The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread - Page 429

Lrdevlop · #**8561** Posted **May 10, 2011, 8:27 PM**

Moncton Airport ready to take on big leagues
Published Tuesday May 10th, 2011

With runway extension, Greater Moncton International Airport could compete with New York, Montréal, Boston
A1
BY ALLISON TOOGOOD
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

In the past couple of years, the Greater Moncton International Airport Authority has said it was working on improving the cargo side of the industry. Now, with the fruition of an estimated $24-million upgrade, the airport's president and CEO says Moncton will have a chance to rival internationally renowned airports.

GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Rob Robichaud
"This puts us in a new game and takes us to a new level," Rob Robichaud said yesterday during the airport's annual general meeting. "We have not worked very hard in the past 14 years on cargo so now we want to shift our focus and start bringing them up, along with our strong passenger contingent."

The upgrade will extend runway 06/24 by another 4,000 feet, to 10,000 feet, the length needed to accommodate larger cargo aircraft. This will be a first for Atlantic Canada, as the Halifax Stanfield International Airport has yet to extend a runway to such length.

Robichaud said the project is expected to begin next spring and be completed by the fall of 2013. He joked that this again harbours the notion of Moncton and Halifax as duelling cities.

"I've been told by one sales agent in Halifax that whoever reaches the 10,000 feet in Atlantic Canada first, wins.

"Most of the world's large aircraft are looking for that length as a minimum as they can actually take off and go to the destination with full fuel, full cargo and they do not have to trade one off from the other," Robichaud said. "There's no worry of refuelling half of the way or three-quarters of the way there."

Robichaud and the authority believe that it doesn't make sense that Atlantic Canada produces 50 per cent of the country's exported seafood, yet 80 per cent of it is shipped first to Montréal or Boston, before it's sent to Europe.

The airport has a trans-shipment concept in place which allows it to bring goods in bond and accept goods in bond and "aircraft can come into Moncton and make it a one-stop shop," Robichaud said.

By working with the trucking industry, the Moncton Airport will be able to cut cost and time, which Robichaud said is good for both the shippers and consumers.

"We are much cheaper in terms of landing fees compared to La Guardia Airport and JFK International Airport (both in New York) by a long margin, and we can get the goods into the warehouses faster by working with the trucking industry."

Although the goals for Moncton Airport's cargo growth make sense, the challenge is to be recognized by the rest of the world. Robichaud said that people have been working the same way in the cargo industry for 40 to 50 years and a change will be slow-going.

The extended runway will also minimize noise as the planes will take off in the other direction, flying only over a small portion of Dieppe.

Lastly, because of its positioning, it will fare better in threat of cancellations during a storm.

The annual meeting also reported that financially, 2010 was better than the previous year.

The airport saw growth from 551,000 passengers in 2009 to 553,000 in 2010, and an increase of about 2,000 metric tonnes of handled cargo.

There was a 25 per cent increase in net earnings, as a result of increased passenger flight costs and airport parking.

The reparation of a runway intersection came in under budget, at about $5 million.

Another positive of 2010 was the partnership with Porter Airlines, which began in June.

"We were very fortunate this past year to attract our newest partner, Porter Airlines, and my spies tell me they are doing extremely well and are very satisfied with the progress in our market," Robichaud said.

The airport was successful at sun destination flights through WestJet and Sunwing Vacations, with non-stops to Orlando and Montego Bay, Jamaica, but did not sway a partner to secure a flight straight to St. John's, N.L.

The link to Newfoundland, additional sun destinations, elevated frequency of established routes and a freight service to Europe and Asia, round out the goals for 2011.
------------------
Here is the link to the whole report! http://gmia.ca/english/corp/pdf/2010.pdf

MonctonRad · #**8562** Posted **May 10, 2011, 10:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mctnguy

There are also signs of life at the power centre development on Mapleton Road next to the Wheeler Boulevard exit, across from Costco. The development showed promise when construction started a few years ago, but stalled when the recession kept big box retailers away.

Silliker says developers with the project have said they plan to acquire building permits this year and have stores open next year. In addition, the International Council of Shopping Centers has its annual meetings coming up in Toronto and Montreal coming up and the city plans to be represented at both.

