The members of the Prince Rupert School Board will host one final session for 2021 tonight, featuring an agenda that includes a presentation on Sm'algyax Language Classes, a call for support for a Universal Food Program and a correspondence from the PRDTU seeking some time for presentations to the Board through the year.
Those are a few of the items of note for tonight, which will also see the Regular Business of the Board with such elements as the Superintendent of School's Report, Secretary-Treasure's Report as well as reports from the Finance and Building Committee.
The night also includes notes on the annual Budget Consultation process and Frameworks for Enhancing Student Learning as well as the latest notes of interest from the Provincial Council and Indigenous Education Council.
The Session takes place at the Meeting Room of the Booth Building adjacent to Lax Kxeen elementary school, the event gets underway at 7 PM
A welcome blank sheet for CityWest's Maintenance and Outages page as the company announces the restoration of full fibre service.
The long running service issues related to the November storms appear to have been resolved by CityWest, with the Prince Rupert based communication company reaching out to customers today with a correspondence that outlines news of the fibre fix and few options in thanks of their patience.
As we noted earlier this month, safety concerns at the site of the landslide that damaged the fibre link to the south, had left crews sidelined and awaiting opportunity to get in and fix the situation.
That situation had recently changed to allow crews in and the repairs were completed to bring the speed and consistency levels back up to past standards in recent days.
The fibre troubles began in mid November making for a few weeks of frustration and buffering for residents and service users across the Northwest.
Those customers wishing to take advantage of the service options offered have until the end of the month to contact CityWest and advise them of their preferences.
CFO Corinne Bomben provided for the hosting and narrative duties as City Council explored the scope of Capital Spending for 2022.
Prince Rupert Council members received a forty eight minute tutorial on Monday afternoon of what their senior staff members believe are the must haves for 2022.
That as the City's Chief Financial Officer Corinne Bomben served as presenter and moderator for the Capital Project and Spending Presentation session.
The afternoon session was attended by a majority the Council Membership in person, with Councillor Niesh taking part by phone, Councillor Skelton-Morven did not participate in the Monday event.
As the program moved forward, Ms. Bomben outlined each line item from her Report for Council (available from the Agenda Package) which provided for the details on Spending plans in both Operations, Policing and Fire/Rescue as well as some of the City's large scale Civic improvement programs such as the Waterfront plans and those for the CN Rail building on the Waterfront.
"As far as content, this document sees the larges request to continue the work on our large utility projects as well as investments into protective services and investments at the waterfront.
As far as financial impact to our citizens and businesses the proposed amount of funding to come from taxation is 200,000 dollars less than in the previous year, or approximately a one percent decrease to the mill rate with respect to capital items funded as compared to 2021" -- CFO Corinne Bomben introducing the 2022 Capital Budget presentation on Monday
The synopsis of spending, the majority of which comes from reserves, surpluses or funding from other sources can be reviewed below:
For the most part Director of Operations Richard Pucci was the main speaker from staff, called on a number of times to speak to some of the spending or to clarify some of the elements up for review on the afternoon.
There were only a few items from the lengthy list that the Council members made inquiries on during the presentation.
There was some discussion on plans to expand on parking at the City's Canfisco Warehouse property, with Councillor Mirau and councillor Cunningham seeking some background on the plan.
Director of Operations Richard Pucci at the Monday Capital Spending presentation for Council
Mr. Pucci outlined the scope of that work ahead at the waterfront facility at Rushbrook.
"We believe there will be between fifteen and eighteen new parking spaces that will be generated once the parking improvements are completed, we can make that area as part of the Rushbrook improvement area we're just internally looking at whether that's the best course of action, just because it is a little removed from the main parking area, so that is under review"
Mr. Pucci also expanded on how the parking set up will work at the facility, looking to avoid the mix of trailers and vehicle traffic in that area.
Councillor Nick Adey had a question on the plans for development for a power supply for Watson Island and any opportunity for that project to pay itself back and provide for cost savings.
