The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by NBNYer

Seems like dev. news is slow lately. In spite of the occasional "building permits up!" headline from the T&T.

I won't be contributing much to the forum for a while as I will be in Chicago all week. My internet access here is spotty at best.

[David_99]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/02/nb-moncton-event-tax-0502.html

The mayor of Moncton is asking the provincial government to allow the city to impose a tax on hotel rooms to help pay for a new downtown metro centre.

George LeBlanc said it is the next step towards building a new complex for concerts and sporting events, and would help the city to earn a better return on big events.

LeBlanc said the provincial and federal governments earn millions through the HST when concerts such as the Rolling Stones or sporting events such as a CFL game come to town.

"Although we take the lion's share of the risk, we don't get the same return on investment," he said.

LeBlanc is joining the Greater Moncton Hotel Association and asking the province to give the City of Moncton the power to impose a three-per-cent levy on hotel rooms.

In March, Ray Roberge, president of the Greater Moncton Hotel Association, said his group would contribute one-third of a hotel tax to the City of Moncton for a new metro centre. Roberge expects it would mean at least $500,000 annually for the facility, and would increase tourism in the long run.

"We support it and we want it to happen and we know that it can have a positive impact on tourism," Roberge said in March.

LeBlanc expects a hotel tax would generate about $700,000 for a new metro centre. He said officials with the Alward government have told him they will deal with the issue in the fall.

[josh_cat_eyes]

Moncton finally elects someone on the same party as the government! This could be HUGE in order to get funding for big projects.

[mylesmalley]

Don't kid yourself.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Don't kid yourself.

It won't hurt, but I tend to agree with Myles, there won't be any special funding for the arena/events centre. The best we can hope for is $25M through the public/private partnership fund. We just need to identify affiliated private partners willing to take part in the project (with a hotel/convention component etc.)

Having said this, I'm certainly glad that we'll have some political stability (both federally and provincially) for the next four years.

Don't fret Myles, I take this election result as more of a spanking of the Liberals for forcing an unnecessary and unwanted election than anything else. The vote for the NDP I think was more of a vote for Layton himself rather than the party. I have a suspicion that Layton won't be leading the party in four years time and the Quebec vote is fickle. I think the next time round we'll be back to status quo ante bellum, especially if the Liberals have a new leader (Justin Trudeau or Dominic LeBlanc).

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Quebec vote is fickle.

Pretty much all you had to say. Another separatist party will be around to replace the Bloc and the NDP will be back to the 40s in 2015. It just depends on which parties pounce and take up those seats again.

As for the funding, it's tough to say. Depends on how much the Tories want to pump into the area, if any at all. Being on the right side of government is something that Saint John had great difficulty doing for the past decade before the last year or two.

[Lrdevlop]

I saw today on Relish Gourmet Burger's twitter that they will open in June. Finally! Exept they will be located on 239 St. George (not on Main st. anymore). I believe it's where Crazy Mango studio is right now.

[mylesmalley]

I'm not upset about the election. It is what it is. I'm disappointed with the outcome, but c'est la vie.

As for Moncton actually seeing benefit from being 'on-side'... that's just not the way it works. M-R-D had a good chance before the election of going Conservative, but there were no special promises made here. In fact, when Harper was in town, he did everything but refuse to fix the RCMP subsidy issue. Logic would dictate that the governing party would shower money on an opposing riding with a good chance of swinging the other way just to bribe people over.

[MonctonRad]

Charles Lutes Road, Ryan Street to be expanded
By Yvon Gauvin
Times & Transcript staff

Moncton city council approved a $3-million tender to rebuild and widen Charles Lutes Road and Ryan Street this summer, continuing development in the area northwest of the city prompted by construction of the Northrop Frye High School last year.

The tender, totalling $3,081,662.25 including taxes, was awarded at this week's city council meeting to Cherryfield Contracting Ltd., one of several bids received by the city.

The tender award raised some questions as to why three other bidders were rejected and how much the province had contributed to the estimated $13-million total cost to extend infrastructure to the new school build on Ryan Street.

Councillor Daniel Bourgeois wanted to know if the province had put any money on infrastructure and was told it had contributed $466,000 for sidewalks and curb fronting the school property. The rest has come from city coffers.

That led councillor Kathryn Barnes to demand the city have some say in where schools were located. She said she was told at the outset that the school project would cost somewhere between $4 and $5 million. "I was dumbfounded" to learn the project hit the $13-million mark and that taxpayers are on the hook for most of it, she said.