Good news about the Mapleton Power Centre. A lot of the stores that were to move in there have drifted to other parts of the city but Best Buy and The Brick may still be possibilities. If a couple of anchors like that move in, then the rest of the development might be saved.

q12 · #**8563** Posted **May 11, 2011, 12:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lrdevlop

Moncton Airport ready to take on big leagues
Published Tuesday May 10th, 2011

With runway extension, Greater Moncton International Airport could compete with New York, Montréal, Boston
A1
BY ALLISON TOOGOOD
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

The upgrade will extend runway 06/24 by another 4,000 feet, to 10,000 feet, the length needed to accommodate larger cargo aircraft. This will be a first for Atlantic Canada, as the Halifax Stanfield International Airport has yet to extend a runway to such length.

Robichaud said the project is expected to begin next spring and be completed by the fall of 2013. He joked that this again harbours the notion of Moncton and Halifax as duelling cities.

"I've been told by one sales agent in Halifax that whoever reaches the 10,000 feet in Atlantic Canada first, wins.

Who wrote this garbage? Halifax is extending it's runway at the same time to 10,500 ft and already has a 8,800 ft runway that can currently handle any aircraft.

Also last time I checked Goose Bay is in Atlantic Canada and has a runway with a length of over 11,000 ft.

What exactly would Moncton win anyway? No offense to Moncton but it's airport is mostly a joke compared to Stanfield or any other airport listed above in "New York, Montréal, or Boston"

Here is a much better article.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/10/nb-moncton-runway-cargo-633.html

And a recent story on Stanfield.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1241854.html

MonctonRad · #**8564** Posted **May 11, 2011, 1:27 AM**

I agree that the CBC article was more balanced and was devoid of the typical T&T hyperbole.

I do take some umbrage however with your assertion that the GMIA is a "joke" compared to Halifax Stanfield.

At least in air cargo, it's nearly a wash. 28k tonnes of air freight is not that much different from 24.5k tonnes.......

With both airports getting 10,000 foot runways, the two airports will remain competitive in the air freight business. One could argue that the GMIA has an advantage in being closer to the population centres in the northeast.

Stanfield does blow the socks off of the GMIA in terms of passenger volume (about 7X greater), and that is not likely to change. I will be happy if the GMIA can solidify it's #2 position in the Maritimes for passenger volume. A direct service to NF, western Canada and to Boston (to complement our existing NYC route) would be sufficient for me.

When you throw in the flight college, the Transport Canada operations centre, the RCMP flight ops centre, the air ambulance service, and the Nav Can regional air traffic control centre, and I bet you that pound for pound the air industry in Moncton is just as important to our economy as Stanfield is to Halifax.

q12 · #**8565** Posted **May 11, 2011, 1:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I agree that the CBC article was more balanced and was devoid of the typical T&T hyperbole.

I do take some umbrage however with your assertion that the GMIA is a "joke" compared to Halifax Stanfield.

At least in air cargo, it's nearly a wash. 28k tonnes of air freight is not that much different from 24.5k tonnes.......

With both airports getting 10,000 foot runways, the two airports will remain competitive in the air freight business. One could argue that the GMIA has an advantage in being closer to the population centres in the northeast.

Stanfield does blow the socks off of the GMIA in terms of passenger volume (about 7X greater), and that is not likely to change. I will be happy if the GMIA can solidify it's #2 position in the Maritimes for passenger volume. A direct service to NF, western Canada and to Boston (to complement our existing NYC route) would be sufficient for me.

When you throw in the flight college, the Transport Canada operations centre, the RCMP flight ops centre, the air ambulance service, and the Nav Can regional air traffic control centre, and I bet you that pound for pound the air industry in Moncton is just as important to our economy as Stanfield is to Halifax.

I agree that there is not a huge difference in cargo business at the moment. Although Halifax has better infrastructure at the airport to handle cargo.

Here is an idea on how big Stanfield is to Halifax's economy. There are about 13,500 jobs that are attributable to the Airport, which accounts for 3.0 per cent of employment in Nova Scotia and figures from 2009 show Halifax Stanfield is worth over $1.22 billion to Nova Scotia economy on an annual basis.

http://www.hiaa.ca/default.asp?id=190&pagesize=1&sfield=content.id&search=1231&mn=70.1.262.291.644

mylesmalley · #**8566** Posted **May 11, 2011, 4:00 AM**

It's generally wise to take anything published in the T&T with a hefty grain of salt.

Sunnybrae · #**8567** Posted **May 11, 2011, 5:29 PM**

Does the GMIA have cargo facilities? I once heard about the "Greater Moncton Airport Cargo Village" back in 2002. Did that get built?

Oh, never mind, the GMIA website mentions that there are incentives for companies looking to build facilities at the airport.

