The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[KnoxfordGuy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

As long as it isn't cost prohibitive, I would rather keep the pipeline in country too.....

It's really interesting how quickly this is all coming together. It makes you wonder that the decision has already been made and they are rushing things to keep ahead of the protesters.

Oh, how I hope you're right! lol!

[Freddypop]

Here is the link to the CBC story

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunsw.../nb-transcanada-pipeline-update-958.html

[q12]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

Things are starting to fall in place. Interestingly the Globe and Mail is reporting it may also feed the Dartmouth refinery, which is at a high risk of closing this year without a buyer. It doesn't say if it will be by pipeline or shipped from Port of Saint John (which would make sense).

What's interesting is that pipeline (natural gas) infrastructure already extends to both Saint John and Dartmouth for natural gas coming from sable island. With Shell and BP planning to explore for oil south of Nova Scotia in deeper water, this could become another source of domestic crude oil for these east coast refineries.



http://www.eia.gov/countries/analysisbriefs/Canada/images/natural_gas_pipelines.png



http://www.agilegeoscience.com/storage/p...__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1354157410220

[Fischbob]

Sounds like this is gaining momentum quickly! Let's hope things keep moving along and that the refinery expansion cdnguys alluded to also comes to pass.

But as I said before, no champagne until shovels are in the ground!

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Fischbob

But as I said before, no champagne until shovels are in the ground!

No champagne until the whole thing is completed

Seriously, fingers crossed on this one.

[Freddypop]

Originally Posted by JHikka

No champagne until the whole thing is completed

Seriously, fingers crossed on this one.

Yep....Fingers crossed! If this comes to pass the economy for the whole province would receive an enormous and sustainable boost. What's good for Saint John is good for NB

[Peter_johnns]

Take this boost (pipeline) by the horns and make Saint John what is was always meant to be! Mel Norton knows what I am talking about haha

[BLeagues]

Yes there is.

Originally Posted by Freddypop

Is there not an existing pipeline from the refinery to Colson Cove?

[cdnguys]

The port authority is discussing being involved in oil exports. I didn't think they profited off of Courtney Bay East Saint John Terminal or Canaport.
Can anyone shed light on that?

[Ottawa]

Originally Posted by cdnguys

The port authority is discussing being involved in oil exports. I didn't think they profited off of Courtney Bay East Saint John Terminal or Canaport.
Can anyone shed light on that?

My understanding is that the port authority has an interest in all the major shipping facilities which includes Canaport and Courtenay Bay. I don't know exactly what the arrangements are, but they have included the tonnage figures from these operations in their stats for as far back as I can remember.

http://www.sjport.com/assets/Uploads/2011PSJ-CommunityReport-final000.pdf

The top left of the first page shows they are definitely including these facilities in their reporting.

[Ottawa]

The link to the map at Trans-Canada seems to have gone dead. Here is the graphic from the CBC story.



Graphic courtesy www.CBC.ca

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Whaler

Pretty sure that St. Vincents is slated for demo this summer.

Why?

[Fischbob]

As far as I know, the Diocese is not doing very well financially. At this stage, they're doing all they can to save the Cathedral, even if it's at the expense of their other buildings in the area (many are disused, and I figure they must cost quite a bit to heat). The Sisters of Charity convent, next door to St. Vincent's, was demolished last year, and apparently the Diocese took down another building in that row, at the corner of Cliff and Waterloo, sometime in the '90s (I don't remember it, but my parents do).

Now the finances alone obviously don't explain why they're choosing to demolish rather than sell: assuming they have any business sense at all, either there are no buyers or they see some value in holding onto the land. The loss of the Catholic institutional buildings on Cliff Street will certainly go down in my mind alongside the likes of Union Station, Customs House and the Old General as major tragedies inflicted on our built heritage

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by Ottawa

The link to the map at Trans-Canada seems to have gone dead. Here is the graphic from the CBC story.



Graphic courtesy www.CBC.ca

Every time I see a proposal like this, I can't help thinking that we'd save ourselves a lot of time and money if we just bit the bullet and annexed northern Maine. It's not like the Americans are doing anything with it!

[MonctonRad]

Canada's "Rail Pipeline" Now Accounts For More Than 5% of Rail Cargo
http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2013...-accounts-for-more-than-5-of-rail-cargo/

The oil-by-rail revolution in North America continues.

While U.S. railroads have for some time now been shipping more and more crude oil by rail, Canadian shippers are now also stoking the continental trend.

National Bank analysts, mining the latest figures from the Association of American Railroads, reports that rail-shipped crude in the first quarter of 2013 accounted for over 5% of all cargo shipped by rail in Canada. Oil now exceeds motor vehicles and parts and is fast catching up to grain.

That follows similar research marking Canada’s increasing reliance on rail to ship oil. U.S. oil producers and refiners have helped lessen a big price discount for crude in the U.S. Midwest by putting it on trains for markets. That’s bypassed a bottleneck in the middle of the country caused by soaring U.S. output in places like North Dakota and too-few pipelines out of the region.