Mr Pucci noted of the current situation and what the project would deliver to the site.
"It would likely pay itself off within three to five years, we are right now bringing diesel down to a generator and running a generator 24/7. So we're just looking at the alignment to bring the power down there. So it will translate into significant savings over time"
Councillor Mirau inquired towards the city's procurement policies when it comes to heavy equipment purchases that are planned.
The Director of Operations provided for the overview of how the city makes its purchase
"These pieces of equipment are quite specialized and they're different, some of them are built on different chassis and then you take the chasis and bring it to a coach builder who builds it. Then the dozer is a completely separate specific piece of equipment. We would go out to RFP singly and try and get best value that way"
Mr. Pucci also confirmed for Councillor Cunningham that they would be new buys and come with warranties.
Plans for extensive work in the areas of Fourteenth Street on the west side of the city, were of note for Councillor Adey, with Mr. Pucci outlining the work ahead for that area.
"The fourteenth Street retaining wall, it's in a semi failure state, it has a bulge in it. We have a house that is located right below it. And so when we went and looked an it, it is in immediate need of work and what we're looking at doing isn't a very expensive build. What we're looking at doing is while we're in there redoing the water on fourteenth street and the sewer and storm on fourteenth street. We think that's part of the reason why the bulge has happened and some of the deterioration of the wall, we think that some drainage has become a little bit disjointed and we want tomato sure get in there and fix that"
In a follow up question on the plans, Councillor Cunningham asked about who would do the work.
Mr. Pucci noted that it would be awarded out as a contract job for a contractor and how the figures cited for the project were estimates based on previous work on projects of a similar scope.
For Councillor Niesh the Director of Operations highlighted how the sidewalk project would work in 2022 and if it was specific to downtown or the entire range of city sidewalks.
"It's for general repairs all over town, we will be looking for tripping hazards and other hazards around town and fixing those"
The introduction of the garbage/recycling program gained some feedback as well, with Councillor Mirau asking for the rationale of the purchase of 1,000 cans and plans for them, as well if some are in reserve for replacement in the future with Mr Pucci noting:
"It's a combination of both, we've had a number of requests so far. So we're projecting that once we start the program we'll see that double or triple the number of requests and then we'd like to keep a few hundred in the warehouse, like we have a few hundred of each bin because we can do replacement or for parts"
The use of the Utilities Fund for closure of a Landfill cell and expenses of 100,000 dollars made for a question from Councillor Cunningham, with the Director of Operations providing some background on the situation.
"At this point right now we're unsure how long we'll be doing this testing. So as the justification talks about, is that there was a unilateral re-permit on the site. So originally there was what was called a pollution control order on the site, the site was closed in 1991. But during COVID Ministry staff reviewed a lot of the closed permits and they reissued a permit that required the city to start some very rigorous programming and monitoring of that site. So it's in the order of about 96,000 to complete that, we've got a proposal to do it. We are looking at working with the Ministry on finding a happy medium at that site possibly and also we've talked about other uses for that site as well. So at this point we're keeping it in operations and one day that may be reduced or removed"
A question from Councillor Mirau on the challenges of the Woodworth Dam project, provided opportunity for a wider overview of what the Councillor referenced as the High Ticket items.
With Mr. Pucci again providing for the narrative to the topic of the impact of weather and other issues on the cost over runs and some focus on the dam project.
"The major over runs are really, delays ... so when a storm hits, we have several moths worth of storm management and storm work. So we would have a large storm it would wash out a certain area, we would have to go and rebuild that certain area and then also kind of pick back up. So, we lost several months due to these storms and repairs associated with the storms, not only on the project but on other areas around the site.
The other major factor was some geo-technical issues, so you know we did a very rigorous geo-technical program on the site. But even after that, we found once you drill down there was fissions in the rock and also soft rock area, so we had to over excavate and take out more rock than we thought. And when you take that out you have to replace with also dowels and with concrete. So that obviously was extremely expensive, bringing concrete and other items to this site is very, very expensive. Every little bit of gravel, sand everything was brought over by barge.
