neither the mayor nor the economic development officer had anything to do with it. It is unfortunate that they did not recognize the work of their predecessors. But I guess that is the dog eat dog world we live in.
I feel compelled to write a note of clarity here.
In reference to the comment made that we had nothing to do with this, nothing could be further from the truth. I especially have to go to bat for our current economic developer officer, Paul Venditelli. He was instrumental in ensuring this was a success. He worked countless hours with John Farrell at Community Futures to make this happen.
Although this project has been on the radar for sometime, it was myself and the team who really pushed through to make this happen in the last three months. Many hands have been involved, but the project had many coordinating factors and I’m proud to say that we opened the doors for this project to proceed.
I understand that not everyone gets to see how these types of projects come about, but just know that everyone at the City - as well as our community and regional partners - are working very hard to take this community to a new level. And I can confidently say that there are more good things like this to come.
I welcome anyone reading this to come see me at City Hall at anytime to chat with me face to face. My door is always open. Unfortunately, I simply can’t allow a comment like that be made without setting the record straight - especially when we worked very hard on behalf of our residents.
All the best,
Lee
Well, this is all a bit confusing. According to this Northern View article dated October 12, 2012, back then the Coast Sustainability Trust committed $250,000, the West Coast Community Adjustment Program $250,000 and the City a conditional $300,000. Those funds added up to $800,000 of the projected $1.7 million cost: < thenorthernview.com/news/173947061.html >.
An earlier article dated June 28, 2012 sketched out the business case and also mentions that $250,000 was expected from the City’s Gas Tax revenue (presumably on top of the $300,000 conditional contribution) and $75,000 was expected from the Port. < thenorthernview.com/news/160758015.html >.
It would seem that about $1,125,000 was either committed or expected in 2012. Where the rest of the funds will be coming from does not appear to have been reported. Also, which of the various community partners will be managing the project is less than clear. The award of a construction contract was announced, but who awarded the contract? The City, Prince Rupert and Port Edward Economic Development Corporation, or another entity?
So yes, this is good news, great news in fact, but perhaps some further details will be made available on the City’s web page, and while the previous poster appears to have overstated his case, it seems that some considerable progress was made as far back as 2012 that in fairness should be acknowledged.
After all of that, still didn’t. Give yourself a pat on the back Lee. Oh wait, you already did.
Lee loves to take all the credit for the work of his predecessor … aint seen nothing yet from him
Hi everyone,
First, I just want you all to know that I value the community here at HTMF. On a side note, I was actually there the day this website was created by MiG. Those were back in the Cisco days, for those that remember. So I am no stranger to this forum or a ‘first timer’ by any means. I also want you to know that I will be as open as a book as possible and have no issues coming here from time to time, with my full name included, to talk about things that might concern you - but also to clear up any misunderstandings.
I think perhaps I might be the first mayor ever in this community to post here. But perhaps BTravenn may find an old post from another mayor somewhere 
I would not say that I am here taking credit for previous people’s hard work. As I stated, I’m correcting an invalid statement about us not having anything to do with this project. Our previous economic developer officer, Derek Baker, including folks like Jack Payne, our previous Mayor Jack Mussallem, etc. all had hands to play in this process absolutely. They are to be recognized for their work.
But there is also a reason why this project did not happen in 2012 or earlier, and now that it has in 2015, I can say it’s because of the hard work of people like Paul and John. They revived this project this past year, and just in the last few months even worked themselves sick over it. The project faced many hurdles and had many opportunities to not go ahead, in fact almost did not go ahead all together unless for the recent work we just did these past three months.
Although I only came into this process in Dec, I definitely am going to include myself in the picture because I also spent countless hours working to make it happen alongside Paul and John. It’s not a matter of me patting myself on the back or taking credit, as it is about illustrating to you all that we pushed through to the finish line. We got it done. This was a relay type of project and many batons were passed, and to that I completely acknowledge my predecessors.
As for the funding details, we are going to have a more formal announcement with our funding partners in the next couple of months. This is at their request, so to respect that those details will come out at another time. The reason we had to make this public now is due to the fact that construction begins this month. Once a more formal announcement is made, all the details of contracts and funding will be made available. A press release is being drafted up that will be on the City’s website shortly, with as much details as we are allowed to publish at this time.
One issue is I just haven’t had the time to compile all the things we are doing and make them available to the public as of yet. So I just would like you all to know that I’m also working on an education series that will include videos that will illustrate to everyone what types of things we are doing. This will not only include the projects we are working on, but also much needed information / actions on topics such as Watson Island, Legacy Inc., Planning for Major Projects, Infrastructure Dev., RCMP, Housing, Airport, etc. By the summer I hope to release the most information the City of Prince Rupert has ever released to the public. In addition, we are crafting up a public engagement process that I believe will open the communication lines and public participation significantly.
