An interesting excerpt from an Alaska Marine Highway service advisory from Friday seems to be letting us know (by way of Alaska) that it’s full steam ahead on repairs to the Alaska Ferry Dock at Fairview Bay, here are the important details from Commissioner Leo von Scheben :
“Nothing can ever interfere with the safety of the passengers and crew who trust us to ensure that they safely reach their destinations aboard Alaska’s ferries,” von Scheben emphasized.
Late this afternoon, AMHS officials received assurance from Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond stating that his city would fully fund and complete the necessary repairs and upgrades for safe usage by May 26.
“The mayor’s assurance that the facility will be fixed and safely functional is very promising to us, and we hope this cooperation helps us maintain a solid business partnership with Prince Rupert and Mayor Pond,â€
It’s a disgrace that our mayor, council and senior bureaucrats allowed the city dock used to welcome tourists and travelers to our town get to the point that it was rightfully described as “A deteriorating structure which was deemed as unsafe".
How many more of these neglected disasters in waiting are still ready to go off?
The irony of this story is Mayor and Council were unable to form a quorum when the engineers report on the dock was due to be submitted. Thankfully, the fact that critical repairs had to be deferred yet again due to a minor five million dollar budget mistake did not result in a further ferry tragedy.
Unfortunately the same critical comments can be said of much of the city’s basic infrastructure which for too long has been neglected while the mayor and council play deal makers with public monies instead of taking care of their basic responsibilities for good municipal governance.
Somehow I’m failing to find much comfort in the fact that council has recently hired bylaw enforcement officers to take on Killer Kitties and is now active in condemning local business buildings.
This town needs some $80 million dollars in infrastructure repairs that the taxpayers cannot afford. The easy step of raising taxes favored by many politicians and bureaucrats doesn’t work as Prince Rupert citizens and businesses are already near the top of the list as the highest taxed in British Columbia.
Unfortunately, sewers, water, roads and docks are not as sexy as competing with multi billion dollar corporations in the telecommunications industry. Perhaps it’s time we put some politicians in with some spine to sell off CityWest while it is still worth something and put the $50-60 million from the sale of same to work in rebuilding the rest of the deteriorating infrastructure in Prince Rupert.
Maybe it’s also time for the City to consider privatizing the collection of garbage like other municipalities in B.C. or even privatizing the airport ferry. It’s been shown time and time again that properly managed privatization provides superior services for the same or less costs. It’s also a fact that high taxes are a real detriment to attracting business and people to any municipality.
Real progress in rebuilding and diversifying our community takes much more from our elected officials than photo ops and running around BC to network with the power elite. In the lead up to municipal elections in November, lets see some real public debate and plans to rebuild our community.
[quote=“Speakuppr”]
How many more of these neglected disasters in waiting are still ready to go off? [/quote]
…and then you answer your own question - thank you for that, it saved me the time.
[quote=“Speakuppr”]Unfortunately the same critical comments can be said of much of the city’s basic infrastructure which for too long has been neglected while the mayor and council play deal makers with public monies instead of taking care of their basic responsibilities for good municipal governance.
-snip-
This town needs some $80 million dollars in infrastructure repairs that the taxpayers cannot afford. The easy step of raising taxes favored by many politicians and bureaucrats doesn’t work as Prince Rupert citizens and businesses are already near the top of the list as the highest taxed in British Columbia. [/quote]
Since there seems to be quite a bit of knowledge on htmf re: municipal governance - here are some questions…
Is the Mayor permitted to commit the city’s money without first going through the council?
If it did go through council, where are the minutes? I couldn’t find a reference in the minutes.
How much will these repairs be?
If he can so flippantly offer up the city to pick up the bill (not arguing that they should, just whether they can) why has our infrastructure wasted (and waited) so long?
