1108PORT City`s special meeting deals with water, parking meters and condolences
The city water will be put under the microscope in the coming months to determine if it is meeting quality standards.
Portage la Prairie City Council voted to award the contract for engineering services for a water supply system assessment to Genivar Consultants Ltd. from Winnipeg at a cost of $19,000, in a special noon-hour council meeting on Wednesday.
While Genivar`s rate was higher than other bidders, AECOM, at $15,260 and Stantec at $18,184, administration recommended council accept the higher bid as Genivar had significant experience with the Portage Water Treatment Plant.
OTTAWA -- Manitoba hydro development could get a boost from a federal throne speech that pledged to ditch dirty power plants in favour of non-emitting electricity sources.
But overall, Canadians were warned the government is going to be tightening its belt in a speech that put forward a rather grim analysis of the financial realities facing Canada right now and set up the country up for a deficit budget for the first time in more than 13 years.
1108MTBA Manitoba`s businesses an optimistic bunch
MANITOBA`S small- and medium-sized businesses are among the most optimistic in the country in spite of the deteriorating global economic conditions, according to the latest survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
The CFIB said its Business Barometer (confidence) index for Manitoba was an average of 93.5 during a six-week survey period that ended last Sunday.
That left it tied with Prince Edward Island for the fourth-highest confidence index among the 10 provinces, and well ahead of Canada`s average of 90.3.
It didn`t take long for the big-government/union crowd to launch their misinformation campaign about the city`s proposal to create a stand-alone water utility.
Critics of the plan are already trotting out buzz words like "privatization" to try to scare people. The thinking is, if they can frighten enough people by lying to them that the city is trying to privatize its sewer and water services, there might be enough backlash to kill the plan.
Proposed plans for rapid transit could let Winnipeggers change the very nature of life in this city, a consultant with worldwide experience at linking transit to urban growth said Thursday.
The $327-million plan to run rapid transit between the downtown and the University of Manitoba could alter where many residents live, how they move around, even where they work and shop, said G. B. Arrington, a senior partner with the New York-based firm of Parsons Brinckerhoff.
1108WNPG South Point Douglas gets nod in Doer`s plan for city
South Point Douglas may not get a football stadium, but it could get a cash infusion worth millions, especially for riverfront development.
The inner-city enclave, which was briefly touted as a new home for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers this past summer, won a shout-out in Premier Gary Doer`s throne speech on Thursday as a likely target for millions in new urban-development money.
WITH metal prices tanking, it`s not the best of times to be opening a new nickel mine.
But Crowflight Minerals Inc. is mere weeks away from commercial production at its new Bucko Lake Nickel Mine near Wabowden -- a $110-million venture that will employ 150 full-time workers in the northern Manitoba community.
1108MTBA Why Manitoba municipalities are insisting on new sales tax
Hundreds of Manitoba mayors, reeves and councillors will gather in Winnipeg over the next four days in an attempt to twist Premier Gary Doer`s arm into creating a new sales tax devoted to road and bridge repairs.
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities, which represents every city, town and rural municipality in the province, plans to use its 10th annual convention -- which kicks off today -- to cajole a reluctant NDP government into levying a new sales tax devoted solely to municipal infrastructure.
1108MTBA commercial real estate Sale/leaseback a logical option Turning bricks and mortar into capital
The global financial crisis could have more Manitoba companies looking at sale/leaseback transactions as an alternative way of raising capital, local real estate agents say.
"The premise is to unlock capital and invest the money elsewhere in your business," Don White, an investment broker with Colliers Pratt McGarry, said of sale/leaseback deals, which involve a company selling its building to an investor and then leasing it back on a long-term basis -- usually 10 to 20 years.
Winnipeg`s upscale neighbourhoods are going green.
We`re not talking about geothermal heating units, open concepts and non-toxic paint in eco-friendly homes. Nestled in these quiet suburbs are some of the largest indoor marijuana grow operations busted in Winnipeg this year, keeping with trends that have seen larger, expensive homes used to grow massive amounts of dope.
Manitoba`s next wind farm - slated to be the biggest in Canada - will go ahead despite the economic crisis facing the company building it.
As announced last spring, Australian mega-firm Babcock and Brown will build a 300 megawatt wind farm near St. Joseph in southern Manitoba.
The project was chosen from 84 proposals for the next wind farm, and it should be operational by late 2010 or early 2011. That`s despite delays that have already plagued the planning process.
If all goes according to plan, Winnipeg`s Assiniboine River skating trail may stretch all the way from The Forks to Assiniboine Park this winter, and in the process likely break the city`s own record for the longest skating trail in the world. Paul Jordan, chief operating officer at The Forks, said this year`s plan is to start at The Forks and extend the trail west to Assiniboine Park, about three km further than Omand`s Creek, where last year`s record-breaking trail ended.
A new condo development and housing project will soon make their home in the city`s south end.
The City of Portage la Prairie planned to sell a 10-hectare portion of land, located along Meighen Avenue in the city`s south end, behind Ecole Arthur Meighen School, in November 2007. However, the buyer, a consortium that includes Portage`s Mellco Developments Ltd., indicated it would purchase the city`s land on the condition it could also obtain the strip of land owned by Portage School Division.
Wheeling and dealing Tuesday, Jeff Zabudsky and Lloyd Axworthy made their main downtown campuses bigger.
And in the process, they`re continuing the rejuvenation of downtown, said the two post-secondary presidents.
Zabudsky`s Red River College will take over the 21 classrooms in the Massey Building at 294 William Avenue in September. Red River takes over University of Winnipeg`s long-term lease on the historic building.
Manitoba municipalities won`t beg Premier Gary Doer for a share of the sales tax after all.
In a surprise move, the province`s 198 municipalities voted to sideline a demand for a share of the PST Tuesday, despite days of sabre rattling by the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. Mayors and councillors from the province`s big cities and towns overwhelmingly support the idea, saying the cash is vital to fixing a multibillion-dollar backlog of road, sewer and building repairs.
WINNIPEG can build the southwest rapid transit corridor without harming any businesses, one of the city`s top civil servants vowed Tuesday.
The city wants to acquire 11 properties as part of its plan to build a $327-million busway between downtown and the University of Manitoba. On Tuesday, council`s property and planning committee approved a plan to begin expropriation proceedings in the event the city fails to negotiate conventional purchases of the properties in time for construction on the first leg of the corridor to begin next summer.
THE Doer government is spending an extra $30 million on highways next year, part of a bid to bolster the economy by increasing infrastructure spending. The added funds will boost Manitoba spending on bridges and highways to $460 million next year.
And it`s hoped the spending will improve two main highways to the point where the province can finally increase the speed limit.
1108WNPG City hopes slump cuts cost of its public works
While Ottawa plans to run a deficit and Manitoba prepares to raid its rainy-day fund, Winnipeg sees a silver lining in the storm clouds gathering on the economic horizon. The slowing economy should allow Winnipeg to get more of a bang for its construction buck next year, officials say, as Mayor Sam Katz prepares to table today the city`s blueprint for spending on major projects.
WINNIPEG appears to be next in line in Canada for an Ikea home furnishings store, but don`t expect one to spring up here for a few years at least, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.
The Swedish-based retail giant has identified a parcel of land for development in the city, but it hasn`t purchased it yet, Ikea Canada`s Madeleine Lowenborg-Frick said from Burlington, Ont. "It is very premature for us to say anything at this point," she said, and there is no timeline for a Winnipeg here.