I just check out the Gateway Facilities ULC website at Stanfield. WOW..... what a facility!

MonctonRad · #**8568** Posted **May 11, 2011, 9:04 PM**

Both FedEx and Purolator have their own cargo handling and trans-shipment facilities on the Champlain St. side of the airport. You often see their cargo jets on the tarmac there as you drive by. I think the other major carrier into the airport is DHL. I'm not sure what they have for facilities but I think it is in one of the old hangars on Aviation Blvd.

One of the major projects at the airport now is the extension of Aviation Blvd. that's where the new Malley Industries manufacturing facility is located. The airport wants to turn this area into an air industrial park. It will be interposed between the TCH and the runway extension that will be constructed by 2013. The lots on the extension will have direct access to the airport tarmac. I'm sure that this area will be marketed for additional air cargo growth.

LeeLynn · #**8569** Posted **May 11, 2011, 10:23 PM**

Hey,
Does anyone know which company is building the k-8 school in Riverview?

MonctonRad · #**8570** Posted **May 12, 2011, 12:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeeLynn

Hey,
Does anyone know which company is building the k-8 school in Riverview?

Greetings and welcome to the forum.

I don't think we are that far along in the process. The province has just barely purchased the land for the school. I imagine it won't be for another 6-12 months before any decision is made.

MonctonRad · #**8571** Posted **May 13, 2011, 1:00 AM**

Odds & ends from today's T&T:

Density changes requested for development
Published Thursday May 12th, 2011
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

Waterstone Developments and Magnetic Hill Golf & Country Club are asking the City of Moncton for some changes to accommodate new plans for the Mountain Woods Golf Club and Residential Community.

GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Waterstone Developments and Magnetic Hill Golf & Country club are seeking to make changes to land to be developed west of Auberry Court in the north end of Moncton.

Waterstone Developments and Magnetic Hill Golf & Country club are seeking to make changes to land to be developed west of Auberry Court in the north end of Moncton. The changes, if approved, would increase the density of one part of the development and reduce the density in another.

In one section, the developers would like to amend their original plan for 72 units of multi-unit housing to allow the construction of buildings that would ultimately hold 96 units.

In the other section, the developers are now envisioning a less dense development, seeking a rezoning from a multiple unit designation to a residential designation.

Instead of apartment buildings, they want to erect townhouses and semi-detached homes that will fit in with the existing homes on current streets in the aera, Auberry, Chateau and Colby.

Housing developments that offer adjacent golf courses have been popular as baby boomers have gotten older and Metro Moncton has several such communities at various stages of development.

Royal Oaks and Fox Creek golf courses both offer a variety of upscale homes for residents around their perimeters and within their boundaries.

In Riverview, the members of the Moncton Golf and Country Club voted unanimously last year to pursue a deal with a developer to ultimately build close to 150 homes and 100 condominium units at their course.

New Riverview liquor store opens Monday
Published Thursday May 12th, 2011
Times & Transcript Staff

It's out with the old and in with the new at NB Liquor's Coverdale Road location in Riverview.

The store closes forever on Saturday at 9 p.m. and their new location on Findlay Boulevard opens on Monday morning at 10 a.m.

The new store will offer a wider variety of products and will be open on Sundays as well, corporation spokeswoman Nora Lacey says, but not this Sunday as staff will be using the day to move everything from the old store to the new one.

The outlet will offer 1,625 different products, including 785 brands of wine, 500 spirits, 240 types of cold beer and 100 ready-to-drink products.

The current Riverview liquor store opened in January 2001 in a brand new building after leaving its longtime home in the Riverview Mall.

NB Liquor said last year it was moving because it wanted a larger store and because of increasing traffic in the Findlay Park retail node in the south of the town.

The new store is about 10,400 square feet (966 square metres), roughly 3,000 square feet (280 square metres) larger than the current store.

Permits record set
Published Thursday May 12th, 2011
By Eric lewis
Times & Transcript Staff

The City of Dieppe marked the best April on record for building permits in its history.

A total of 65 building permits were issued valued at $14,258,995.

Meanwhile, the City of Moncton issued 89 permits valued at $10,817,410, and the Town of Riverview issued 31 valued at $4,769,665.

"This was the best April we have ever seen in Dieppe as well as our second-best beginning of the year for the period of January to April," said Mayor Jean LeBlanc. "I'm particularly pleased that the commercial sector has shown its strength for the second month in a row with a value of $8,413,562 for April compared to $4,642,179 in the previous month."