Following the meeting, Jack MacDonald, general manager of engineering and environment services with the city, explained that the chosen site away from existing infrastructure forced the city to spend now instead of gradually as development crept further out along Ryan Road. The approved project includes sidewalks on both sides of the street.

Councillor Merrill Henderson asked why the other tenders were rejected and was told that they failed to meet requirements set out by the city in its tender call.

The tender for water main and sewer renewal along Killam Drive from Ayer Avenue to Purdy Avenue was awarded to Dexter Construction Ltd. for $1,260,854 including taxes.

A public meeting will be held June 6 in council chambers to hear an application from Genivar on behalf of Waterstone Developments and Magnetic Hill Golf and Country Club Ltd. to amend the conditional zoning agreement for a major housing project adjacent the golf club to change from single family dwelling to multiple dwellings.

Council wanted to know if there was sufficient water pressure to accommodate the new development project without affecting existing development.

A booster station to pump water to the area would be needed and would be the responsibility of the developer along with installation of utility infrastructures to the site, council was told.

Personal note - Geez, I'm doing this from my IPad in a restaurant in Chicago, isn't anyone else minding the shop!!

Seriously though, I think it unconscionable that the province left the city on the hook for $13M for roadwork for the new school. It did not have to be built where it is. It could have been constructed closer to the built up sections to the west of Kingswood, in an area where these services already existed. This is truly shameful!

[kwajo]

You sound like you're surprised
This is exactly the type of thing the province does all the time because they've always done a horrid job of having open dialogue with municipalities. Like last year when they announced the [now cancelled] 6-lane highway through Saint John and no-one in City Hall had been informed ahead of time that they were even considering it.

[pierremoncton]

And we can probably forget about a new bridge for a few years too:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunsw...mps-wont-promise-petitcodiac-bridge.html

[icetea93]

I didn't know if you guys knew about this or not, but "Opa! Greek taverna" (Halifax's Greek restaurant chain) is opening their first out-of-Halifax location in downtown Moncton with the next 10 months...

From Opa! to ela! for local Greek restaurant
Trademark battle forces business to change name
By CHRIS LAMBIE Business Editor
Thu, May 5 - 4:54 AM

Costa Elles and Chris Tzaneteas, owners of ela! Greek Taverna. (Darren Pittman / Staff)
Costa Elles and Chris Tzaneteas, owners of ela! Greek Taverna. (Darren Pittman / Staff)

They will still be smashing plates and yelling "Opa," but the name has got to go.

A Calgary-based quick service restaurant chain has forced Halifax’s Opa! Greek Taverna to change its moniker.

"We became aware for the first time about four years ago that there was this infringement on our trademark," Patrick Gibbons, president and chief executive officer of Opa! Souvlaki Franchise Group Inc., said Wednesday in a telephone interview.

"So we approached them and we explained our situation. They were reluctant to give it up. So we got our two lawyers involved. And, end of the day, we agreed to a three-year-period transition. And that was three years, two days ago."

Gibbons said his company, which has 85 outlets spanning from British Columbia to Ontario, thought it was being extremely fair "by giving them three years to cease and desist the use of our trademark."

The agreement to let Opa! Greek Taverna temporarily use the name expired May 1, he said.

Opa! Greek Taverna has full-service restaurants in downtown Halifax, Bayers Lake Business Park and Dartmouth Crossing.

"They elected not to do anything about it," Gibbons said. "I met with them last week, gave them three options, none of which they thought were acceptable, and so we need to take back our name.

"They’re great people, but as you know, one has to aggressively defend their trademarks. We’ve spent 14 years with that brand name and we are Canada’s largest Greek . . . restaurant chain and we are coming out east."

Gibbons said his company, which is now moving into Quebec, thought Chris Tzaneteas and business partner Costa Elles of Opa! Greek Taverna may be interested in being its franchisee in the Maritimes.

"We thought we could work something out with them, but they just asked for another extension," Gibbons said.

Tzaneteas said Wednesday that he and Elles had worked out a six-month-extension deal earlier this year with the Calgary company’s founder, Nikos Tiginagas.

"The owner of the place said, ‘We’ll give the extension,’ then (Gibbons) said, ‘Yeah, we’ll give you the extension if you give us six per cent of your sales and $25,000 a location," Tzaneteas said.