So you know, COVID saw a little bit of delay on it, but not as much as say the storms, the rebuild back after storms and also this the geo-technical conditions"
He also provided council with some notes on the plans towards the four million dollar cost of the preparations for the engineering and design of the water treatment facility and submarine line which will be funded by reserves.
Plans to rebuild 11th Avenue also made for some commentary from Councillor Niesh, with the Operations Director noting that the previous work in years past had used materials that did not stand up to the test of time or conditions on the north coast, with newer pipes that are available to be used in the rebuild.
Plans for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations planned for the Civic Centre and Cow Bay (which we noted last month) provided for some discussion on the introduction of the stations to the community with Mayor Brain providing for some background on the project and what the two stations to be placed in the community will bring to a larger network across Northern BC.
A plan to introduce projects related to Human Resources programs to be put inlace brought questions as to how they would be delivered, with Mr. Pucci observing they would be conducted on a contract basis.
Among some of the other larger scale investments, the Councillors had no comments to relay, or questions to ask on the proposed spending on the CN Station refurbishment program, or the waterfront redesign program which will move the Airport Ferry Dock to the Kwinitsa Station area of the waterfront.
As well there was no further information shared on the progress towards the new RCMP detachment.
The full review of what captured the interest of the Council members can be found from the Council session video from the afternoon session.
The forty eight minute presentation can be explored from the City's Video Archive page.
When they returned to the Council chamber at 7PM the Prince Rupert Council members had much to say in praise about the work of staff in preparing the Capital Spending plan for 2002 and for their participation in the Monday afternoon information session.
As for the spending plan, at the evening session the Councillors had few things to note about the volume of spending, taking less than five minutes to move forward on the extensive list of spending on programs, projects and vision plan elements for the year ahead.
Councillor Cunningham led off the members who were unanimous in their praise of the work of city staff in compiling the Report on Capital Spending and the participation of a few of the city staff members during the afternoon session.
"I'd like to thank the staff that came today, as well as the staff that prepared this report, it was quite in depth and I think they should be recognized for what they've accomplished"
He also noted of the format that was used in the afternoon, and noted if any residents have questions they can contact the council members to go over any items that they have questions on.
Councillor Mirau spoke to the investments being made towards the city's infrastructure and list of projects towards development themes.
"I think there's a lot of good reasons for us to support staff's recommendation on this capital budget, first of which they make it easy when you can hold the line on taxes; so barring any unforeseen issues in the new year I think we're on pace to at least be able to hold the line, I'm hoping.
More importantly though I think that this capital budget is an investment into our city's future that is consistent with our kind of stated strategic plan.
Whether it's CN Building revitalization, Canfisco Warehouse Parking, new RCMP detachment, finishing off the dam, recreation improvement all those things that are over and above our regular operation requirements.
But then there's lots of investments to in things that are either cost or energy or environmentally friendly investments. New Boiler and HVAC system, new pump truck for the Fire Hall to keep everyone safe, new plow quite timely today, commerical garbage truck and landfill dozer, the list goes on.
I appreciate how thorough you guys were in preparation of this budget and there's plenty of reasons for me to support this budget as it was written.
Councillor Adey also praised the work of staff and the focus on strategic planning that they have taken on, as well as to continue to advocate for transportation planning and the wastewater plans in motion.
"I'm also happy to support the package as it stands, very impressed with the degree which you've taken in to account the need to develop strategic plans moving forward in various areas"
Councillor Randhawa echoed some of the same as themes as the previous members.
Councillor Niesh, also saluted staff and called attention to the plans for one million dollars towards paving that the capital spending will bring to the community.
Councillor Cunningham had the final word on the topic recapping the presentation process that took place.
"It was very well explained, I think it was well done. Each department got to say what they wanted to and what we need, and it's not very often that we have the expertise of our staff in a meeting to explain different things, especially in front of council or in a forum in front of the residents"
The Mayor added his own thoughts of support for staff for their work before bringing the topic to an end.