Dieppe's commercial sector saw 10 building permits issued. Highlights include a major expansion project for the Irving Group's head office and a permit for the new NB Liquor retail store on Dieppe Boulevard valued at more than $700,000.

The residential sector continued to see growth with 55 building permits at a value of $5,845,433.

During the first four months of 2011, 133 building permits have been issued at a total value of $24,918,072.

Kevin Silliker, Moncton's director of business and tourism development, says the city is off to a good start, with $66 million in permits already issued, making this the city's second-best year-to-date showing so far.

"The interesting thing for me is it's really a balance of projects," including those from the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, Silliker says.

The city issued $17 million in residential permits this year by the end of April, $12 million in commercial and $30 million in industrial.

Some of the commercial highlights from April include a new strip mall under construction on Mountain Road across from Barnaby's Furniture and a convenience store/car wash also on Mountain. The Bank of Montreal is undergoing renovations and Moncton Headstart received a permit to reconstruct a portion of its roof. Moncton issued 50 residential permits in April, totalling $6,673,818.

Riverview issued permits in April for 10 new duplexes, totalling 20 units valued at nearly $3 million. The town issued a total of 50 permits valued at more than $6 million by the end of April.

In the unincorporated areas surrounding Metro Moncton, 26 permits were issued last month valued at nearly $3 million.

mylesmalley · #**8572** Posted **May 13, 2011, 1:27 AM**

Interesting about that Irving mention. They did a bunch of work there two years ago, but it seemed all they did was expand their parking lot. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

josh_cat_eyes · #**8573** Posted **May 13, 2011, 7:51 AM**

Funny, no mention of the developments at mountain and evergreen.

pierremoncton · #**8574** Posted **May 13, 2011, 1:28 PM**

There was some type of ground work yesterday on the property where condos were meant to be built at Main/Harper.

The two-year agreement with the city expired a few months ago, and there's been no follow-up on the project. Anyone with news?

MonctonRad · #**8575** Posted **May 13, 2011, 3:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Interesting about that Irving mention. They did a bunch of work there two years ago, but it seemed all they did was expand their parking lot. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

I agree. I was under the assumption that they were going to roughly double the size of their building a couple of years ago, but all they ended up doing was moving some dirt around and expand their parking. Perhaps it's finally going to happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

Funny, no mention of the developments at mountain and evergreen.

The comment re: the convenience store/car wash on Mountain Road does concern the new Irving/Circle K at Mountain/Evergreen. It does appear that this development will include a carwash. Construction BTW is going along like gangbusters!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

There was some type of ground work yesterday on the property where condos were meant to be built at Main/Harper.

The two-year agreement with the city expired a few months ago, and there's been no follow-up on the project. Anyone with news?

No idea, but it is good news that you saw some sort of digging going on at the site. Perhaps there is something afoot.

MonctonRad · #**8576** Posted **May 13, 2011, 8:36 PM**

There is some activity going on next to the Royal Bank on the corner of Gorge and Mountain. I would say that the new Second Cup standalone cafe will soon be under construction.

It's going to be a busy year at that intersection......

MonctonRad · #**8577** Posted **May 14, 2011, 1:46 PM**

Abridged from today's T&T:

Rogers to create 191 new Metro jobs
Published Saturday May 14th, 2011

Communications giant to hire new workers for Moncton call centre
by JORDAN PARKER
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT staff

Rogers Communications has announced it will be hiring 191 new customer service representatives for its customer care centre in downtown Moncton.

The centre, located on Westmorland Street, is set to welcome the new reps in the coming months.

This hiring initiative is the company's response to customer demand in the area.

"There are more people to serve and customers have more questions we need to answer," says Staniec.

"We get funding based on the needs from the population."

The company already has several hundred employees at its Moncton contact centre, but Staniec said there's room for more.

"There is a natural turnover in call centres. We need to replace them and offer up more people," says Staniec.

"Despite some real estate issues, there'll be a place for these people."

Lisa Pooley, director of wireless tech support, also says space will not be an issue.

"There's definitely room. People need to remember it is a call centre," says Pooley.

"In the tech department we're here 24 hours a day. There are definitely seats."

Pooley is excited about what this means for Moncton.

"This is great for the city. Our customer base is growing," she says.

"There's a need for employees who are customer-focused."

She says more jobs will be good for Moncton.

"It's great for the economy. It's good to see growth in Atlantic Canada. It warms my heart," says Pooley.

Anne Poirier Basque, executive director of Downtown Moncton Centre-Ville, also says the new jobs are a good thing.

