Shell Canada wants to build a new $12-million ethanol system at its Burnaby terminal.
The blending and storage system will help meet biofuel guidelines set by the provincial and federal governments, a city staff report says. Both governments require that gasoline contain five per cent renewable products by 2010.
The new blending system will also allow the site to receive and store the fuel and blend up to 10 per cent ethanol into regular unleaded gasoline.
Port Moody mayor says park will be `an oasis` amidst highrises
In a city dotted with highrises and cluttered with cars, Port Moody is still saving land for the birds and bees.
City council voted unanimously in favour of dedicating more parkland at Tuesday`s meeting.
The location, at the intersection of Ioco Road and Newport Drive, is adjacent to Pioneer Memorial Park. Petro-Canada donated the green space to the city in support of the recreation centre capital campaign.
Development on a brand new hotel and convention centre "desperately needed" by Port Moody residents might have screeched to a halt for good.
The proposed amendments to increase density at the Suter Brook site were defeated at third reading Tuesday, with only the mayor voting in favour.
The site, south of Murray Street and west of Ioco Road, has become a hotbed of controversy since Onni Development Corp. claimed it didn`t have enough money to fund an eagerly anticipated hotel and convention centre.
Building permit values rose in May for the second straight month, driven by strong non-residential figures, according to the Vancouver Regional Construction Association`s analysis of today`s Statistics Canada building permit report. The Lower Mainland-Southwest region saw a rise of 19 per cent to $808.8 million in building permit values in May over last month and a 66 per cent surge in non-residential permits to $399.6 million, the highest monthly figure on the available record.
Some Royal City residents could be getting a better night`s sleep in the future.
Having received an increasing number of complaints annually about the sounding of train whistles in the city, the City of New Westminster is seeking to have whistles stopped from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. at railway crossings from Braid to Begbie streets. Council has authorized staff to begin the process of petitioning the Canadian Transportation Agency to hear the matter regarding evening "whistle cessation" within New Westminster.
According to a staff report, the engineering department sent a letter to Transport Canada requesting that nighttime whistle cessation be considered by the railway companies operating along the rail corridor from Braid to Begbie streets. Transport Canada approached the railways to get support, but two of the railways didn`t support the request because of safety concerns at the crossings.
North Shore sewage will be better utilized as energy
HUMAN waste from the North Shore could be helping to heat as many as 100 homes by next summer if a scheme by Metro Vancouver goes ahead as planned.
The project, which just received partial funding from the province last week, would see methane from the Lions Gate Wastewater treatment plant captured and purified for home use. The facility produces the flammable gas in its digesters, where solids settled out of sewage are partially digested by microbes.
The new $1.1 million Middle Arm Dyke Greenway will be a legacy for the future, says MLA John Yap.
Richmond`s political pack of MLAs, city councilors and the mayor gathered on the dike Wednesday afternoon to unveil the plan to transform the waterfront stretch between the oval and Cambie Road.
The City of Richmond and provincial government are splitting the cost of the project, aimed at encouraging people to walk instead of using their cars.
This isn`t Yaletown, says a poster along the West Seventh Avenue bike route in Fairview.
But Tuesday afternoon council unanimously approved an increase in density for a proposed 17-storey condo tower north of the Holiday Inn on West Broadway.
The previous zoning permitted a four-storey development with a floor area of nearly 22,000 square metres on the parking lot behind the hotel between Heather and Willow. Now, a narrow 17-storey tower, the same height as the hotel, will be erected behind its blank north facade, with shorter structures that terrace down from it. An additional 9,400 square metres of floor area is permitted. Westbank Projects Corporation, the developer, and Peterson Investment Group, the owner, and Henriquez Partners architects propose 122 residential units with 159 residential parking spaces in three levels of underground parking with access from a lane off West Eighth.
Some Kalavista Lagoon neighbours are eager to gain a nearby kayak and canoe launch, while some suggest that such use could compromise the serenity of the area.
The old log house property on Kalavista Drive could be converted into a clubhouse and the property opened up for storage of kayaks and canoes that can launch from the site, which is surrounded by the lagoon.
Maple Ridge council has said yes to what will become a major tax generator in the district, the TransLink bus maintenance yard and BCIT heavy equipment campus planned for the foot of 200th Street, beneath the Golden Ears Bridge.
Rezoning to allow the project got third reading at a special council meeting Thursday.
Once final reading is given, preloading can start on the site.
Councillors, though, wanted to know if the advisory committee involving local residents, BCIT and TransLink would endure past the planning stage. It will.
The foundation has been laid, but the third phase of the Mission Meadows condominium project will be shelved until further notice.
"The developer made the decision to put it on hold about two weeks ago," explained Rob Hager, president of Tactx Project Marketing and Sales, the group that has been promoting the project.
"Anytime you launch a project, the bank requires a certain number of presales and we and the developers didn`t see us attaining the required amount."
Water restrictions to stay the same throughout the summer
Water consumption in the region remains below the monthly average, despite the warm and dry weather that has persisted.
The demand for water to-date in July is sitting two and a half per cent below the 10-year monthly average. As of Monday, the Sooke reservoir was 83 per cent full.
"As long as people comply with the current conservation bylaw we don`t anticipate any issues," said Jack Hull, the general manager of water services for the Capital Regional District. "We`re at stage one restrictions and we don`t anticipate any changes."
Concerns about traffic, safety and livability led Courtenay council to refrain from deciding about a development permit for a 25-unit townhouse complex.
The application for a permit to develop 25 townhouses at 170 Centennial Dr. stalled Monday when councillors deferred a decision until their next meeting so staff can discuss the proposal further with the developer.
Developers are closer to moving ahead with what they call an "extremely exciting" project in Courtenay after rezoning bylaws for five Arden Road properties passed third reading Monday.
"There`s a development underway that`s extremely exciting right now, and it requires these properties be subdivided in order for us to assemble a large enough piece of land to move it forward," architect Tom Dishlevoy told council during a public hearing where no opposition to the bylaws was voiced.
Work has begun on the long-anticipated traffic circle at the Comox intersection leading to the airport.
Notices were published this week, stating that J.R. Edgett Excavating Ltd. would be starting work at Knight Road and Pritchard, and that extensive detours routes would be put in place.
It’s work that was expected to start earlier this year , but was delayed due to the time required for an environmental assessment on the properties and area around it, said staff in an update this May.
John Wood continues to wait - and wait - for a functional septic system at his Hixon property.
The pensioner says he is out thousands of dollars because the system was improperly installed last year after the province introduced a new set of Sewerage System Regulations in May 2005.