Council then gave approval for the Spending list as it was presented earlier in the day, coming in at just under 71 million dollars detailed for 2022.
You can review the Council discussion to the topic from the Regular Council Session video, starting at the one Minute mark.
It was a light night of work for City Council for what should be their final public gathering for 2021, with few discussion points to raise over the course of the less than seventeen minute get together, that as the Mayor and Council put the final approval to a range of fees and charges for 2022.
As well, Council approved the list of Capital Spending for the year ahead, that following a presentation from earlier in the afternoon that details much of what the Capital spending projects were all about.
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.
In attendance Monday, December 13, 2021
Mayor Lee Brain -- Present Councillor Nick Adey -- Present Councillor Barry Cunningham -- Present Councillor Blair Mirau -- Present Councillor Reid Skelton-Morven -- Absent Councillor Wade Niesh -- Present (participated by phone) Councillor Gurvinder Randhawa -- Present
Video Archive for Committee of the Whole for Monday, December 13, 2021
( 0:00--:30 ) Regular City Council Session for Monday, December 13, 2021 -- Mayor Lee Brain called the session to order, adopting past minutes and the Agenda for the session.
With most Council members in attendance in Council chamber, Councillor Niesh joining by phone, Councillor Skelton Morven absent from the afternoon session, the list of proposed Capital spending was relayed to the Council membership and those following at home.
( :30 -- 48:00 ) The City's Financial Officer Corinne Bomben, provided the review of the 2022 Capital Projects and proposed spending listings, introducing each of the items from the document, with Department representatives available to answer any questions of the Council members.
(See our Full overview of that session here)
Council then voted to adjourn until the 7PM session where the Capital projects list would reach the approval process stage.
Video Archive for Regular Council Session Monday, December 13, 2021
Regular Council Session
( 0:00--:30 ) Special Regular City Council Session for Monday, December 13, 2021 -- Mayor Lee Brain called the session to order, adopting past minutes and the Agenda for the session. As well as the addition of one item for the night's agenda.
( :30 -- 1:00 ) Report from Chief Financial Officer -- October Variance Report -- Ms. Bomben noted that operating revenues and expenses were performing as expected, while observing that the Airport Ferry revenue was the low performer owing to the reduced travel through the airport owing to COVID. The utilities budgets are anticipated to be in deficit before to the end of the year for the reasons as were provided in the September report. Any capital projects not completed by years end will be rolled into 2022.
( 1:00 -- 7:30 ) Report from Chief Financial Officer -- Capital Spending Report and Requests --
Councillor Cunningham led off the members who were unanimous in their praise of the work of city staff in compiling the Report on Capital Spending and the participation of a few of the city staff members during the afternoon session.
He also noted of the format that was used in the afternoon, and noted if any residents have questions they can contact the council members to go over any items that they have questions on.
Councillor Mirau spoke to the investments being made towards the city's infrastructure and list of projects towards development themes.
Councillor Adey also praised the work of staff and the focus on strategic planning that they have taken on, as well as to continue to advocate for transportation planning and the wastewater plans in motion.
Councillor Randhawa echoed some of the same as themes as the previous members.
Councillor Niesh called attention to the plans for one million dollars towards paving that the capital spending will bring to the community.
The Mayor added his own thoughts of support for staff for their work.
They then moved the requests for Capital Spending forward
( 07:30--11:00 ) Report from Corporate Administrator --Request for a letter of Support for the Friendship House -- Ms. Miller provided the details of a grant funding quest for the Friendship House and what they were looking for in support by way of a letter from Council.
Council Approved the letter of support for the Friendship House towards their efforts to provide a twice a week shuttle service to Terrace from Prince Rupert, that through a program funded by the NDIT.
As part of their discussion to the topic, the Council members spoke with enthusiasm for the efforts of the Friendship House.