She says it will be "very positive for downtown."

"It adds to the vibrancy. It's always a welcome addition for restaurant and bar owners."

New hires will receive a $1,000 signing bonus given to all new call centre representatives.

Rogers also offers a competitive starting salary, a wide range of benefits, 50 per cent discounts on Rogers services, and the chance to join share and pension plans.

Personal note - I guess the rumours about the demise of the call centre industry were premature. If I recall, this is the third announcement in the last several months concerning major workforce expansions in this sector in the Moncton region. In total, I think that this is over 500 new jobs in this sector alone so far this year. This will definitely be good for the economy.

David_99 · #**8578** Posted **May 14, 2011, 2:34 PM**

Damn, I was hoping they'd grow out of their location and move to the Emmerson Business Park or to at least a taller building downtown.

MonctonRad · #**8579** Posted **May 14, 2011, 2:46 PM**

Things are hopping at the GMIA

- The main 8,000 foot east/west runway (11/29) at the GMIA will be closed this summer for a $20M resurfacing project. All traffic will be diverted to the secondary 6,000 foot north/south runway (06/24) for the duration.

- Next year, it will be 06/24 that will receive all the attention as it will be extended to 10,000 feet. This project is also worth over $20M and will allow fully fueled and fully loaded cargo jumbo jets to take off from the airport. This is an important project in that it will allow the GMIA to remain competitive in the air freight business (same capabilities as Halifax Stanfield).

- At the same time, work will be ongoing with regard to the extension of Aviation Blvd to the north of the main terminal building, and the development of an air industrial park with direct taxiway access.

Highlights from the GMIA annual report for 2010:

- Passenger traffic up 7% to 553,000 people.
- Cargo business up 6% to 24k tonnes.
- Addition of Porter Airlines to the stable of carriers servicing the airport.
- New WestJet seasonal services to Montego Bay and Orlando.
- Rebuilding of the intersection of 06/24 and 11/29 ($5M project).

by 2015, the GMIA hopes to increase passenger volumes to 650,000/yr and increase freight to 32k tonnes/yr.

The airport had net earnings (profit) of $2.1M last year.

The report states that the GMIA contributes more than $380M to the provincial economy on an annual basis.

Personal note - to the last point, in an earlier post on this thread, q12 (rightfully) stated that Halifax Stanfield was an important economic generator for HRM, contributing $1.22B to the local economy. This works out to about $3,050 per capita (given a metro population of about 400k).

If you do the same exercise for Moncton, an economic contribution of $380M to a metro population of 137k works out to $2,773 per capita.

The GMIA therefore is nearly as important (91%) on a per capita basis to the Moncton economy as Halifax Stanfield is to the HRM.

porchmouse · #**8580** Posted **May 16, 2011, 3:04 PM**

Here’s a few pics taken over the weekend to show you what’s happening in Moncton North.

#1. Construction behind the RBC branch at the corner of Gorge and Mountain Road. There is definitely an entrance/exit being cleared to help with traffic flow onto Gorge Road. A traffic light will be placed a the corner of Evergreen and Mountain Road. The sooner, the better as it’s only a matter of time before there is an accident. There is supposed to be a drive-thru Second Cup opening as well somewhere in this location. At this time I am not sure if it will be behind the RBC or to the right of it.

#2. The new Irving at the corner of Evergreen and Mountain Road. On Sunday, part of Evergreen was blocked off as they were working on this project. I am assuming they were working yesterday because if they tried to block off Evergreen during a weekday it would be a complete nightmare. Does anyone know if the Irving at Trinity and Mountain Road will be closing? This was the rumour I heard. Next time I am in the store I will ask the staff.

#3. The strip mall development in the lot next to Wheatons. Time will tell to see how many strip malls we can support. Currently there’s the one that houses the Lighting Centre and Jitterbean Café. There’s a new one going up a the corner of Mountain Road and Hildegarde. As well now there is this one going up next to Wheatons. I would love to see a Quiznos up this way. On a side note, Jitterbean Café has extended their hours. They are now open Thursdays and Fridays until 9pm and Saturdays and Sundays until 6pm. With Second Cup opening as well they may need to look at extending their hours even further.

#4. Mapleton Road Dental Centre. This is an updated photo of the new building on Mapleton Road. Based on current reports, hopefully some of the retail development on Mapleton will soon get underway as well. Fingers crossed.

I've got one more piece of news but I'll save it for a separate post.

Cheers,