Port Edward to hold Public Hearing on zoning amendments for Spruce Avenue properties

Tuesday, November 12th is the date for Port Edward residents to weigh in, if they wish,  on proposed zoning changes for a number of lots along Spruce Avenue in the northern section of the District town site.

The zoning changes if approved, will see the zoning designation shift from Residential I and Residential II to Tourist Commercial  C2 in order to accommodate development. 

There so far has been no outline as to what the proposed development may be in relation to the lots in question.

The District of Port Edward will hold a public hearing related to
zoning changes for the properties in red above

Residents of the District can examine all relevant bylaws and documentation related to the zoning changes at the District Office from today through until November 8th, the office is open from 8:30 to 4:30 PM.

At the public hearing of November 12th, which will start at 6PM, any person who deem themselves affected by the proposed bylaw changes will have the opportunity to be heard on the topic.

As well, written submissions will also be received by the District on the topic of the proposed zoning change.

For more information or to submit your correspondence contact Polly Pereira at the District, 770 Pacific Avenue ( PO Box 1100) Port Edward, BC V0V 1G0

The deadline to submit your correspondence is November 8th.

For further notes from Port Edward see our archive page here.

BC Ferries enforces travel ban on traveller following recent incident

The British Columbia Ferries Corporation is recommitting to its employee safety program this week, acting in response to a string of incidents in October of behaviour that is well beyond the scope of a frustrated traveller venting about delays or other travel related themes.

In an announcement from Thursday, BC Ferries advised that it had banned one now former passenger for one year after an October 15th incident at the Langdale Terminal which saw a traveller leave their assigned lane and drive aggressively towards an employee forcing the employee to have to jump out of the way to avoid injury.

BC Ferries also noted a few other incidents in mid October to give them cause to remind passengers that legal action will be taken for any incident that puts an employee at risk.

In an October 17th incident a passenger threatened the use of a handgun at the Horseshoe Bay terminal while an October 22nd incident saw a passenger assault an employee on the Coastal Celebration.

“We are committed to providing our employees and passengers a safe and respectful environment. The vast majority of our passengers treat our employees courteously. Abusive conduct or comments, or behaviours that put our employees or the public at risk, are not tolerated. These behaviours result in a denial of service, travel ban and the involvement of police agencies.” -- Mark Collins, BC Ferries’ President & CEO. 

Noting that their employees have a right to work environment that is free from harassment or harm, BC Ferries reiterates their right to refuse passage and note that when needed they contact local law enforcement when assistance is required.

More on BC Ferries advisory can be viewed here.

For more items of interest on BC Ferries on the North Coast and Haida Gwaii see our archive page here.

Alta Gas exports through Ridley Island on track for expectations for 2019

Third Quarter results showcase the impact that the Ridley Island
Propane Export Terminal is having on the larger AltaGas picture

AltaGas is expressing a very positive view of the success so far of their terminal facility in Prince Rupert, noting the strong results of shipment levels in their third quarter results report released on Wednesday,

The results report is highlighted by frequent mentions of the Prince Rupert terminal and indicates the contribution that the Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal has made towards the AltaGas operations after its first full quarter of operations.

Marking the first full quarter of operations, RIPET contributed $37 million of normalized EBITDA in the third quarter of 2019 and received approximately 40,000 bbl/d for delivery to Asian markets, averaging two ships per month.

Third quarter normalized EBITDA from RIPET benefited from a higher average FEI-Mt. Belvieu hedge rate of US$14 per barrel that included second quarter supply hedges that were rolled forward to the third quarter. The resulting impact to third quarter normalized EBITDA is a one-time benefit of approximately $5 million.

As the cornerstone asset of our Midstream business, RIPET has extended our integrated value chain in northeast British Columbia, attracting additional volumes to our system, providing strong netbacks, as well as advancing future growth across our platform.

Statistics to the end of September indicate that the Ridley Island Terminal has shipped more than three million barrels of propane to Asia, sending six ships back across the Pacific carrying the resource to Asian markets.