Councillor Mirau spoke in favour of the request and commended the Friendship House for their information for consideration and to take on the task of the bus program.
Councillor Randhawa also offered his support for the letter, noting of the transportation challenges in the community, noting how it's a need that is required at least five times a week.
Councillor Cunningham noted of his past comments on transportation and how this service would fill a void and how he thought it is a great service.
Councillor Adey reflected on his own travel challenges of the weekend and how the service is one that is needed, particularly when the driving is more difficult as it was this week.
Mayor Brain recounted the support the City has offered Friendship House since 2016 and how they don't want to duplicate any service, he also reminded council of the city's support for an initiative hosted by Transition House.
They then voted to approve the letter of Support.
Bylaws
( 11:30--11:30 ) Report from Corporate Administrator -- Recreation Fees and Charges -- Council provided fourth and final approval of the bylaws with no further discussion.
( 11:30 -- 11:45 ) Report from Chief Financial Officer -- Revitalization Tax Exemption Program -- The CFO's report from December 6th outlined the plans for tax exemptions for development of property for logistical purposes.
With no further discussion Council provided fourth and final reading for the Bylaw.
( 11:45-- 12:00 ) Report from Chief Financial Officer -- Cemetery Fees and Charges Amendment Bylaw - Council provided fourth and final reading of the the bylaws with no further discussion.
( 12:00 -- 16:30) Questions, Comments, Reports or Inquiries from Council
Councillor Cunningham paid tribute to the city's work force and wished them happy holidays. Noting of both the city hall staff and those out in the field, from the city yard and working through the weather and COVID.
Councillor Randhawa also spoke in tribute of city staff and the work they have done this year.
Councillor Adey shared those sentiments as well and also noted of some volunteer organizations included in his tribute list was the work of Positive Prince Rupert and their help for the homeless program.
He also spoke to the work of those that take care of animals in the community, in particular the large number of Feral cats in the city. Making note of the work of PAWs United Rescue Society in the community.
The Councillor also provided some narrative to a large crashing sound heard during his presentation, though it appeared no one was injured from that incident.
The Mayor wrapped up the session with a Happy Holidays and a motion to adjourn.
And with that the December 13th session came to an end.
You can access our Council Session page 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 December 13, 2021
(not available yet)
Unless they call an unexpected Council Session, the Council members will enjoy a month away from civic duties and will not meet again in Public Session until January 10 of 2022.
Stefan Delloch adds to his duties at Northern Savings
The Board members at Northern Savings have tapped Stefan Delloch on the shoulder, asking the long serving employee in Prince Rupert to take on the duties of Interim CEO, taking over from CEO Bob Marshall who has stepped down from his post as he heads into retirement.
He takes up his interim duties as of January 1st, 2022.
"Stefan has been a Northern Savings employee for over 20 years, succeeding in numerous roles during his career that have contributed greatly to the achievements of the credit union. The Board thanks Stefan for accepting this important leadership responsibility. The Senior Leadership team and the Board have full support and confidence regarding this decision.” --Jamie Mathus, Board Chair
Northern Savings continues on with their search for a permanent CEO, with the Prince Rupert based financial institution anticipating an announcement in the first half of 2022.
The financial institution hosts branches in Prince Rupert, Terrace and Haida Gwaii.
The first half of a weekend journey to North Vancouver didn't quite go according to plan as the Charles Hays Rainmakers dropped the first two games of tournament play, an early stumble which knocked them out of the run for the championship fairly quickly at the popular annual tournament.
Something which meant there would be no repeat of the run of a few years back when the Charles Hays Boys ran the table on the way to the 2019 Finals berth before bowing out in a tough contest pre COVID.
The tournament was back on for 2021 and despite some challenges in the world of travel the Senior Boys made it to the Lower Mainland for the Lower mainland event.
With Mel Bishop. working the bench solo the Charles Hays squad found themselves on the wrong side of the twin results for Thursday and Friday.
The first one of the tourney was a showdown with North Van's Argyle which topped the Prince Rupert Senior Boys 76 to 54.
