AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-08

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Booming burg, small-town charm: an easy sell for Stony Plain mayor

The mayor of Stony Plain thinks small.

"Our population has nearly doubled from the 7,700 it was about a decade ago," says Ken Lemke.

"Communities of more than 10,000 can apply to become cities. But we think the Town of Stony Plain has a nicer ring to it than the City of Stony Plain."

The town, 27 kilometres west of Edmonton, officially celebrates its centennial with a formal dinner Dec. 12.

It`s a booming community, with six residential and three commercial subdivisions being developed.

Some $45 million is being spent on renovating a former NAIT building to turn it into a high school.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...c2-00106dae9e6c

 

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House starts off 20%

EDMONTON - The value of building permits for homes in Alberta continues to fall -- by 19.6 per cent in June, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

Housing starts fell to $495 million -- down by nearly half from June 2007 during a boom in homebuilding.

But the news isn`t entirely grim for the province`s construction sector.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...82-fa214bbc5f65

 

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Sewage plant art causes stink


The city`s public art program is coming under fire for a scheme to spend at least $1 million for esthetic improvements at a far-flung water treatment plant that has already soared $138 million over budget.

With Calgary`s mayor continuing his campaign to squeeze more money out of the province, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is questioning how it can find millions to fund artwork on all of its major capital projects, including the Pine Creek waste-water plant, which has seen its price tag jump to $378 million. CTF spokesman Scott Hennig said he`s stunned the city plans to pour $1 million and likely more for public art into the facility, which lies beyond communities on Calgary`s southern periphery, with the project`s cost escalating and little chance that most of those footing the bill will ever even visit the site.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/0...382691-sun.html

 

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Drivers to feel pain of East Village gain

As East Village residents excitedly watch crews tear down buildings and dig up roads in the rundown neighbourhood east of City Hall, Calgarians driving downtown will soon start to notice the extent of the work.

The Langevin Bridge, heading into downtown Calgary, will close Monday until the end of the month, leading to inevitable traffic tie-ups.

"It`ll take a couple of days for people to get used to it," said Chris Ollenberger, president and chief executive of Calgary Municipal Land Corp., the independent developer created by city hall to oversee East Village redevelopment.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...6d-18ef6716892b

 

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Holdouts blocking west LRT expansion

The city still has seven homes to buy to make way for construction of the west leg of the LRT, including two properties that would have gone to expropriation if a deadline hadn`t been extended.

With a pressing timeline to have the final designs for the $700-million project ready this fall, and construction to begin next year, the city is giving any holdouts until mid-September to settle.

"We`re still working with them, we have active negotiations and are working closely with all these owners," said Sarah Quayle, a city project manager overseeing land acquisition for the C-Train expansion.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...ba-2584581a21a7

 

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Lethbridge homeowners entitled to flood aid

More than a month after a Canada Day downpour, maintenance crews are working to repair at least $1.7-million worth of flood damage at the University of Lethbridge athletic complex.

Meanwhile, Lethbridge city staff are preparing to open a registration centre next week to help homeowners apply for provincial flooding compensation.

A state of emergency was enacted for Lethbridge after as much as 45 millimetres of rain fell on July 1.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...5b-03155b44aa3b

 

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Canadian Natural raises cost of Horizon project

Canadian Natural Resources on Thursday acknowledged "slippage" in its Horizon startup plans and tacked another eight per cent onto the project`s price tag while reporting a substantial second-quarter loss.

The integrated oilsands mine will now cost about $9.3 billion, 36 per cent higher than its original $6.8-billion budget, and won`t begin producing synthetic oil until the fourth quarter of this year.

"We have experienced a slippage in our targeted startup in the production of synthetic crude oil," said president Steve Laut. "This has also resulted in increased project costs as manpower requirements have been extended longer than our planning schedule anticipated."

