An outline of a PUMP Track, something a local cycling association hopes to develop in Prince Rupert (All images from Monday's presentation to City Council)
Monday was presentation night at Prince Rupert City Council, with a pair of organizers with the North Coast Mountain Bike Association taking advantage of the Committee of the Whole to share some of their short and long range planning for cycling in the community.
Craig Rimmer and Charles Tree from the Association provided an enthusiastic and detailed report for Council on some of the plans that they have in mind to build enhancements to the local cycling scene, with the Association currently hosting 180 members and counting in the region.
The presentation provided some examples from a number of other communities across the province and Western Canada both large and small, with an Asphalt Pump Track in Terrace one that has impressed them with the local group hoping to install something similar to it at a location somewhere in the City.
The PUMP track project accounted for the bulk of their near forty minute presentation, the pair providing extensive background on the topic and for the most part answering most of the questions of the Council members before the presentation had reached the Q and A portion of the night.
Towards their project NCMBA members outlined some of the fundraising efforts that they have taken on and the success of that work so far and how they are using that community support as part of their application for grants process.
With a budget set at roughly $200,000, they are currently sitting at 50 percent of reaching their fundraising goal.
They also provided a review of some of the bike trails they would like to develop around the community, partnering with Recreation Sites and Trails BC to expand the footprint of trails in the area, one of their first projects to develop a trail along the area of the cellular tower on the outskirts of the city.
As part of the review, both Mr. Rimmer and Tree observed on how cycling is becoming a key element of tourism and would attract visitors to the community as well as offer a range of benefits to the region.
They also reinforced their desire to be fully funded through grants, donations and volunteer work, which they noted would not provide any burden to the city, as well they update Council on the current level of engagement with City staff.
"We've engaged with city staff we're looking at suitable locations where we might be able to put these, what's viable and what's not and they've been great, they've helped us get to this point and we're super thrilled with that" -- NCMBA on their plans for a PUMP track in the community
The Council members had high praise for the professionalism of their presentation and the wide range of material that they covered from it.
Among the comments and observations from Council, Councillor Mirau had some follow up questions related to their footprint and partnership options with the Kaien Trails group, Councillor Cunningham observed of their fundraising work and the wide spectrum of the community that their projects could attract.
Towards lending a hand, NCMBA noted of their Facebook page as a good option to contact them if resident wish to get behind their projects.
Councillor Randhawa expressed his enthusiasm towards their project, with Councillor Adey also impressed with the initiative, noting how it would offer some valuable options for youth. Councillor Niesh recounted his own days of bike riding and commended them for their work to try to get their projects moving forward.
For his part the Mayor noted of the commitment of City Staff towards looking for a location and observed that if a city site is selected, that fundraising with a range options require partnerships before awarding of funds.
Mr. Brain also noted of the upcoming request for a letter of support and how the City could also make note of the project with NDIT and how the City could work with the group to bring the recreation option to life.
"My only thought here is I know after talking with staff, they are definitely committed to working with you on site location. I guess what I would say is that I think we need to figure out that location as soon as possible. If it is going to end up being a city site in the end, I'm sure you probably have other private sites you are looking at as well. But obviously it's easier when you're dealing with us and I think it's something we want to make happen. The reason I say that is when it comes to fund raising particularly with organizations ... they require partnerships and they want to know if you actually have those things figured out before they offer funds to you. So they're going to want to know that you indeed have site and here's the site with city. -- Mayor Lee Brain
The Mayor also highlighted how the city could assist the group further in their quest for funding.
"We can definitely do our letter of support tonight with NDIT and I know that we can reach out to NDIT personally ... and let them know that we are actually working with you guys on the site ... I have done this enough now to know they will want some security on that so let's work together and see if something can come to fruition here. Either way ... we all know that this town is in desperate need of revival and new recreation and new access ... and this is the type of on the ground organizing that I think we need in this community"
Later in the evening, the City Council members did approve the motion to write a letter of support for the organization in their fundraising hopes with NDIT.
You can take in their presentation from the City's Video Archive page, which is the item which opens the Monday evening video session.