Kole Jones set a new No Regrets tourney record with 35 points in one game in game one of the four game series.
Vancouver Islands Dover Bay was next up on the No Regrets schedule with a Friday match up which saw the tough Island make for a convincing 91 to 63 win
Things turned around on the B side of the tournament Saturday as Charles Hays regained some of their swagger the rebound for the weekend led off once again by Kole Jones who was key to the turn around of Saturday, leading the Makers to the 64 to 50 victory over Seycove.
Image from No Regrets Twitter feed
The final game for their weekend in the city saw Charles Hays go back and forth with Rockridge final pushing past them to claim an 81 to 74 victory, Kole Leighton among the to players on the court for the Makers making an impression; gaining recognition as payer of the game as the Rupert boys' visit to No Regrets came to an end.
Image from No Regrets Twitter feed
The trip south at the start of December has become somewhat of a Rainmaker tradition, the high profile event providing a good opportunity to match up with some of the top teams from AAAA, AAA, and AA basketball in the Vancouver area.
To give you an idea of the range of competition at the event, the two finalists this year Handsworth and St. George's play at the top end of BC High school Basketball system, competing at the AAAA level.
St George's won the event 72 to 59 over Handsworth.
You can learn more about the long running and popular tournament from their website, which includes game stories and a volume of photos for the 2021 edition.
Up next for the Senior Boys is the annual Alumni Tournament at the Charles Hays Gymnasium, featuring six teams of Makers' past and present including the current roster of the Senior and Junior Boys.
Coaches Mel and Ryan Bishop not only leading the 2021-22 team into play, but hitting the floor as well through the event.
The Two Day tournament takes place this weekend Friday, December 17 and Saturday December 18. The schedule for this weekend can be reviewed below:
COVID protocols are in place for the event, with All participants 22 and over and Spectators 12 and over must be fully vaccinated, with CHSS to be checking at the door.
The Rainmakers return to Northwest play in the New Year when they play Caledonia January 7 and 8 and then head to Prince George for games with Duchess Park on the 13th followed by the Kelly Road Tournament January 14 -6.
A busy month of travel wraps up January 21 and 22 with a trip to Smithers.
January ends in the friendly confines of the CHSS gym with a visit from Prince George Senior Secondary.
Plans to introduce Shore Power to Fairview Terminal have reached the RFP stage as the Port of Prince Rupert seeks bids for a 2022 project (image from PRPA)
The Prince Rupert Port Authority has outlined the scope of their plans to implement Shore Power to the Fairview Container Terminal, providing the details to the project through a Request for Proposals from December 2nd relayed through the BC Bid website.
The Shore power project another step towards the Environmental goals for the port as it expands its footprint of operations along the Prince Rupert waterfront.
Towards the project set for 2022 the BC Bid package notes the following.
PRPA as part of its sustainable objectives, is implementing Shore Power to Fairview Container Terminal. The project will consist of constructing two shore power berths.
This RFP accounts for the civil/structural improvements necessary to house the required electrical infrastructure supporting the shore power berths.
The Work generally consists of the following elements:
Prepare a site safety plan;
Establish Safe Work Zone – Civil/Structural;
Mobilization of equipment to site;
Excavation/demolition of existing infrastructure for placement of new ducts, housekeeping pads, and bollards;
Coordinate and provide support to Pacific Northwest Electric and Controls for the installation of the electrical duct banks;
Backfill, supply and install new housekeeping pads, bollards; Establish Safe Work Zone – Electrical Cable Pull; and Demobilization from site.
The Port notes the the work should be substantially completed by April 1st of 2022, with any final work to be finished by June 30th.
The Full Bid package and details related to the work can be explored from the BC Bid website.
The addition of the Shore Power component will serve towards the PRPA goals of reducing the carbon footprint from Port Operations as part of their Green Wave Program.
More notes of interest from the Prince Rupert Port Authority can be explored through our archive page.