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...95-93339bc066cf

 

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WARNING FOR NATURAL GAS

CALGARY - A dramatic pullback in natural-gas prices in the past month could mean a third winter of slack drilling in Alberta, where projects facing higher provincial royalties starting in January will be uneconomic, the president of one of Canada`s top producers said yesterday.

Steve Laut, president of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., said only a month ago he would have predicted a ramp-up in activity, particularly in British Columbia.

"Now I am not so sure we are going to see that happen, with the softening of prices," he told analysts in a conference call. "I think B. C. will still be very strong, particularly the shale gas plays. … Alberta gas projects will have a very, very difficult time and I think you will see the gas drilling in Alberta decline markedly in the industry."

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=707747

 

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Canadian Natural signs refinery deal

CALGARY - Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has signed a deal to sell heavy crude oil to a U. S. refinery on the Gulf Coast, giving the oil sands company access to new markets, which could help boost the price the producer receives for its product.

Canadian Natural also revealed that it committed to the planned expansion by TransCanada Corp. and ConocoPhillips Ltd. of the Keystone pipeline to get the crude to Texas. The oil and gas company now has the option to purchase an equity stake in the pipeline, Steve Laut, Canadian Natural`s president, said during the company`s second-quarter conference call.

"The arrangement also allows Canadian Natural the option to acquire [Keystone] pipeline capacity or 10% equity," he said. The company committed to ship 120,000 barrels of oil a day for 20 years.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=707770

 

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Campers keep coming, despite fuel costs

Vacationers travelling in large gas-guzzling RVs don`t seem to be staying away from campgrounds in Banff National Park this summer, despite the soaring prices at the pump.

Parks Canada reports that its campgrounds in Banff have been slightly busier this year than last, particularly during the Victoria Day long weekend in May and Canada Day weekend in July.

This past Heritage Day weekend, Aug. 2-4, was also busy, with lengthy vehicle lineups at the park`s east gates and vehicles fighting for limited parking spaces in Banff`s downtown core.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/rockymount...s/26377864.html

 

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Alberta`s pine beetle strategy: sit tight

The strategy to keep mountain pine beetles from devastating southern Alberta`s forests is to basically sit tight until 2011 when the population of beetles in British Columbia eat themselves out of trees.

The B.C. government and Canadian Forest Service have invested in significant pine beetle modelling work that shows its forests running out of fuel to sustain the bug`s population in three years. By then, the pests will have destroyed more than 14 million hectares.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/rockymount...s/26377949.html

 

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Paving crew does minor repairs on Rimbey main street

Residents of Rimbey who are waiting for the remainder of the community`s main street to be paved could be waiting for quite a while.

While paving crews from Alberta Transportation were in the town last week, the work they completed was only two small patching jobs amounting to somewhere between 50 and 100 metres.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/rimbeyrevi...s/26336654.html

 

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Donalda Village concludes rezoning

The Village of Donalda has finalized the re-zoning of block 10 in the community, introducing some restrictions in relation to the acceptability of types of accommodations.

Donalda now has two zoning designations with one of them prohibited from accepting mobile homes.

Peter Simons, the town administrator, said that while mobile homes will not be approved for this block, there are many pre-fabricated and modular homes that could be approved.

Some of the characteristics that the town would look at when considering these homes is length to width ratio and roof pitch.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/stettlerin...s/26338349.html

 

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Voluntary Canmore hotel levy already being collected

Some visitors to Canmore will be noticing an extra fee charged to their hotel rooms after a group of hoteliers started collecting it mid-July in an effort to raise money to better market the mountain community.

The destination marketing fee of three per cent has been adopted by 11 out of the 34 hotels listed in the community.

Best Western Pocaterra Inn and Canmore Mountain Lodge general manager Steven Dyck said the fee has been collected since

July 15 and will benefit all businesses that rely on tourism dollars.

"It`s designed to help everyone and bring more people into our town to enjoy our services," he said.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/rockymount...s/26377744.html

 

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Taxes lowest in region

Airdrie residents are benefitting from lower taxes, when measured against comparable area municipalities, according to a release from the City.

