Prince Rupert Port Authority commits $200,000 for North Pacific Cannery restoration project

It was a busy weekend in Port Edward for one of the North Coast's top attractions, as hundreds  of visitors gathered to celebrate the125th Anniversary events at the North Pacific Cannery Historical site on Saturday and Sunday.

And to add to the already good vibe of the weekend, a well received announcement of further funding towards renovations to the Cannery's Working Dock project was delivered by the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

Ken Veldman, the Director of Public Affairs with the Prince Rupert Port Authority outlined the scope of the contribution of $200,000 from the Port's Community Investment Fund.

Money that will go towards restoration of the Cannery's Working Dock, a key aspect of the 2.3 million dollar preservation project currently underway at North Pacific.

“This restoration project preserves an important heritage site for future generations, creates local jobs and skills training opportunities, boosts tourism through an improved visitor experience, and increases the capacity for North Pacific Cannery to host large community functions and special events,” ... “For all these reasons, PRPA is proud to partner with the many other businesses and community groups contributing to this legacy.” -- Ken Veldman, Director of Public Affairs with the Prince Rupert Port Authority, outlining the impact of the ongoing work at North Pacific.

When the renovation project is complete, it will return to public use a portion of the site previously out of bounds to visitors, allowing for an expansion of guest capacity for North Pacific functions and adding to the experience for local visitors and tourists alike.

As part of that ongoing project, North Pacific signed a partnership agreement with the Prince Rupert Campus of Northwest Community College. The Agreement will provide for Trades Training opportunities on the North Pacific restoration site.

You can review more on last week's funding announcement from this item from the Prince Rupert Port Authority website.

Photos from the weekend's celebrations can be found from this link to the North Pacific twitter feed.

You can learn more about the North Pacific Cannery Historical Site  from their website.

Prince Rupert Salmon Enhancement Society looking for volunteers

Volunteers, they are the engine that keeps the Oldfield Creek Fish Hatchery going and with another busy summer ahead for the Hatchery, the Prince Rupert Salmon Enhancement Society is once again putting out the call for assistance.

Oldfield Creek, is yet another spot on the list of interesting local destinations for locals and visitors alike and this summer they are offering up a number of opportunities for local residents to become involved in helping to spread word of the awareness campaign of the salmon ecosystem.

Those that have the time can become involved in a number of hands on positions available for residents when it comes to Hatchery operations. From care of juvenile salmon, to brood collection and smolt release, the Hatchery provides much for community minded residents to become involved in.

Located on Wantage Road, just off of McBride (Highway 16) the Hatchery is a popular stop over for visitors to the city.

One of the more popular educational aspects of the Hatchery operations are the tours that they provide of the facility and adjoining area, offering an educational review of the importance of Salmon to the region and Prince Rupert's place as part of the cycle.

No experience is required and when you offer up your time, they'll provide a training program that will set local residents up as salmon experts, aware of the importance of salmon and the need for engagement in their surroundings all as part of the Hatchery team.

For more information on what they are all about and how you can help out on their Facebook page.

If you're interested in volunteering some of your time you can contact the Oldfield Creek Hatchery at 250-624-6733 

North Coast organization offers home security review

Summer means warmer weather, open windows and forgotten patio doors. An obvious invitation to those who may not have the best intentions while walking through Prince Rupert neighbourhoods.

But those aren't the only areas of concern for local residents to be aware of, when it comes to protecting their homes from intruders.

Things you many not even have thought of from, poor lighting to over grown shrubs and trees too close to your home could make your home a target, particularly in the summer months.

A little help however is easily accessible, with a Prince Rupert organization looking to provide area residents with an overview about their home security situation by offering a free inspection and home security package to help you make note of how to better protect your home.

North Coast Victim Services is offering the program this summer, designed to help you avoid becoming a victim of crime. One of the many services that the organization has been providing in the community for many years now.

To find out more about the home security program or any other program that they have to offer, you can contact them a 250-627-7779.

Cash Mob stormed the Ice House

The second edition of Prince Rupert's Cash Mob scene took to Cow Bay on Saturday, assembled to explore another Prince Rupert business and create awareness for local merchants.

The Group first assembled at the Court House lawn in the afternoon and then made their way towards the Ice House Gallery.

Once there, participants roamed the Gallery, making purchases large and small, as part of the Cash Mob experience, those taking part must commit to spending at least 20 dollars while at the venue.

Organized by Community Futures of the Pacific Northwest and the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce, the initiative designed to increase awareness of local business is proving to be a very popular event. With local residents eager to hear of the next opportunity to take to the streets as part of a commercial battalion

You can learn more about Saturday's event from the Rupert Reigns facebook page.

The Ice House venue was selected by way of nominations held through the last month, the destination a carefully guarded secret right up until the moment the mob took to the streets to head down the Cow Bay hill.

With two successful mobs in the books (the first was at The Argosy ) planning is soon to start for Cash Mob number three.

Keep an eye on the Rupert Reigns facebook page  or twitter feed for details on when they plan to take nominations for the third version of the Cash Mob experience.

