (www.muskegpress.com) in the coming months.
More notes related to community themes around the Northwest can be explored here.
Data from the BC CDC shows that residents of Prince Rupert and area have been very effective in controlling the spread of COVID
When it comes to taking on the challenges of COVID-19 it would appear that Prince Rupert and area residents have heeded the call from Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix to "bend the curve".
And in fact, whether it be a case of following the recommendations and good measures, or just good luck; there really hasn't been a curve to bend in Prince Rupert, with data from the BC CDC indicating that there have been no reports of COVID cases in the city from January to July.
The data was released on Thursday, with Dr. Henry and Minister Dix making note of it during their Thursday COVID briefing.
“Today, we have provided the latest local health area map of COVID-19 cases. The map will be updated each month and available on the BCCDC website. What the map tells us is that virtually every part of our province has been touched by the virus – communities large and small."
The information relayed yesterday indicates that Prince Rupert, the Nass Valley and points north have all managed to keep any opportunity for transmission of the coronavirus at bay.
Something that has been managed well under the Provincial orders from Dr. Henry the Provincial Public Health officer and without the requirement of the more draconian COVID related measures that had once been proposed by the City of Prince Rupert.
Other communities of the Northwest have also fared fairly well when compared with other areas of the province.
Terrace has recorded 6 cases, Smithers 5 and Kitimat 3, while the Bella Coola area has had 2 cases recorded in the six month period.
The recent outbreak on Haida Gwaii however has made for a very different dynamic, with the 20 cases listed to the end of July among some of the larger community spreads that have been recorded in the first half of 2020.
The cumulative cases report is part of the Cases by Local Health Area report.
The province plans to update those figures on a monthly basis, with the data to be made available from the BC CDC portal.
More notes of interest on COVID-19 can be found from our Archive page here, which provides for the daily reports since March on the pace of COVID-19 in the province.
As well, more background on both federal and provincial measures can be found from our twin archive from our political blog D'Arcy McGee.
Parker Danroth provided City Council with the view from some of Prince Rupert's youth on Monday evening, asking that the City reopen the Arena complex for use
Prince Rupert's City Councillors gained some insight into the frustrations of COVID from the vantage point of the city's young citizens, that as a young Rupertite asked for some time at Monday's Council session to seek out some guidance on when the Jim Ciccone Arena would reopen for use.
Parker Danforth provided the view from the youth of the city on Monday, outlining for Council members that with recreation facilities remaining closed since March owing to COVID concerns, there was little in the way of physical activity available for them in the city.
It's been over five months since the Arena at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre last saw some activity on the ice
Appearing during the Committee of the Whole, Mr. Danroth delivered a presentation reflecting the concerns that many youth have about available options; noting that some sports have started their planning and the youth that use the arena would like to see a return soon as they are being left behind.
He observed how the Arena offers good opportunities for social distancing and how reopening facilities will be good for the mental health of youngsters.
Council members received his presentation with much enthusiasm, praising him for coming forward, though there was no indication on Monday as to when further word on the status of the Arena operations would be outlined for the community.
The start of some extensive road paving is set for this fall in Port Edward (Map for District RFP on Bid BC)
The District of Port Edward is set to take care of some of their tasks on the infrastructure to do list, with the District posting a Request for Proposal for some paving work in the community.
The call to contractors was posted to the BC Bid website, offering an invitation to tender for work on Evergreen Drive and Wildwood Avenue.
The specifics of the work call for the: the supply and installation of all labour, materials, equipment, and incidentals required for the
paving works on Evergreen between Skeena Drive to approx. 110 m past the Wildwood
intersection, and Wildwood Ave from Skeena Drive to Evergreen.
The Contract request includes a number of Special provisions that have been identified by the District.
(click to enlarge)
The Deadline for submissions of interest is September 3rd, with the bids to be delivered to the Port Edward Municipal Office.
City of Prince Rupert Operations Director Richard Pucci speaking to a road closure request at Monday's Council session
Monday night's Prince Rupert City Council session offered up a little civic housekeeping, with the City's Operations Director Richard Pucci appearing late into the two and half hour session to request a designation for a lane closure on the east side of the city.
It's one of those civic requirements that not normally doesn't generate much interest, but in this case seemingly will make for the first step towards what will be a somewhat larger talking point later at some time in the future.
In his presentation, Mr. Pucci updated Council on the nature of the lane closure for Edward Street/Albert Avenue, located off of 11th Avenue East, a roadway which for the most part provides for back lane access for some homes in the area.
"We have a proponent that we are working with to do a housing development in the area, that will become a little bit more public later on. The first part of it is to close the road and subdivide into three large parcels and that's what we're looking to do during this process ... It is a completely wooded area and the development would be on 11th Avenue sort of in the dip area there. So we're just looking right now to close the road in anticipation of consolidation of lots for future development " -- City of Prince Rupert Director of Operations Richard Pucci
As for discussion on the road closure, Mayor Brain observed that the majority of the road in question is actually wooded area and not road, just technically designated as a road, Mr. Pucci noted that it is basically a road on paper.
Councillors Cunningham and Niesh did raise some concerns over the impact on the existing five or six residents that currently use the lane as back access to their homes and property.
"I think it would be important to maintain that, cause I know there is people that actually have I believe carports behind there. So I do feel that for the five houses or so that are there it would be nice to at least allow them access to their properties. I don't want to get into devaluing of someone's property because we've cut off their access to whether it be a carport or garage"-- Councillor Wade Niesh
To resolve those concerns, Mr. Pucci suggested an amendment on the road closure bylaw to allow for that access for the existing residents. He also advised Council that the City of Prince Rupert owns the remaining property that has been consolidated in the area designated for closure.
Councillor Mirau made an enquiry related to the consolidation of the property into three lots, and the reasoning behind that approach.
The Operations Director noted for Council that it offers the potential for additional development at a later time.
"The contemplated development is only big enough for one of the lots and there was an option to possibly do two other developments on either side in the future. So in this case, we looked at this time to close all the road and make the property available for future consideration at another time if Council wishes to do that later on" --Operations Director Richard Pucci
With council giving first reading to the motion and setting the process of notification forward, Mr. Brain observed how the road closure would be generating some interest in the future plans and how more information would be coming in the future.
Towards that, Mr. Pucci outlined how the process would move forward.
"When we come back the drawings will be adjusted so that you see the final product"
Neither the Operations Director or the City Council members offered up any kind of timeline towards when the larger housing proposal would be outlined for the public, nor any further information as to what it may look like.
The location, along 11th Avenue East does however offer some hints as to what may be in the works for the future.
Back in December 2019 during the Rupert 2030 vision presentation at the Lester Centre hosted by Mayor Brain, the somewhat delayed but much anticipated housing development proposed by the Lax Kw'alaams Band was once again given some attention, with Harvey Campbell at the time noting that the Band was exploring options along 11th Avenue East.
In November of last year, the Band Council observed that they were working with the city to identify a potential site for their proposed 60 unit affordable housing project.
Since that event however, there has been little heard from either the City or the Lax Kw'alaams Band on the progress of that consultation and the timeline for development of the additional housing stock in the community.
Monday's road closure planning, could perhaps be the first step towards that project finally moving forward, or maybe it heralds some other interest in the wide swath of undeveloped land along 11th at the foot of Edwards Avenue.
With the road closure mechanism now in motion, residents of the area will as the mayor notes no doubt be curious as to what may be ahead for development in their neighbourhood.