The discovery last week of the mass grave of the students of the Kamloops Residential School has seemingly been the spark to a graffiti incident in the city.
With a door to Annunciation Church on Fourth Avenue West marked by the the words "Murderers Burn in Hell" in an incident reported to the RCMP around 3AM on May 31st.
The case file is now under way with a canvas of the area for video surveillance part of the work taking place.
As part of the investigation, the RCMP will examine all elements of the incident before making any decision on what level of charges may be laid, or how the case file will move forward.
There is no current motive noted by the local detachment, but it would seem likely that Annunciation Church was targeted owing to the Catholic Church's attachment to the Kamloops Residential School which it ran for decades in the Interior.
A request by a 7th Avenue East resident to build a garage on lane access has taken Council down a road of much larger focus on how to approach local area improvements
The members of City Council may soon be looking to redefine the expectations of the community when it comes to infrastructure needs, should they follow up and expand on some of the elements of a trial balloon floated at Monday's Council session.
What started out as a simple variance request by a homeowner on 7th Avenue East quickly morphed into a much larger discussion as to how the City may address local area improvements, with the Mayor and City Manager Robert Long seemingly looking to start a conversation on cost sharing with residents for such things as lane maintenance and perhaps even road repairs, depending on how far the Council wants to go down the road of their percolating plans.
The Report from iPlan on the variance request for a proposed garage (available on the Agenda for Monday's Meeting), quickly faded from the discussion table after Operations Director Richard Pucci raised some red flags related to potential civic liability related to an adjacent lane; the concern serving to raise the starting flag for the larger discussion on how the city may move forward as it continues to struggle to provide remediation to the city's road infrastructure.
A passage from a Report to Council from Monday's session
The opening commentary on prospect of change coming with a concern from Councillor Barry Cunningham noting of the ramifications that asking residents to share a larger cost of improvements may bring.
"We're opening up a can of worms here, if want to stop people using something because it has a few potholes in it ... I won't even go there, there are other streets that aren't maintained by us either and people have been asking us to maintain them for years"
Towards the prospect of a new approach towards local improvements in neighbourhoods City Manager Robert Long carried the bulk of the conversation, both related to the individual variance request and the larger topic of how to move forward.
Mr. Long observing that if the city does allow a permit, they would be facing added liability, by acting on the access to the lane there would be a duty of care required of the city to pay attention to the condition of the roadway and if it isn't taken care of the the City would attract the liability.
He also noted for the Council members how there are many similar situations found from the 1907 City plan.
Towards the larger issue of area improvements the City Manager noted as to how the city would have to meet its own standards of any laneway where they may taken on similar improvement. He also explored the idea of Local Improvements, with residents getting together with the City to put the improvements in place on a 50/50 shared cost.
"Many municipalities have something called the Local Improvements and we've talked to council about this on a number of occasions, where, where the neighbourhood gets together and says I'm sick and tired of these potholes, lets get together and lets pave the laneway and we'll put it on our taxes, in that location for say twenty years. We'll ask for the municipality to chip in a share, usually that share in most municipalities I've worked in is fifty percent. So the general taxpayer pays for fifty percent of the improvements"
The City Manager also called attention to the past financial challenges faced by the city and some of the consequences of that era.
"Look during the big downturn, you know the city sold its grader. As a City Manager arriving fifteen years after that, I'm not impressed that we have a municipality with many gravel laneways and no grader. So you know you get to recognize the fact that we've gone through a tremendous issue of downturn and reduction of services ... but one of these ways in which Ithink Richard is legitimately is trying to sort of set a particular standard ... is that when people ask for something to improve their circumstance that they would be amenable to contributing towards the public good by making some improvements to the areas that they want to use, I don't think that's unreasonable."
Mr Long also outlined how in most municipalities it's very common for the City and the residents to share the cost on such kinds of community improvement work on infrastructure items such as lanes and access, stating that it is a conversation that Council should have with the community as the city comes back from very challenging times.
In response to some questions from Councillor Blair Mirau focused on the burden that may be placed one resident or applicant when it comes to such work, Mr Long outlined how such community approach may work.
