The municipality may have found a new tenant for the controversial Delta Shake and Shingle property on River Road.
On Monday, community planning director Kip Gaudry updated Delta council on the latest effort to close the former demolition landfill and reuse it for other purposes.
"On the direction from council, over the last three years we have been working diligently, particularly on the Delta Shake and Shingle site, to ultimately close it, reuse it or come to a final disposition of the site," said Gaudry.
Forestry slump expected to hit convention attendance
With the forest industry settled in a severe slump, attendance at this year`s annual Council Of Forest Industries convention, which is being held in Kelowna next week, is expected to be down by 30 per cent.
However, there will be a full house for the lunch Thursday, when Premier Gordon Campbell speaks, said Gary Crooks, vice-president of COFI.
The deregulation of Alberta`s electrical system may be controversial here, but it has been a bonanza for British Columbia, say industry observers.
They say B.C. has made windfall profits -- more than half a billion dollars -- selling its cheaply produced hydro electricity on Alberta`s power market at prices that rocket to nearly $1,000 per megawatt hour (MWh) -- or $1 per kilowatt hour -- when supply is short.
With a carbon tax on fuel being levied in July and legislation introduced earlier this month mandating the use of renewable fuel, there are few industries in British Columbia more directly affected by the provincial government`s green plan than transportation. And among that group, the trucking industry may feel the effects most.
The carbon tax -- which will add 2.76 cents to a litre of diesel fuel this year and 8.27 cents a litre by 2012 -- is the biggest concern (diesel fuel currently costs about $1.25 a litre).
A $500-million project to rebuild BC Children`s Hospital into one of the world`s leading pediatric care and research centres was launched in Vancouver on Monday.
The campaign, called Be a Superhero: The Campaign for BC Children, is supported by Global BC and is said to be the largest hospital-related fundraiser in Western Canada.
Drug deals are being struck on Vancouver`s Granville Street, druggies are shooting up on Georgia and the rough sleepers and panhandlers usually claim a patch on Robson.
The three streets in the city`s downtown business improvement area were identified recently as crime hot spots in city assessments to determine the need for expansion of the Downtown Ambassadors Program.
VANCOUVER - Metro Vancouver wants the University of B.C. to give up its unincorporated status and either become its own municipality, or join Vancouver.
Today, a motion will be presented to Vancouver city council asking staff to investigate how the 14.13 square kilometres of UBC endowment lands could be joined to the city.
Vacant-land sales in 2007 see 12,000 properties change hands
British Columbia experienced a residential land rush in 2007 with buyers snapping up more than 12,000 vacant properties over the year worth more than $3 billion, according to research by Landcor Data Corp.
Vacant land sales were only a fraction of the 158,272 properties worth a record $62.2 billion that traded hands in 2007, but sales of lots rose substantially while overall residential sales waned.
B.C. non-residential building drops in first quarter
Non-residential building activity in B.C. declined in the first quarter of 2008 from the last quarter of 2007, Statistics Canada reported on Monday.
And B.C.`s dip, some $31 million to $1.42 billion from $1.45 billion in the last quarter, was the biggest drop among the provinces, which on balance, saw non-residential building increase.
An ambitious $100-million fundraising campaign announced yesterday at Royal Roads University is off to a running start, thanks to early contributions that already total $35 million, more than one-third of the goal.
About $10 million in donations was revealed at yesterday`s official launch, the lion`s share coming from Ottawa-based businessman Frank O`Dea, who is perhaps best known as co-founder of the Second Cup coffee chain and ProShred document-security service.
Fernwood neighbourhood group has lease terminated by city
A Fernwood neighbourhood group is being turfed out of its headquarters by the City of Victoria because it sublet to the wrong kind of tenants.
City council has voted to terminate the lease of the Fernwood Community Association which is one of two neighbourhood groups operating in the community.
City to consider industrial sources for community energy system
City hall has revived efforts to secure heating from local industry for the downtown community energy system after the widespread opposition nixed plans to build a biomass plant near the Millar Addition.
In a report to city council, city development and operations general manager Bob Radloff said a number of industry-based proposals had been considered over the last five years the system has been considered but none turned out to be feasible.
Traffic could be moving faster and more safely between the Alberni Valley and the Inland Island Highway if a 20-kilometre connector gets the green light.
The $37-million proposal, floated by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, would cut the trip between Port Alberni and the north Island by 26 kilometres and 18 minutes, compared to the Highway 4 route.
Well-done job came with $200,000 in surprise costs
Dear Condo Smarts: Our strata corporation recently hired a consultant to assist with major construction involving roofing and decks. We had an engineer set the specifications and the successful bidding contractor submitted a bid that included materials and labour. There were no other costs in the bid that were identified. Our consultant recommended that we sign the "standard contract," so we proceeded with the agreement and construction.
West End landlord accused of evicting tenants to raise rents
VANCOUVER - Tenants living in the Glenmore Apartment building on Barclay Street say they are planning to appeal a mass eviction by Hollyburn Properties Group.
Twenty tenants have received eviction notice from Hollyburn, which claims it needs to do extensive renovations to their bathrooms that require them to leave.
VICTORIA -- Demand from U.S. buyers for farmed B.C. salmon is outstripping supply, a situation that is expected to worsen, says the industry.
About 85 per cent of the farmed salmon produced off B.C.`s coast is sent to the United States, where, last week, officials announced the total closure this year of the commercial and sport chinook salmon fisheries off California and most of Oregon.
Gas prices across Canada headed into the stratosphere yesterday, closing in on $1.30 a litre in Montreal, and experts predict summer pump prices could hit $1.50.
The price hike comes just as Canadians are thinking about summer holidays. If the analysts are right, they might want to think again.
Plans to spruce up Bastion Square in downtown Victoria are stumbling after costs more than quadrupled in the three years the project was planned.
And it appears plans to install pop-up urinals are also headed for the drain.
Jaime Tiampo, president of the Bastion Square Revitalization Association, said it no longer makes economic sense to do the projects contemplated for the square.
VANCOUVER -- The B.C. government introduced legislation yesterday to regulate the use of resource roads, a move that has been hailed by safety advocates as the first step in lowering the death and accident rate on the province`s unregulated logging arteries.
The new Resource Road Act will consolidate existing regulations in five separate acts as well as introduce consistent standards that all resource road users -- whether loggers, miners or guide-outfitters -- will be required to follow.