A recent report by Peters & Co., the Calgary investment consultancy, pegged Canadian oil shipments by rail as growing quickly now as well, to some 150,000 barrels a day, up 150% in the last eight months.

The increased crude traffic comes with risks. As the WSJ reported here last week, railroad-related oil leaks, while still small in number relatively speaking, are growing. The industry says that higher shipments increase exposure to accidents, but that the industry is doing a better job managing this exposure.

Thought you guys would find this interesting. This is from a blog on the Wall Street Journal....

[kwajo]

Some more movement on Fundy Quay.

REDESIGN OF WATERFRONT IN WORKS
REID SOUTHWICK TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL03 APR 2013 09:07AM
SAINT JOHN – A branch of city hall plans to redesign the boardwalk and Loyalist Plaza in the popular section of the waterfront, next to the site of a proposed major residential and commercial project.

Saint John Waterfront Development is seeking bids from design consultants who will work with the public to re-imagine the space that’s home to volleyball courts, buskers and restaurant patios in the summer.

“We knew we had to start planning to create some fantastic public space here because of the development that will be taking place on Fundy Quay,” said Kent MacIntyre, general manager of the waterfront agency, referring to the former Coast Guard site.

“Let’s get the planning done so that as things start to unfold in this whole area, in this whole neighbourhood, we’ll be ready to move forward with a great public space.”

Waterfront Development expects to sign a deal later this year to sell the nearby former Coast Guard site to a developer. The agency has been pushing for an agreement to have condominiums, retail, commercial space and potentially a hotel built at the site, now called Fundy Quay.

At the same time, MacIntyre said the space between Market Square and Fundy Quay, encompassing the patio decks, volleyball courts and Loyalist Plaza, is old, tired and in need of an overhaul.

A new design of the area will be shaped heavily by the people who will use the space, he said. Waterfront Development will seek bids from design firms for the next three weeks, with plans to have the successful proponent holding the first public consultation before summer gets underway.

After the consultants glean design ideas from citizens, they will seek the public’s input on a draft plan and, later, a final proposal for the space, according to the agency’s plans. After a year-long design process, construction is expected to roll out in the 2014 to 2015 time frame.

Mayor Mel Norton said a shakeup of the area is long overdue, given that “it hasn’t been touched since the early 1980s.” He said it’s already an anchor development for many restaurants, retailers and other businesses uptown, and he’d like to see a revitalized public space that continues to grant access to the waterfront.

Norton said he also wants the replica of the famous Marco Polo vessel – the original, built in Saint John, was the fastest in the world – to find a place in a redesigned boardwalk area. The remake was constructed more than four years ago, but has not yet found a permanent home.

“We need to reinvigorate that area,” the mayor said. “It’s one of the areas of the city that people spend the most time at and it’s the point that has caused a lot of uptown businesses to sprout from.”

Meanwhile, waterfront officials are in negotiations with a developer over a proposed deal at Fundy Quay, but the developer first wants to know the outcome of a study into potential contaminants at the site.

Earlier assessments had found evidence of potential contamination of trace metals and petroleum hydrocarbons, which are elements found in crude oil and other pollutants.

Common Council hired consultants in January to determine the extent of the contamination and the costs of cleaning it up. The final report is expected near the end of April.

Undeterred, MacIntyre is brimming with optimism about the major real estate bid and the efforts to transform the popular section of the waterfront.

“This is going to be a catalyst for future development in the city centre core, and we’re quite excited by it,” he said.

[KnoxfordGuy]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Every time I see a proposal like this, I can't help thinking that we'd save ourselves a lot of time and money if we just bit the bullet and annexed northern Maine. It's not like the Americans are doing anything with it!

Agreed! We were on our way to get that land before 1842, but things fell through

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Fischbob

As far as I know, the Diocese is not doing very well financially. At this stage, they're doing all they can to save the Cathedral, even if it's at the expense of their other buildings in the area (many are disused, and I figure they must cost quite a bit to heat). The Sisters of Charity convent, next door to St. Vincent's, was demolished last year, and apparently the Diocese took down another building in that row, at the corner of Cliff and Waterloo, sometime in the '90s (I don't remember it, but my parents do).

Now the finances alone obviously don't explain why they're choosing to demolish rather than sell: assuming they have any business sense at all, either there are no buyers or they see some value in holding onto the land. The loss of the Catholic institutional buildings on Cliff Street will certainly go down in my mind alongside the likes of Union Station, Customs House and the Old General as major tragedies inflicted on our built heritage

Interesting. The local diocese here is currently looking to demolish the 6th or 7th oldest house in Calgary. Any wild guesses what that school (and property) might be worth?

[Peter_johnns]

Great news for the waterfront...still waiting to see new renderings of Fundy Quay!

[kwajo]

No other city in the province has urban areas like this.


Welcome to my Ward. by darkharbour, on Flickr

Photo credit: me.