"The concept of local improvement is to identify all of those people that benefit from the improvement and ask them to pay, make a contribution, usually on their taxes over usually a twenty year period which really means we can do an awful big improvement to a laneway with a lot of money ... and the contribution in your taxes would be quite low. And if the city chips in you know a percentage within our roads budget, then what you have is the general tax payers contributing, the you have all those beneficial property owners which are adjacent to it. Then what happens then is they get to vote as to whether they like this idea or not, there needs to be majority ... and that's usually how these things are done ... It's a well used methodology for making improvements on laneways and in fact a number of other improvements can take place in subdivisions where the roads maybe are falling apart and the city just doesn't have the budget to pay the full shot and so we're all in this together with the neighbourhood who would benefit"
As Mayor Brain joined the debate, he observed how this was a good time to start that discussion, noting of the upcoming approval of the paving budget and how it only covers certain items and how access points like lanes may require a local improvement bylaw which he observed would accelerate that kind of work.
With the city facing what the mayor described as ninety million dollars in road work requirements, that work would not cover such elements as laneways. Mr. Brain noting that with a twenty year paving schedule much of these local area concerns still would not be addressed.
"I understand the situation, I mean I've been here for seven years and I've had many places that have lanes that want upgrades. I mean we're going to approving a paving budget tonight which we only doubled like a year ago and that's for the entire town. And we know that the roads budget for the entire town is well over 90 million dollars, that does not include laneways ... So maybe this is the time to start bringing the local improvement bylaw forward on a lot of different areas because I have a lot of different areas in the community that want to do stuff like that, and I think that's a way of accelerating the work rather than solely relying on the paving budget "
Councillor Cunningham noted of the irony of the current city push for the community to clean up and enhance their properties, while now seeking to penalize them for doing just that.
"Here we are, we are pushing for people to clean up their houses, improve the neighbourhood. This person comes along, wants to improve their lot and we're going to penalize them now by saying that he can't use the lane that he's been using for the last forty or fifty years, if it wasn't him it was the person who lived in the house before. And we don't know, records don't show who put that lane in there, it could have been the city that put it in fifty years ago"
The mayor countered that narrative dismissing the suggestion that the city is punishing anyone, noting of the situation of the lane in question and the potential liabilities involved and instead how the City should look towards engagement with the community to take on some of these concerns.
For the majority of the council membership, the need to not place a burden on residents seemed to be the dominant theme of their contribution to the topic.
The current of the conversation on the night one of setting the stage for some fascinating discussions ahead should they move forward towards the prospect of asking the public to take a more active part in the funding of remediation projects such as lane access, or if they move further into the concept perhaps even local area road repairs outside of the larger capital budget plans.
You can explore the full back and forth of the Council session from our Council timeline feature.
The conversation is also available through the video archive of Monday's meeting starting at the 42 minute mark.
Prince Rupert City Council's Monday session found a diverse range of items up for discussion from recreation to road infrastructure, rail safety to the horrific discovery of the graves of the Residential School in Kamloops.
The conversation on the Agenda items and others on the night taking them close to the two hour mark..
The evening began with a Committee of the Whole presentation from the North Coast Mountain Bike Association, with a pair of representatives providing a look at some of their plans for the community.
The city's financial officer delivered another report on the nature of the changes to the Home Ownership grant process, while a pair of variance requests were considered, one of which diverted into a much larger discussion on how the city may approach some infrastructure themes in the future.
The Agenda for the Committee of the Whole Session is available here.
Council members also met in a Closed Session prior to the evening's work, details as to why they were required to go behind closed doors can be explored here.
Further information from our overview and placement in the video archive can be found below, with the permanent record of the council minutes added as they are posted to the city website.
( 0:00 -1:30 ) Mayor Brain called the Committee of the Whole Session to order and outlined the process and Agenda for the evening, noting that Councillor Reid Skelton-Morven would not be in attendance on the night, with the Councillor representing the City at the Community gathering in remembrance of the Residential School victims on Monday evening.
Mr. Brain also outlined that the city had lowered the flag to half-mast at City Hall, it will remain at that position for 215 hours in honour and respect of the remains of the children that had been discovered.