In notes from the Announcement, Randy Crawford, the President and CEO of Alta Gas provided a glimpse at how the export facility has added to the AtlaGas footprint in Asian trade.

"RIPET has been successful in capturing incremental value for Canadian propane in international markets - a win-win for our producers and AltaGas. 

Our focus now is execution at the terminal to gain scale and efficiencies that will allow us to grow our export capabilities by further increasing capacity."

"Building upon the momentum we achieved in our Midstream business to-date, we will continue to leverage the structural advantage we have at RIPET to attract and handle more molecules in our integrated footprint. 

At our Utilities, our focus remains squarely on driving performance to lower our cost structure, and deliver exceptional service. These measures will strengthen relationships with our customers and regulators, and create an environment conducive to future growth,"

The full report from AltaGas can be explored here.

The Ridley Island Export Propane Terminal delivered its first Shipment in May.

While they are currently operating at the 40,000 barrels per day level, it's anticipated those numbers will double towards 2020 as AltaGas sources out more supply for the product.

For more items of note on the AltaGas Terminal see our archive page here.

With a night of haunting ahead, make plans to make sure your goblins and ghosts are visible

Tonight is the night that the parade of creatures make their rounds around the city and with social media already laying out a map of sorts as to where some of the best displays may be, the streets in some areas may be a little congested as the viewing party begins.

As a quick tour of the city has shown over the last few nights, Prince Rupert residents seem to be embracing the spirit of Halloween more and more, with some fairly elaborate displays already having lit up the nights through the week.

As the night arrives however, the need for safety should be foremost in the minds of all, with drivers reminded to travel carefully along the city's streets as the trick or treaters make their rounds.

Around the house, residents are reminded to make sure the path is clear towards their house and proper lighting is available, while still keeping to your theme of the night.

Towards Safety in the community, the members of the Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue Department offered up one reminder towards safety, that of using crosswalks and not to dart across the streets as the treating hours arrive.

The British Columbia Automobile Agency has also offered up some helpful advice, providing for  Safety tips for both trick or treaters and motorists on the evening.

Members of Prince Rupert's RCMP detachment will be out on the streets this evening as well, to ensure that all remains safe across the city.

In addition to the traditional door to door collection, both the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre and Earl Mah Aquatic Centre will be hosting events tonight. Included as part of tonight's Civic Centre program is the always entertaining Parade of Costumes which takes place at 6:15PM

Halloween also means Fireworks Night and tonight's showcase of pyrotechnics will take place over the Golf Course with Mount Hays as the background for the show, the first burst should come shortly after 8:15 tonight.

To help get everyone around town tonight, Prince Rupert Transit is offering FREE TRANSIT from 6 to 9 PM, as well they will be operating on their Friday schedule this evening to allow for additional service around the city.

For more items of interest on Community events see our archive page here.

MacCarthy GM and North Coast Transition Society team up to Cram the Crew

MacCarthy GM is looking for donations for the North Coast
Transition Society through November with their
Cram the Crew event

Northwest auto retailer McCarthy GM is putting the pedal to the metal to help out the North Coast Transition Society in their service to those in need in the community.

The local GM dealership on Chamberlain Avenue is holding a Cram the Crew event, asking residents of the city to stop by the dealership and bring a donation for the local organization, noting such items as winter coats and other clothing items, toiletries, diapers and such as well as food items all make for as possible donation items.

As part of the reminder to the community, the Crew from North Coast Transition Society provided this short feature on the project.



To help accelerate some interest in the initiative, MacCarthy GM is offering  a chance to enter a draw for Prince Rupert Rampage Tickets, or if you have  service appointment in the month ahead, you can get 10 percent off  with a donation.

As well, for every vehicle sold in Prince Rupert in November, MacCarthy will also be donating 100 dollars towards the Cram the Crew program.

Learn more about the project from the MacCarthy GM Facebook page.

More notes related to the city's Commercial sector can be explored here.