So, instead, the Halifax operation is changing its name to ela! Greek Taverna.

"Ela in the Greek language is one of the most endearing invitations," Tzaneteas said. "It’s an invitation to come eat, come dance with me, come have a drink with me. . . . The translation of ‘Opa’ is really like yahoo."

The Halifax restaurant group discovered the name problem when it applied for a trademark on the name in preparation for expanding outside the province.

"They had registered their (name) in 1999 and we had registered ours in 2000," Tzaneteas said of the Calgary Opa outfit.

With plans to open restaurants in St. John’s, N.L., Charlottetown, Moncton and Saint John, N.B., they abandoned the trademark spat and decided on ela.

"Some would-be franchises, others are in like a partnership agreement situation where we would remain partners," Tzaneteas said.

"We’re really still in the infancy stages of this."

The Moncton location, expected to cost $1.1 million to buy a property and set up, should open within 10 months, he said.

"We’re looking at some real estate in downtown Moncton that we’ve made an offer on."

All told, he suspects the trademark fight, changing signage and rebranding the new name will cost about $50,000.

"We’re sad to see our old name (go), but at the end of the day, it’s not the name that makes the place, it’s the place that makes the name," Tzaneteas said.

"We’re still going to have the great food, the great service, the great atmosphere. People are going to know that it’s us, the same owners. Nothing has really changed."

People will still break plates and yell "Opa," at the Halifax restaurant, he said.

"We’re never going to stop," Tzaneteas said. "That it a Greek word that is in our vocabulary. It’s part of who we are. Nobody can take that away from us."

There is not so much plate-smashing going on at the Calgary-based chain, which locates its restaurants in food courts and strip malls.

"We yell, ‘Opa,’ " Gibbons said. "Hard to break Styrofoam, though, isn’t it?"

( [email protected])

[Sony500]

If they are not going to build a bridge right away, then they should close the gates for now. The lake looks terrible.

[mylesmalley]

Great to hear we're getting a Greek restaurant!

As for the bridge. The lake looks bad because it's full of silt. It's not going to look any better until that silt is flushed out, which it appears to be doing slowly. Closing the gates is onl going to undo the improveents we've seen over the last year and will only embolden the lake-side property owners that are so eager to protect 'their lake'.

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Great to hear we're getting a Greek restaurant!

As for the bridge. The lake looks bad because it's full of silt. It's not going to look any better until that silt is flushed out, which it appears to be doing slowly. Closing the gates is onl going to undo the improveents we've seen over the last year and will only embolden the lake-side property owners that are so eager to protect 'their lake'.

I can't see the silt leaving the lake. If anything it will build up more on the sides until marsh grass can take hold and then it will look just like the other side of the causeway. The channel will get wider and deeper though but the whole lake will not empty of silt. Its going to take time people and eventually, I think, it will look like.... well..... the Petitcodiac. Like it or hate it, it's not called the "Chocolate River" for nothing.

[macas539]

N.B. seeks Route 11 funding from Ottawa
By Adam Huras
times & transcript staff

Transportation Minister hopeful that majority Tory gov't will be willing to chip in

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick has approached the federal government to help finance the twinning of one of New Brunswick's major north-south corridors, a project estimated to cost more than $900 million.

Transportation Minister Claude Williams said yesterday that twinning Route 11, which traverses the province's Acadian Coast from Shediac to the Acadian Peninsula, is a priority for the provincial government.

"Since we have taken government six months ago, Route 11 is one of our priorities in as far as building new highways," Williams said. "It was a surprise to me when I talked to the federal minister of transportation that there was no formal application to the federal government from the province of New Brunswick.

"We need to build up a business case and we will be going to Ottawa to discuss with them to reach a cost-sharing agreement."

The former Liberal government announced in April 2009 it planned to twin the route in three stages, starting from Shediac Bridge to Bouctouche. Stage two would run from Bouctouche to Richibucto, while stage three would cover the last stretch up to Miramichi.

Preliminary work costing $2.1 million has already been completed from Shediac Bridge to Bouctouche.

The original estimated price tag was around $942 million.

The former Liberal government was unable to secure the needed federal funding before Alward's Conservatives ousted the Liberals in September.

Interim Liberal leader Victor Boudreau brought up the issue of twinning the highway in question period in the legislature yesterday, pressing the Tories to commit to a timeline on the project.

Williams said the project would remain in three stages and could begin in 2012, pending that a funding arrangement is in place.