( 1:30 -- 35:00 ) Craig Rimmer and Charles Tree from the North Coast Mountain Bike Association -- The two cycling enthusiasts provided a detailed report for Council on some of the plans that they have in mind to build enhancements to the local cycling scene, with the Association currently hosting 180 members and counting in the region.
The presentation provided some examples from a number of other communities across the province, with a Pump Track in Terrace one that has impressed them with the local group install something similar to it at a location somewhere in the City.
That project accounted for the bulk of their near forty minute presentation, the pair providing extensive background on the topic and for the most part answering most of the questions of the Council members before the presentation had reached the Q and A portion of the night.
Towards their project they outlined some of the fundraising efforts that they have taken on and the success of that work so far and how they are using that community support as part of their application for grants process.
With a budget set at roughly $200,000, they are currently sitting at 50 percent of reaching their fundraising goal.
They also provided a review of some of the bike trails they would like to develop around the community, partnering with Recreation Sites and Trails BC to expand the footprint of trails in the area, one of their first projects to develop a trail along the area of the cellular tower on the outskirts of the city.
As part of their review, they observed on how cycling is becoming a key element of tourism and would attract visitors to the community, they also reinforced their desire to be fully funded through grants, donations and volunteer work, which they noted would not provide any burden to the city.
They also outlined how they are currently engage with City Staff to identify a suitable location for the proposed Pump Track in the community.
The Council members had high praise for the professionalism of their presentation and the wide range of material that they covered from it.
Among the comments and observations from Council, Councillor Mirau had some follow up questions related to their footprint and partnership options with the Kaien Trails group, Councillor Cunningham observed of their fundraising work and the wide spectrum of the community that their projects could attract.
Councillor Randhawa expressed his enthusiasm towards their project, with Councillor Adey also impressed with the initiative, noting how it would offer some valuable options for youth. Councillor Niesh recounted his own days of bike riding and commended them for their work to try to get their projects moving forward.
For his part the Mayor noted of the commitment of City Staff towards looking for a location and observed that if a city site is selected, that fundraising with a range options require partnerships before awarding of funds.
Mr. Brain also noted of the upcoming request for a letter of support and how the City could also make note of the project with NDIT and how the City could work with the group to bring the recreation option to life.
With the presentation at an end the Mayor called for the adjournment of the Committee of the Whole and returned to the Regular Council Session.
( 35:00 -- 36:00) Regular City Council Session for Monday, May 31, 2021 -- Mayor Brain called the session to order, adopting past minutes and the Agenda for the session underway.
( 36:00 -- 42:30 ) Report from the Chief Financial Officer -- The City's Financial Officer Corinne Bomben provided a update on the new process for the Home Ownership Grant -- In her remarks Ms. Bomben outlined the background to the changes in place for home owners to claim the Home Owner Grant and stressed the importance of accessing it well before the deadline for payment.
The City's CFO also made note of some of the other elements of the home mailing that was just delivered to homes and observed as to the range of payment options that are available to the public and highlighted the key dates to be aware of.
Mayor Brain also noted of the city's social media work on the topic.
( 42:30 -- 22:00 ) Report from Planning -- A verbal report providing a review of an application for a variance permit for a property on 7th Avenue East -- Chris Buchan from iPlan outlined the details of the proposed variance to build a detached two door garage on a back lane of a property on 7th Avenue East.
The discussion of the request shifted its focus after a concern from city staff was relayed by the iPlan group, with the Director of Operations having flagged the variance, with the Operations Department not approving of the use of the laneway which is not built to city standards and is not sanctioned for use.
The bulk of the discussion on the topic focused on the Operations Departments concerns.
Councillor Cunningham noted that the land had been in use for many years and while perhaps not up to standard is still being used, suggesting that the Council explore the topic of upgrading the lane with the applicant.
Councillor Niesh also noted of the long use for the land in question and called on the Operations Director to clarify some of his concerns over the use of the lane in question, and what extent of an upgrade to city standards is he suggesting.
In answer, Mr. Pucci noted of his concern that if they approve the access through a permit, there would be expectations on availability and potential maintenance of the roadway.
