It was a weekend of fast break basketball in Terrace, as Caledonia secondary hosted the Northwest Zones championship which had four schools in the hunt for a berth in the Provincials for March.
The Charles Hays Senior Boys began their weekend in the Skeena Valley with a Friday afternoon victory over Hazelton by a score of 83-36.
That was followed by a 65-48 win over host Caledonia Friday evening, the twin wins providing the Makers' with an automatic berth in the Zones Final.
The team spent the early part of Saturday awaiting their next challenger, with the Kermodes topping Smithers to book the rematch for 6:30 Saturday,
The focus for Saturday evening that of how a win for the Makers' would bring the tournament to an end, a loss meant a Sunday showdown.
With that as their mission the Rainmakers went to work, though the challenge was strong from Skeena who held close to their long time rivals for the first half, however the strength of the Rainmaker lineup made for a scoring surge in the second half securing the 68-46 final.
With their tournament sweep, the Rainmakers now will prepare for a return to the Big Stage of the Langley Events Centre and their next run for a Championship banner, that event set to take place from March 9 -12.
The Mishaw Road location for the City of Prince Rupert's Sanitary Sewer Facity in the Industrial Park (photo from Google Maps)
Whether to refurbish or build new will be the focus for a new Request for Proposals from the City of Prince Rupert, with the city putting its focus this time around on the Industrial Park Sanitary Sewer facility.
The latest in the city's expanding calls for proposals was posted to the BC Bid website on February 23rd and outlines some background towards the existing facility and what it is that the City is looking for from interested proponents.
The City of Prince Rupert is seeking proposals from qualified proponents in response to this request for proposals for the provision of Services (as defined herein) to be carried out within the required schedule set out herein for the rehabilitation and design of the Industrial Park Sanitary Sewer Treatment Facility and Forcemain.
The Industrial Park Sanitary Sewer Treatment is owned and operated by the City of Prince Rupert and is located at 151 Mish-Aw Road. The treatment facility was constructed in 1990 and collects all the waste water in the industrial area. The treated waste water is then forced into the outfall located at the end of Mish-Aw Road into the Morse Basin.
The treatment facility is operated under MOE Permit 4299. The current treatment facility and components is starting to show its age and effectiveness. It is time to either refurbish the existing or build a new facility, along with the forcemain, to adhere with the current MOE and DFO requirements.
A map of the city's sewage infrastructure in the Industrial Park, part of the City of Prince Rupert's Bid Package (From BC Bid website)
The scope of the project is outlined as part of the Project Overview with eight key elements of note:
Three dates make for the benchmarks for the successful bidder, which would see a final report delivered to the city by the start of August.
Proposals must be received by the City by 2:00 PM on March 18th 2022
Expressions of interest are to be directed follows:
The SD52 Board hosted its second Budge consultation on Feb 16
The second element of SD52's 2022-23 Budget process was held earlier this month and the near forty minute session from February 16th, made for a forum from some of the School District's stakeholders.
Among those who participated with comments and had their comments included as part of their video overview of the evening was the International Union Operating Engineers, which highlighted of the challenges facing the District and how it's membership has been impacted by decisions of the Board in the past and noting of proposed cutbacks to personnel and how that will impact on education in the community.
Among the union's concerns were staffing issues related to Special needs supports, the needs for Indigenous students and the importance of the library positions at Charles Hays Secondary. The union also outlined the many other areas of concern to them related to budget planning for the year ahead.
The Indigenous Education Council provided for the next presentation on Budget themes. The provided for an overview towards the program currently in place, as well as some recommendations towards their priorities for the years ahead.
Towards those priorities for Indigenous learners, they outlined the need for continued support for the Sm'algyax language program, continued commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, as well as to continue forward with the current Coach Mentoring program and cross curricular activities.
They also noted the work towards District equity program to advance the goals of the success rate for Indigenous learners and students in the District.
One final presentation came from the Prince Rupert Principal's Association, which provided for their recommendations from the Board as part of their Budget overview.
Their overview highlighted some of the challenges and stresses being faced by both teachers and administrators and how reductions can have an impact on their work and ability to add to the education experience for students.
The scope of their presentation providing for cautions towards any plans towards staffing reductions, noting how those changes could have ramifications for both the School Board and community.