"We will be going to Ottawa in the very near future to start discussions," he said. "We are looking forward to an agreement as soon as possible because we want to get on with that project."

The twinning of Route 11 was raised several times in the eastern part of the province in the lead up to the May 2 federal election. Miramichi MP Tilly O'Neill-Gordon said that Ottawa was aware of the need for Route 11 funding.

"I would definitely like to see more work done on that route because it's such a busy route," O'Neill-Gordon said. "It needs to be done; it's something we should be looking at soon, and hopefully with the new government of the province something can be done."

Williams said a federal majority Conservative government will aid in the project going forward.

"We are quite happy to see that the new majority government in Ottawa," he said. "This will help accelerate negotiations for twinning the route."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looks like the new majority government could finally help get this long needed project started! I hope it works

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by macas539

N.B. seeks Route 11 funding from Ottawa
By Adam Huras
times & transcript staff

Transportation Minister hopeful that majority Tory gov't will be willing to chip in

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick has approached the federal government to help finance the twinning of one of New Brunswick's major north-south corridors, a project estimated to cost more than $900 million.

Transportation Minister Claude Williams said yesterday that twinning Route 11, which traverses the province's Acadian Coast from Shediac to the Acadian Peninsula, is a priority for the provincial government.

"Since we have taken government six months ago, Route 11 is one of our priorities in as far as building new highways," Williams said. "It was a surprise to me when I talked to the federal minister of transportation that there was no formal application to the federal government from the province of New Brunswick.

"We need to build up a business case and we will be going to Ottawa to discuss with them to reach a cost-sharing agreement."

The former Liberal government announced in April 2009 it planned to twin the route in three stages, starting from Shediac Bridge to Bouctouche. Stage two would run from Bouctouche to Richibucto, while stage three would cover the last stretch up to Miramichi.

Preliminary work costing $2.1 million has already been completed from Shediac Bridge to Bouctouche.

The original estimated price tag was around $942 million.

The former Liberal government was unable to secure the needed federal funding before Alward's Conservatives ousted the Liberals in September.

Interim Liberal leader Victor Boudreau brought up the issue of twinning the highway in question period in the legislature yesterday, pressing the Tories to commit to a timeline on the project.

Williams said the project would remain in three stages and could begin in 2012, pending that a funding arrangement is in place.

"We will be going to Ottawa in the very near future to start discussions," he said. "We are looking forward to an agreement as soon as possible because we want to get on with that project."

The twinning of Route 11 was raised several times in the eastern part of the province in the lead up to the May 2 federal election. Miramichi MP Tilly O'Neill-Gordon said that Ottawa was aware of the need for Route 11 funding.

"I would definitely like to see more work done on that route because it's such a busy route," O'Neill-Gordon said. "It needs to be done; it's something we should be looking at soon, and hopefully with the new government of the province something can be done."

Williams said a federal majority Conservative government will aid in the project going forward.

"We are quite happy to see that the new majority government in Ottawa," he said. "This will help accelerate negotiations for twinning the route."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looks like the new majority government could finally help get this long needed project started! I hope it works

This is one of the things I was getting at when I said the new Federal Government should help getting things going in Moncton for federal funding etc.

[MonctonRad]

Good news about the Opa (Ela) Greek Taverna. The restaurant scene in Moncton isn't bad, but one thing we don't have is Greek food. I'm glad to see that they are going to open downtown.

I wonder why Relish Gourmet Burgers is going to open on St. George rather than Main? This could be a good thing however, St. George is gradually coming back to life and this will be a good thing for the streetscape.

Regarding the river, I always expected that the (former) lake would silt in somewhat and revert to marshland. As Sunnybrae said, the river upstream will eventually look like the river downstream. If we want to maximize the river channel, we have to remove the obstruction of the causeway with a bridge. This should be done as soon as possible to reduce siltation in the lake.

[lukepaa]

I was looking at the "skydive moncton" website tonight (don't ask why) but I noticed that they have a new location and are not using McEwen Airstrip anymore...anyone have any details as to why they are vacating there? could it be for future development....it would make a great location for a new Moncton High.

[C_Boy]

Well I can't say I agree with you on that site being a good spot for Moncton High because that school should be nowhere else than downtown (even though it is unlikely the government will do so). Skydive Moncton moved because the cost to operate out of McEwen Airfield was too expensive. The owners have their own land and built a strip in Notre-Dame I believe...outside the city anyway.