Mr Niesh also expressed his hesitancy to push on an additional cost on the residential owner, but did note of the potential to see if they would be willing to help with the remediation of the lane surface.
Councillor Adey asked for more background on the topic liability issues, with Mr. Pucci noting that if they were to allow for the use of the lane, the city would be required and maybe even obligated to conduct maintenance such as snow clearing, filling potholes and other work, something that they are not doing at the moment at the location in question, adding that if approved the city would be taking on a larger infrastructure burden with a very challenging budget.
Mr. Adey also noted of some of the other locations where similar conditions exist and how by not blocking it off the city has been allowing use to continue.
City Manager Robert Long took on that question, observing that if the city does allow a permit, they would be facing added liability, by acting on the access to the lane there would be a duty of care required of the city to pay attention to the condition of the roadway and if it isn't taken care of the the City would attract the liability.
He observed how there are many similar situations found from the 1907 City plan.
Councillor Cunningham returned to the topic, noting as to some of the other locations where the situation exists and suggested taking it to the neighbourhood to hear what they have to say observing how the city could be opening up a can of worms by suggesting that they could reduce access to many of those similar access points.
Mr. Long addressed a larger issue related to the theme, again reinforcing how the city would have to meet its own standards of any laneway where they may taken on similar improvement. He also explored the idea of Local Improvements, with residents getting together with the City to put the improvements in place on a 50/50 shared cost.
The City Manager also called attention to the past financial challenges faced by the city and how the city was reduced to selling off its grader, something that did not impress him when arrived on the job and had no equipment to attend to the many gravel lanes in the community.
He noted how in most municipalities it's very common for the City and the residents to share the cost on such kinds of community improvement work on infrastructure items such as lanes and access, stating that it is a conversation that Council should have with the community as the city comes back from very challenging times.
Council Mirau's themes for the discussion included his interest in the Local area improvement concept and how he didn't feel it fair to have one applicant pay for something that all of those on the lane would benefit from.
In response, Mr. Long expanded on the Local improvement proposal, explaining how it would be based on taxes for the residents over a specific period of time combined with the city share, which would all be subject to approval of a majority of the residents adjacent to the area of work in question.
That would then give the City authorization to borrow money if required to make the improvements to laneways and roads that can't be covered by a city budget.
Mayor Brain joined the debate, noting how this was a good time to start that discussion, noting of the upcoming approval of the paving budget and how it only covers certain items and how access points like lanes may require a local improvement bylaw which he observed would accelerate that kind of work.
With the city facing what the mayor described as a ninety million dollars in road work requirement, that work would not cover such elements as laneways. Mr.Brain noting that with a twenty year paving schedule much of these local area concerns still would not be addressed.
The Mayor suggesting that the variance request under consideration may be the opportunity to explore the local improvement option may move forward.
Councillor Randhawa asked if there were any examples of any residents taking on this kind of remediation work on their own.
The City Manager did not have an example to share on the night, again noting as to how the situation evolved as the economic downturn hit and how the city has never really recovered to the point of returning to the times of an extensive priority listing for attention, operating in what Mr. Long described as a panic stage since, with it overwhelming to try to develop any priority planning to the roads.
From that he again stressed his enthusiasm for the adoption of the Local improvement concept that could provide for the kind of work residents may want to see in their neighbourhood.
Rob Buchan from iPlan then observed how if the city is considering such an element as the Local improvement program, Council has a choice to make that will allow for a broader community interest.
Councillor Adey returned to his observations on the burden to the residents and that there is now a concept being explored not done before, that the city should develop some kind of cost certainty for the applicant and for further consultations with the residents in the area.
Councillor Niesh noted that for any new lane development he was fine with the local improvement concept, but for existing access in place and in use he fears that the residents in those areas should not face a huge cost burden to reach city standards for areas they have been using for decades already.
Mayor Brain returned to the liability concerns that the city may face and with a limited budget there are many challenges to consider by the city.
To bring the discussion to an end, the Mayor suggested a more in depth conversation with the applicants and then perhaps to follow up on the local area improvement conversation.