British Columbia's extreme winter shelter program launches tomorrow. Prince Rupert's shelter on Third West among the Northwest options

With the colder and wetter weather fast approaching, the province of British Columbia has announced that its Extreme Weather Response Shelter program will launch on Friday, running through the the fall and winter until March 31st.

In the roll out of the program, Selina Robinson, the Minster of Municipal Affairs and Housing outlined how the emergency shelter program works towards the large plan of adding to permanent housing across the province.

“During the colder months, it’s important that people experiencing homelessness in our province know that there is a place they can go to get warm and find supports and services that can help them stabilize their lives. As we continue the work of building permanent housing, we’re proud to work in partnership with communities and non-profit housing providers to provide these shelter spaces.”

The program works through Individual communities which establish a plan of the weather conditions that warrant an extreme weather alert and determine the number of spaces to activate on a given night, depending on the capacity of existing shelters and the estimated need.

Locally the Emergency Winter Shelter is the same one that currently houses the city's homeless on a nightly basis through the year, located at 328 Third Avenue West, with the Province noting that it currently will have 15 spaces available for use.

Prince Rupert's Extreme Weather Shelter is located at 338 Third Avenue West
in the old McLean and Rudderham location

The full list of shelters across the Northwest and the rest of the province can be found here.

In September, a short lived Tent City protest took place at City Hall to once again call attention to some local issues related to homelessness and while that protest appeared to be focused on some particular concerns of that moment, it served reinforce the ongoing call for additional assistance when it comes to housing for those in the most need.

The theme of the emergency shelter made for some notes from Mayor Lee Brain in September who shared some observations on the UBCM meetings in Vancouver; observing at the time how discussions with BC housing officials offered some hope for additional units for the city's homeless and plans to expand the downtown emergency shelter to a new new location.

However, since those Facebook notes of September, the Mayor and Council have not as of yet followed up on those themes and offered any kind of timeline for future action on either topic.

In August, the North Coast Transition Society made note as to how the city's homeless population is growing every day, with a number of the community's residents being left behind when it comes to some of the economic advantages that others have benefited from in recent years.

To learn how you can help the Transition Society in their work see their Facebook page.

For more items of note related to Housing in the community see our archive page here.

Flu shot season offers range of options to access immunization

A flu shot today could keep you on your feet tomorrow, and as we head further into fall and winter Northern Health is moving into the start of the flu season with a reminder of a number of options for you to access the annual flu shot.

As part of their awareness program, Northern Health has provided a facts list on Influenza highlighting what you need to know abut the flu and what you should do if you find yourself in the grip of it.

To access the flu shot, the Northern Health Unit at the Ocean Centre on Third Avenue East will have clinics in November.

There are also one day drop in clinics scheduled for Coast Mountain College and the Friendship House next month, with the potential for other one day events to be listed as the month moves forward. 

Locally, the flu shot is also available at Canada Safeway, Save On Foods, Shoppers Drug Mart and WalMart.

You can check out the details for the clinics in Prince Rupert here, as well for those living across the Northwest simply type in your postal code or community name to find the clinic locations in your area.

This year, The Northern Health Unit is set to begin its annual distribution of the influenza vaccine in the week of November 4th, some of the focus once again this year is for those in three key categories:

People at high risk

People capable of transmitting influenza to those at high risk

People who provide essential community services.

To find out if you qualify for free influenza vaccine shots see this list from North Health which expands on the three elements for recommended flu shots.

When it comes to the vaccine for 20189/20, Health officials have directed attention to four strains of flu that are anticipated to reach British Columbia this year:

A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus
A/Kansas/14/2017 (H3N2)-like virus
B/Colorado/06/2017-like virus
B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus (in quadrivalent vaccines only)

The A/Brisbane and A/Kansas strains were not contained in the 2018/19 season vaccine.

A short video from Immunize outlines how the flu shot works to reduce your prospects of contracting the flu virus this year.





More background on health issues across the Northwest can be found on our archive page here.