The statement indicates that Airdrie has the lowest property taxes on the median single family assessment of $1,879 annually, compared to 15 other municipalities located in the Calgary area.

The assessment comparing the 15 municipalities was completed by the City of Airdrie Assessment department, in addition to information collected from the Alberta Municipal Affairs (AMA) Milenet web site.

"Total property taxes for an average single family property have not changed significantly over the six year time span. The tax increase from 2003 to 2008 is only 83 cents per day, less than a newspaper," said City Assessor for Airdrie, Suzette DeMott.

http://www.airdrieecho.com/News/413699.html

 

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Airdrie population increases

The City of Airdrie has released its population and household numbers that were collected by this year`s census.

The report shows a population increase of 8.26 per cent, from 31,512 in 2007 to 34,116 this year.

"I think you`ll have more friendly neighbors," said Airdrie Mayor Linda Bruce. "Its more tharn just having another person move to you neighborhood, its really about the opportunities that grow in the community, as the community grows."

Some communities in Canada don`t do a yearly census, instead counting their population once every few years, but in an exponentially growing city like Airdrie, it is very important to know the population yearly," said Bruce.

http://www.airdrieecho.com/News/413701.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Rural Canada`s contributions overlooked

They were giants. Great cities like Athens, Corinth and Sparta where culture, wealth and power shaped an emerging philosophy of nationalism.
They were centres in which the world itself seemed to ebb and flow from this revolutionary social experiment. Ironically, the foundation of these city empires was their appendages -- the rural communities that fed these growing cosmopolitans their young, their food, their intelligentsia and their skills.
And so what made these city-states great were the resources they could draw from.
The rural strength they could channel and subsequently -- focus.
Although more than 2,000 years in our distant memory, the model of the city-state never really faded and even within our own national sphere, great cities like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal continue with the pulse that is Canada.
But what binds these centres, gives them meaning, is still the same as it was then -- our rural heritage.

http://www.albertafarmer.com/News/414131.html

 

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Lake Minnewanka Loop to undergo road construction

Travelers at the Lake Minnewanka Loop can expect short delays, as the road will be getting a face-lift.

New pavement will be put down for the east portion of the road, running from the Minnewanka dam to the Johnson Lake turnoff.

"All of that is very old asphalt. In fact, it is more or less an old chip seal surface put down in the 70s and 80s. It is in very poor condition and in need of a new surface," said Douglas Kerr, area manager of highways for Banff, Yoho, Kootenay and Lake Louise.

These road improvements will also include Johnson Lake Road and the Two Jack day use area.

http://www.banffcragandcanyon.com/ArticleD....aspx?e=1143833

 

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Council defeats 39 St. project

Despite the investment already into the 39 St. improvement initiative, City of Camrose councillors have voted with strong opposition to the project. Council defeated second reading of the local improvement bylaw on July 28.
The project included paving of 54 Ave. from 39 Street to 46 St., and the widening of 39 St. from 51 Ave. to 54 Ave. However, seven out of 11 property owners affected by the improvement signed a petition that was submitted to council.
While the petition was not sufficient, the strong opposition to the project led council to defeat further readings. Once defeated, this improvement cannot be brought back to council for one year.

http://www.camrosecanadian.com/News/413899.html

 

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Housing inventory softens in Edmonton area

Housing market conditions in Edmonton continued to ease up in the second quarter of 2008, as excess inventory, in what is still one of Canada`s highest priced housing markets, forced a period of necessary moderation, according to a House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast report released by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
Inventory levels, which increased in the last 12 months, led to a softening of Edmonton`s housing market, characterized by a decrease in year-over-year average price appreciation for all housing types surveyed during the second quarter.
Looking ahead at the second half of 2008, the average house price in Edmonton is forecast to decrease by 0.5 per cent to $337,000 by the end of year. Unit sales are projected to decrease by 18.2 per cent to 16,700 units sold during the same period.

http://www.camrosecanadian.com/News/413911.html