Councillor Cunningham noted of the irony of the city pushing for the community to clean up and enhance their properties and at the same time now the city is going to penalize them by telling them they can't use the lane, adding that records don't show who put the lane in there and how it could have been the city that put it in place in the first place.
The mayor countered that narrative dismissing the suggestion that the city is punishing anyone, speaking to the need to make it a proper lane that would need to be maintained and noting the impact that could have on the City.
To move the issue forward, Council tabled the item on the night with a promise to bring the topic back with a more reasonable solution, turning the issue back to staff to develop a strategy for such community improvements.
( 1:25:00 -- 1:26:30 ) Report from Planning -- A verbal report providing a review of an application for a variance permit for a property on 8th Avenue East -- Chris Buchan outlined the details of the proposed variance for a property on 11th Avenue East for a staircase replacement. That item had no discussion from council moving quickly forward to public notification.
Council then approved the application.
( 1:26:30 -- 1:33:00 ) Report from the Director of Operations -- Mr. Richard Pucci provided an update on the City's 2021 Capital paving award -- The Operations Manager outlined the details of the Request for proposals which only received one complaint bid, with Mr. Pucci then recommending the award of the contract to Adventure paving which delivered a bid of $863,682.44 plus GST.
He also provided some background on the city's annual Capital paving program, noting how it only covers trouble spots throughout the community, the annual paving not a blanket paving program but one of skipping from area to area.
Towards comment, Councillor Mirau noted how it's always an easy decision when a local company finds success when it comes to bidding on municipal projects.
Mayor Brain retuned to some themes from the City Manager earlier in the night and raised the topic of a larger plan for multi year paving as it was the case in the past, asking for the methodology used by the Operations Department.
In reply, Mr. Pucci noted they were only approaching the issue on a year to year basis, the city knowing that they can only scope out trouble areas for the next year, as well as how it all depends on where they find the major breaks and other issues. He also noted they seek to leverage funding for larger road rehabilitation and that the department always tries to spread out the paving each year as best they can between east and west sides of the city.
He also made note of some of the seasonal issues that can factor into their planning.
The Mayor then asked for some background on the capital roads program and how the city approaches those needs, noting that some of those roads aren't worth paving at the moment as they need much more extensive work.
The Operations Director made note of the financial challenges facing the city and how that impacts on any road remediation projects they may take on. He observed that it was best to save money for a wider road remediation project that would include many other elements such as water line replacement and sewer infrastructure.
Mr. Brain noted how that was the focus for the recently developed asset management planning that Council has taken on.
Mr. Pucci concurred with that theme, observing that they have a couple of areas of the city they are planning to address with extensive work over the course of several years, noting how it would not be a good idea to invest in a little bit of asphalt now, with the city to raise the capital to take on the major work in the future.
Councillor Cunningham raised the topic of last years paving and the need for some warranty work, something which the Operations Director noted would be addressed by the contract who is currently working in a neighbouring community and will come into Prince Rupert to address the concerns.
( 1:33:00 -- 1:39:00 ) Report from the Operations Manager --Mr.. Pucci explained the challenges of accessing required supplies for the Landfill expansion project -- The fluctuating price of supplies and the city's protocol for approval of purchases over one million dollars was the focus of the report, with the Operations Director outlining how the supply chain for required liners and piping material for the landfill expansion project is proving to be a source of concern for the department.
In his presentation Mr. Pucci pointed to the challenges of the pandemic, with price quotes for material only valid for a few days, something which the city's policy on purchasing is leaving the city behind when it comes to making purchases.
Noting of the 2 million dollar estimated cost which is part of the capital project, Mr. Pucci asked to be allowed to purchase the long lead items to get them en route to the city and installed in tie to open the landfill cell and he will follow up with a report on the cost of the items at a later date.
Councillor Mirau asked why the request was being considered since it is part of the capital project, in reply Mr. Pucci noted how the city's purchasing policy requires approval of council for any purchase over one million dollars and that as a result there is no way for the suppliers to hold their rates to await that approval, adding that the city has already lost a number of purchase opportunities owing to the policy.
Councillor Niesh added his support to the request, noting of his own observations in his day job in construction.