Towards their two key elements for the Board to consider, they called for a functional Human Resources department and to reinforce the need for Educators and Education Assistants in the classrooms and schools.
While representatives of PRDTU were on hand for the Budget session, there was no presentation from the teacher's union included in the video presentation that has been offered to the public by the Board.
The next public session on the Budget planning is set for March 17th
The February themes can be reviewed below:
More notes on the Board of Eduction's work on their budget for 2022-23 can be reviewed from our archive page.
With one presentation under their belts, that one for Port Edward in January, representatives from BC Transit will appear at tonight's Prince Rupert Council session, set to provide a look at the blue print ahead for Transit service for the community.
The presentation, which will take place as part of the Committee of the Whole portion of the night will offer up a glimpse at a number of themes.
Included on the list a look at how BC Transit views the future for transit and some of the initiatives that they will be introducing.
Where the service is at today will also be of some note, with a snapshot of the level of transit usage from 2020-21
The documentation that has been included as part of their presentation looks at the current population demographics for the city and how that impacts on the need for transit in the community.
A look at some past performance, BC Transit's COVID response program and how they have engaged with the public in recent years also makes for some of the night ahead.
BC Transit will also share some of the priorities that they have heard of from the public when it comes to Transit service.
Some civic message making from Friday seemingly was not received well by some residents
A City of Prince Rupert advisory from Friday on the proper use of garbage cans seems to have struck a nerve with some residents.
And such was the unpleasant nature of some of the commentary, that the topic required the closure of discussion by Veronika Stewart, the City's Communication Manager.
The information flow started out with a reminder from the city that residents should now only be using the city provided Garbage bins, as well as a reminder of the option to exchange for a larger bin at an additional cost.
As things evolved, the social commentary wasn't particularly social, with Ms. Stewart returning to the discussion at some point over the course of the discourse to bring some order to the commentary and in the end, bringing the engagement to an end.
You can review those comments that made it to the social media page prior to the closure of debate from this link.
The city's message of amounts due included a significant jump in the garbage element of the utility bills for this year, that owing to the city's introduction of the new recycling program.
All of which may have left some of the residents in town just a little bit on the snarky side.
The first steps towards a new RCMP detachment in the city could be approved this evening, with the City's Chief Financial Officer providing a report that will recommend the awarding of two contracts towards the early stages of the project development.
In her report to Council, the City's CFO Corinne Bomben will recommend that the city Award the Cost Consulting Contract to the BTY Group, while if approved by Council, the Commissioning Contract recommendation will go towards a bid from CES Engineering Ltd.
The two contracts were put out for bid at the end of January, and as Ms. Bomben's report notes six proposals were received for the Cost Consultant competition, three for the Commissioning competition, none of the nine were from local sources.
The BTY Group contract will be set at $48.030 plus GST, while the CES Engineering Ltd. bid comes in at $!28,097.50
Of note from the Bid process is this explanation as to how the city plans to address budget overages from the twin bids.
The fee proposed by BTY is $12,000 below the estimated budget for these services. The fee proposed by C.E.S. is $28,000 over the estimated budget for these services. The high ratings of C.E.S. amongst all evaluators prompted the recommendation from the evaluation team given the quality of the expected service. Overall, combining the two, the overage is $16,000 for these two service components of the project. Efforts will be made to absorb this overage through other project line items and contingency.
Live from your radio and larger than life on the windows of the studio, if all goes well tonight, we will soon be able to view a large scale portrait of Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk.
The CBC will be seeking a sign variance at tonight's City Council Session in order to do some store front marketing along the street facing windows of their Third Avenue Studios.
A report from planning to Council tonight will provide an overview of the CBC's plans, which as is noted is designed to establish a strong CBC presence in the community, to connect and continue to build relationships with residents and visitors to the city, and ensure high visibility and ease of locating the office for all foot and road traffic.
The report also notes that the impact of this setback variance on the surrounding neighbourhood has no known negative impacts.
As well, the city notes that the public will have the opportunity to provide input during the public consultation period.
The proposed marketing plan for CBC Daybreak North's Carolina de Ryk in Prince Rupert is up for a review from City Council tonight (Both image above and at top of this post are from the City of PR Agenda)
The full report for Council can be explored below, the reason for the required interest of Council is that the proposal requires a variance to the civic sign bylaws.