The Cash Mob project also hosts their own website for information updates.

(Photo above from the Rupert Reigns facebook page)

Major quake strikes far western reaches of Alaska

Monday has proven to be a fairly significant day seismically for the Pacific Ocean, with a string of quakes at 6.9 mg or less striking areas north of New Zealand earlier today and in mid afternoon an 8.0 magnitude earthquake recorded on Little Sitkin Island, in the far Western reaches of Alaska.

The Alaska quake has proven to be of interest to Emergency Management BC owing to the potential for tsunami activity along the Pacific coast.

As a result of the earthquake the immediate portion of Alaska near that event has had a Tsunami Warning placed in effect.

Emergency Info BC posted a short note to their twitter feed shortly after notification of the seismic event in Alaska.

Further evaluation of the nature of the Quake off Alaska's coast would appear to suggest that there is No Tsunami threat for other regions of the Pacific coast, including British Columbia.

You can access further updates from the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre website

Should there be any change to those notifications, we will post the update to this item on the blog.

Update:

Since this afternoons 8.0 magnitude quake, there have been a number of aftershocks, those listed at above 6.0 magnitude can be found below:

6.6 at 8:15 PM
6.0 at 2:11 PM

No Tsunami warnings were generated for Southeast Alaska, coastal BC, or points south from the after shocks.

Alaska Marine Highway Terminal Plan moves forward with release of Environmental Management Plan

First comes the paperwork, then comes the construction equipment.

As we outlined on the blog back in March, at that time the Alaska Marine Highway System confirmed its intentions to continue to serve Prince Rupert well into this century with the announcement of a 50 year leas for their Fairview site.

And now, it appears that the proposal to reconstruct the existing marine facilities for the Alaska Marine Highway in Prince Rupert is moving forward.

Last week, the first steps towards that reconstruction plan took place as the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities provided their Environmental Management Plan for public review.

According to  information available on the Alaska Government site (scroll down to the AMHS projects section) , the Improvement program was approved on May 27th, putting in motion the process of replacement of the AMHS access point on the North Coast.

The project which see the demolition of the existing marine terminal structure, as well as piles and aging superstructure will provide for a much needed update to the AMHS facilities in the city, which once compete will provide for a new terminal and a significant investment in the Alaska Marine Highway presence on the North Coast.

The extensive Management plan outlines the scope of the project and even the impact that it could have on those west side residents of the the city that overlook the AMHS terminal at Fairview.

Included in the report is a review of some of the Mitigation Measures that will be put in place during the construction specific timeline of the project.

Fisheries Habitat, Invasive species, Archaeological Chance Find Management and other environmental concerns are all addressed in the plan, which charts the course ahead for the development of the AMHS terminal site.

Anticipated demolition work is expected to begin during the fall of 2014 or in the winter of 2014-15, according to the Management Plan that process will require a full shutdown of the terminal to take place for 1 to 3 months while work continues on key elements of the project.

How that impacts on AMHS service to the North Coast during that time frame has yet to be outlined.

The project is expected to be completed in the winter of 2015-16.

Contractors and sub-contract opportunities for the project have not yet been determined or selected by the Alaska Department of Transportation.

You can review the full package from the Prince Rupert Port Authority website.

For more on Ferry Transportation on the North Coast see our Archive page here.

City to take taxation and industrial development issues to UBCM in the fall

When the city's council members head off to Whistler for this fall's UBCM gathering they will be bringing a list of concerns that they hope other communities will take up as their own.

At tonight's Council session, council members will review the draft of the resolutions that the City of Prince Rupert hopes to add to the UBCM agenda.

Many of their recommendations for review and approval will be on familiar themes for council observers. Dealing for the most part with the desire to find ways to access more revenues through industrial taxation and payments.

With those lengthy discussions on the payment in lieu structure of port development in the city still fresh in their minds from the spring budget sessions, the Port issue will be one of their main resolution points for September's UBCM.

On that topic of the Payment in lieu process currently in place, the City will be putting forward the resolution that the BC Assessment Authority valuation be used for the purposes of PILT as it applies to Port Authority properties.

As for the tax cap, the City will be asking that UBCM support their resolution that the provincial taxation caps be repealed, highlighting how a temporary measure became a permanent one.

We outlined some of Council's concerns on those two items of concern back in March, during the heated moments of discussion on revenue issues for the city.

They also will offer up a resolution to seek Funding assistance for large scale Project Proposal Evaluations on project proposals.

Council also is targeting concerns over tax exemptions on Berth corridors, seeking to have those
exemptions eliminated from the Community Charter.

Other items that they hope to bring to UBCM for inclusion in their final discussions will be items of note on Flexible matching grants, Unconditional grants and the need for the provincial government to create and implement a poverty reduction plan.

Their draft presentation provides a fair bit of background on those items, you can review it all from the Agenda for Tonight's council session, it can be found on pages 38 and 39.

For more items of interest on developments at Prince Rupert City Council see our archive page.