Councillor Adey asked what would be the process moving forward towards accessing the supplies and how the city would be watching for the best pricing.
The Operations Director noted that with pre approval he and the city's consultants should be able to access the best price for the supplies.
Mayor Brain wrapped up the discussion by noting how the Council trusts the department to be able to pull of the purchase and noted of their past efforts in the past.
( 1:39:00 -- 1:40:00 ) Report from the Corporate Administrator -- Request for a letter of Support for the North Coast Mountain Bike Association -- With the organization having made a presentation earlier in the evening, Council had little more to add to the request for a letter of support for the Pump Track proposal to be directed to the Northern Development Initiative Trust.
Following Ms. Rosa Miller's introduction of the letter request, Council voted to support the initiative.
( 1:40:00 -- 1:58:00 ) Questions, Comments, Reports or Inquiries from Council
Councillor Adey led off the commentary period with an update on the recent Virtual Town Hall meeting on Rail Safety hosted by Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach.
His update included an overview of the presentation by a Rail Safety advocate, Bruce Campbell an author on the Lac Megantic disaster in Quebec. The main thrust of his contribution to the forum that there is no such thing as no risk when it comes to the transport of goods by rail. He also observed as to some of the safety measures in place and how they are subject to change by the railway, noting how the author had outlined how the government needed to do more in the way of oversight of rail safety planning by the railways.
When it came to the local contributors to the town hall, Mr. Adey noted the following
An under reporting of dangerous goods incidents in the Prince Rupert region.
A sense of local government had a hard time being listened to on the issue as its a federal concern, with a recommendation of frequent dialogue with the MP
Concerns were expressed on issues of noise and vibration for those near rail infrastructure as well as speed.
To that topic, Mr. Adey noted that with the introduction of the propane facilities in Prince Rupert the reduced speed measures have been implemented in the region.
There was also a call by one participant for national standards related to noise, speed limits and concerns of toxins that are transported.
On that theme Councillor Adey observed that it would be the local First Responders in the community would be the first on the scene, with the corporate response personnel based in Terrace in the Northwest.
The need for additional dialogue among all stakeholders, was one of the key points that the Councillor took from the forum.
The news of the discovery of the mass grave of students of the Kamloops Residential school was also the focus for Council on the night.
As Mayor Brain noted earlier in the evening, Councillor Skelton-Morven was attending a vigil on the evening, the remainder of Council members then shared their thoughts on the Kamloops discoveries.
Councillor Niesh opened the discussion by calling on residents to learn the true history of what happened.
Councillor Randhawa also noted of the heart breaking news from Kamloops and asked that all levels of government work in partnership with First Nations to explore further the issue of unmarked graves.
Councillor Adey recounted his early days in education and his first posting to Kitkatla, and how he learned from that time more of the Residential Schools system and offered his sympathies and condolences for the deep pain that the circumstances have brought and how he hopes it will serve to provide a better understanding for the community of the situation.
Councillor Mirau provided a synopsis of some of the key action requests from the National Truth and Reconciliation report.
Councillor Cunningham also spoke to the issue, noting that there is a need for the Federal government needs to follow up on those recommendations and offered his observation that there is the lack of action by the Federal government which only provides lip service to the concerns.
He outlined that he believes that local governments need to stand up and tell the Federal Government that they want action and not just words.
Councillor Cunningham also shared some of the personal notes within his own family of the Residential Schools issue and how the community can't really grasp the topic until you sit down and talk to people about it and how the reports need to be taken seriously and recognized.
Mayor Brain noted of the difficult time and observed that the city would look to post information on the civic website and work to be part of the solution.
Councillor Niesh also observed on the night of the passing of former Golf pro Moe Hays who had passed away in Victoria in late May.
With no other comments or inquiries, the Council session came to a close
You can access our archive on the City Council Session here, where a number of items regarding the Council session, including links to local media coverage can also be found.
As always, our Council Timeline is only a reflection of our observations from the Council Session of the night. Be sure to consult with the official minutes from the City, when posted to their website for further review.
Official minutes of the Regular Council Session from May 31, 2021
The count of new case reports of COVID-19 continued to drop today, with Doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix relaying the word that there were only 184 new cases of the coronavirus reported Today along with no deaths to detail, making for the best one day result since late October of last year.