Best to you all, and enjoy this sunny day in Prince Rupert.
Lee
PS. For those that don’t know me yet, please, feel free to come by City Hall and meet me face to face. I’m not sure if the computer screen will do me justice 
^^^ +1
Thank you for your reply and willingness to engage, Lee. Sorry for posting what seems like a personal attack but one of my concerns from even prior to the election was that if you were elected that you were being handed a goose about to lay a golden egg because of, in part, the efforts of your predecessor, and that credit would not be given where it was deserved. Despite some of the mis-guided concerns of the public, our previous mayor deserves a ton of credit for the developments that are about to occur. Not that you are not, or will not, be a good mayor, but he took a lot more heat than he deserved. In any case, moving forward, keep up the good work and make us all proud. I’ll jump on the bandwagon for a ride and see where it takes us.
perhaps you are the first Mayor to post; and perhaps you need to be; as perhaps the other mayors were less inclined not to recognize the work of their predecessors
Herb Pond posted on HTMF previously.
Jack Mussalem previously posted here by proxy (i.e.: left a voicemail). I heard that someone printed out threads for him to read, but that may be bullshit.
its very interesting to see the pillings going in to the new marina and the docks/floats are not in place yet. hate to be sceptical at this stage but not only did they not leave enough room for anything but small vessels it appears that the laneway access to the cow bay floats has been extremely limited. the seine vessels or any vessel over 40 ft will have an extremely hard time using the cow bay floats without damaging their vessels,or other vessels or the floats/marina itself. effectively this will keep the regular users out of this area forcing them to other floats rushbrooke/Fairview which are over capacity as it is. makes me wonder what the city will do to alleviate this? makes me wonder if they realize they have made the over crowding at the other floats a bigger problem?
makes wonder if they really care about the existing commercial marine industry?
[quote=“gadus”]its very interesting to see the pillings going in to the new marina and the docks/floats are not in place yet. hate to be sceptical at this stage but not only did they not leave enough room for anything but small vessels it appears that the laneway access to the cow bay floats has been extremely limited. the seine vessels or any vessel over 40 ft will have an extremely hard time using the cow bay floats without damaging their vessels,or other vessels or the floats/marina itself. effectively this will keep the regular users out of this area forcing them to other floats rushbrooke/Fairview which are over capacity as it is. makes me wonder what the city will do to alleviate this? makes me wonder if they realize they have made the over crowding at the other floats a bigger problem?
makes wonder if they really care about the existing commercial marine industry?[/quote]
Who says this is for seine vessels ? How will the boats get damaged ?
I doubt they are spending all this money to screw up the building of it…
[quote=“gadus”]its very interesting to see the pillings going in to the new marina and the docks/floats are not in place yet. hate to be sceptical at this stage but not only did they not leave enough room for anything but small vessels it appears that the laneway access to the cow bay floats has been extremely limited. the seine vessels or any vessel over 40 ft will have an extremely hard time using the cow bay floats without damaging their vessels,or other vessels or the floats/marina itself. effectively this will keep the regular users out of this area forcing them to other floats rushbrooke/Fairview which are over capacity as it is. makes me wonder what the city will do to alleviate this? makes me wonder if they realize they have made the over crowding at the other floats a bigger problem?
makes wonder if they really care about the existing commercial marine industry?[/quote]
I agree, they didn’t leave much room for seine vessels to get into Cow Bay. Rumour has it that the new marina is being built while encroaching on the neighboring lot and that there may have been some forceful tactics used in order for this to happen.
It cost a small fortune for the encroachment!Port Ed Harbour Authority is charging 10 times what they get for moorage at the Cow Bay floats!
I have no idea what the cost involved is but considering the concerns mentioned of how narrow the approach is, it’s likely to affect their operations and they should be compensated.
I guess I should of stated vessels over 40 ft which I believe I did, the problem is there is a lot of cross tide in that area, and with the narrow approach into the cowbay floats this will pose a big problem landing or departing without coming in contact with something. any person that has experience running a larger vessel will understand this. I will understand if you don’t understand.
so now access to cowbay floats will be compromised and those vessels will go to the other overcrowded floats
[quote=“gadus”]I guess I should of stated vessels over 40 ft which I believe I did, the problem is there is a lot of cross tide in that area, and with the narrow approach into the cowbay floats this will pose a big problem landing or departing without coming in contact with something. any person that has experience running a larger vessel will understand this. I will understand if you don’t understand.
so now access to cowbay floats will be compromised and those vessels will go to the other overcrowded floats[/quote]
So wont maybe some of the other smaller vessels at other floats use this new marina? Perhaps smaller vessels will prefer this marina and free up space at the other 3 for the larger vessels.
In theory yes but it has been stated the marina is for transient vessels