And as an encore to the data delivery, the latest update on the pace of vaccination continues to provide for increased results with 70 percent of all adults in the province now having received their first dose of vaccine, the youngsters not too far behind with a 67% rate for those 12 and over.
“We have had 184 new cases of COVID-19, including 10 epi-linked cases, for a total of 144,473 cases in British Columbia.
There are currently 2,800 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. A further 139,899 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 254 individuals are currently hospitalized, 80 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.
There have been no new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,703 deaths in British Columbia. Our condolences are with the family, friends and caregivers of the people who have died as a result of COVID-19."
Across the province, the case count was as follows: 48 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, 113 are in the Fraser Health region, one is in the Island Health region, 19 are in the Interior Health region,
Northern Health reported just two new cases in the Northern Health region, they increase the total count of COVID cases in theNorthern Region to 7,685 since January of 2020.
There was one new case reported related to a person in BC who resides outside of Canada.
When it comes to the ongoing vaccination program in the province, today's count pushes over the 3.3 million mark for doses administered the daily tally set at 3,303,334 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in B.C., 191,222 of which are second doses.
Dr. Henry also took note of some further guidance on COVID-19 vaccines, with plans for wider overview of how it will be used in BC to come later this week.
“Today, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) provided guidance on the interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines for first and second doses. NACI confirmed the safety and effectiveness of interchanging vaccines and reaffirmed the recommendation to prioritize second doses for those at highest risk of severe illness and death.
Building on the plan for second doses of mRNA vaccines shared last week, this latest guidance will help inform the approach we take here in B.C. for those who received the AstraZeneca COVISHIELD vaccine. More information will be provided on this later this week."
One of the most iconic images and resources in the province is being celebrated today, with the Provincial Government hailing significance of Wild Salmon to Indigenous communities, as well as its place as the backbone to many coastal communities.
Lana Popham the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, along with Fin Donnely issued a joint statement on the day highlighting many of the important aspects Wild Salmon across British Columbia.
“Wild Pacific salmon are an iconic species that mean many different things to British Columbians. They are culturally significant to B.C.’s Indigenous communities, contribute to our province’s food security and are the economic backbone of many coastal communities, providing good jobs throughout B.C.
As we recognize B.C. Wild Salmon Day, we take great pride in celebrating how many people in our province are committed to helping protect and revitalize B.C.’s wild salmon populations. There are British Columbians who dedicate their careers to wild salmon, volunteer their time and effort to help restore habitat in watersheds in their communities or share information and engage others in the value of healthy rivers, lakes and streams.
We want to both recognize and thank each one of them for making a difference."
The full statement which you can review here, also provides some background on some of the environmental challenges facing Wild Salmon, as well as some of the measures the provincial and Federal governments have taken on to address some of those issue.
The Report titled the Future of Commercial Salmon Fishing included a range of recommendations towards both fishing habitat and improving conditions in the fishery to ensure a vibrant commercial sector for the province in the future.
The largest container crane soon to be in service in Canada has arrived at the Fairview South Terminal in Prince Rupert (photo from PRPA FB)
Bigger will indeed be better for the Port of Prince Rupert, with the arrival today of the newest addition to the DP World Container facility earlier this morning.
Tugboats transited around the vessel ZHEN HUA 26 delivering the eighth crane to arrive for service at the Fairview facility, with the Port providing a short update on the arrival through Social Media this morning:
The new crane arrived at DP World Prince Rupert Fairview Container Terminal early this morning after a month-long journey from Shanghai. It was transported across the Pacific alongside three other cranes bound for the United States.
The crane, which is equipped to service the largest vessels afloat today, took 18 months to construct. It is the eighth crane at Fairview Terminal.
The arrival of the new crane is just the start of significant change ahead for the Container Facility which has just launched its expansion project along the Prince Rupert harbour shoreline to the south of the existing terminal cranes.
As well the much anticipated Ridley - Fairview Connector road continues on with its construction, once completed the private cargo oriented road will remove much of the truck traffic through the city.
