Official Sydney and Area Projects Thread

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Main page updated!

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...56#post2602556

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Sydney's going to have to be a multi-parter...how may I'm not sure yet but probably at least three.

Part 1 is the suburbs.

Sydney Harbour


by Ken Heaton


Petersfield Provincial Park (Westmount)


by athenaa


Westmount


by Kim Doyle


Sydney Skyline


by awal187


Coxheath Mountain


by Ken Heaton


Top of Coxheath Mountain


by kmartell
Full Size Here (click with magnifying glass after re-size)


Sydney River


by sportsdad416


Train Tressle Near Riverview High (SA is Sydney Academy)


by Howie Hennigar


Sydney River 1986 (Hwy 125 Bridge in background)


by ziggy_Stouten


Sydney River


by athenaa


Sydney River


by Ken Heaton


I'm thinking at least 2 more parts, more probably 3 with the explosion of pictures that happened.

[Davey Boy Smith]

Centre 200 getting new upgrades!!

http://www.giant1019.com/index.asp?mn=12&id=116&f=1

News
GIANT REALITY CHECK
270-NEWS || 270-6397
news@giant1019.com
LATEST HEADLINES...

Sydney's Centre 200 will undergo a two and a half million dollar renovation thanks to money from the federal government, the CBRM and the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. The announcement was made today by Peter MacKay, Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, Mayor John Morgan and Stuart MacLeod, Chairperson of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Proposed improvements include increasing the seating capacity to at least 5,000 through the addition of 13 new skyboxes, club seating and the installation of a new video scoreboard system. Renovations will also be carried out to the concession area and washrooms. The Government of Canada, through ECBC is investing a million and a half while the CBRM and the Screaming Eagle are both providing $500,000.

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^Thanks for that update Davey Boy! I can't wait to get home this July! Looks like I'll be splitting time between Fredericton and L'Ardoise, but there'll be some daytrips to Sydney during the time in L'Ardoise.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=224409&sc=151

Capital squeeze still unresolved

The Cape Breton Post

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is getting its point across that it can’t afford to participate in any major infrastructure opportunities that come along in the next year or two under the guise of federal and provincial economic stimulus. Whether that argument changes the situation appreciably remains to be seen.

If it doesn’t, and if CBRM hangs tough against taking on additional capital debt, the picture could turn out to be politically embarrassing for a premier who says he intends to bring every federal dollar he can to the province.
Some of those dollars in the federal stimulus plan are intended to comprise one-third of the funding for capital projects such as sewer and water systems, with the other two levels of government kicking in equal amounts.

Jerry Ryan, CBRM’s chief administrative officer, told council this week the municipality may not be able to participate at all in the coming round of shovel-ready projects. Capital debt as a proportion of own-source revenues stands at 17 per cent, thanks to an ambitious capital program in such areas as water treatment and solid waste management required to meet new provincial standards.

The province considers a 15 per cent debt ratio a matter of concern.
Theoretically CBRM still has lots of room to borrow, but whether it could borrow prudently, given all circumstances, is the question. Ryan thinks the municipality is effectively “maxed” on capital borrowing; councillors, already spooked by a nine-figure debt of more than $100 million, would find it very difficult to challenge their chief bureaucrat on that point should they even want to.

Caught in this debate is the Cape Breton Health Recreation Complex, a $10 million project proposed for the Cape Breton University campus which has already lined up most of its funding from senior governments and private sources. Proponents, recognizing CBRM’s financial predicament, have scaled back their municipal request from about $1.5 million to $900,000 over four years starting in fiscal 2010-11.

That’s about nine per cent of cost, an almost irresistibly attractive figure for a project that would have significant regional benefits of all sorts, including economic. However, it’s a private non-profit endeavour (though with major public sector partners) so that other government funding is not conditional on municipal participation; without municipal participation, though, completion of the financing may be out of reach at this time, and delays would cost at least some funding withdrawals.

Beyond this project looms the larger question of whether the region is frozen out of significant municipal infrastructure for years to come, at least the next two years when big bucks are supposed to be raining from the Heavens. It’s easy for Sydney Victoria MP Mark Eyking to argue from the opposition benches that the cost sharing should be flexible, perhaps allowing a debt-burdened municipality such as CBRM to buy in with 10-cent dollars.

However, we’ve yet to hear either the federal or provincial government suggest such an arrangement. And if that 10-cent-on-the-dollar buy-in did become available, would CBRM be in a position to take up the opportunity? Ten-cent capital dollars five years ago would have helped a lot.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=224393&sc=595

Who’s reponsible for tar ponds mistakes if not engineers, experts?

The Cape Breton Post

A few weeks ago, we heard there were more problems at the tar ponds project.

The barrier wall that was built at the mouth of the tar ponds used material that did not meet specifications. Why wasn’t the first truckload of this material stopped before the project began? Why was it allowed to finish using the wrong materials? It may cost $1 million to fix this problem.

There was also a problem with another barrier wall on the coke ovens site that didn’t meet quality control standards.

Why are problems like these allowed to happen?

The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency pays an independent engineer with Conestoga-Rovers to oversee the project, as well as many other engineers and consultants and “experts,” yet this is allowed to happen. Who is responsible for these expensive mistakes? Does anybody know what’s going on over there?

Debbie Ouellette
Sydney

Poster's note: In projects this size, things like this are bound to happen. The important thing is that they get fixed when they're noticed. $1M fix now is better than another $100M+ to fix this and the effects of it down the road (I'm estimating $100M+ due to the amount of time it takes to get anything funded in CB, especially the tar-ponds cleanups).


http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=224390&sc=595

Active seniors anticipate the benefit of proposed health and fitness centre

The Cape Breton Post

Cape Breton University’s Seniors College is a seniors-governed, volunteer, membership-based organization that provides stimulating and affordable learning opportunities for seniors (over age 50) in a welcoming and comfortable environment.

Since its inception, Seniors College has offered programs and services that fall into the educational, cultural, recreational and health and wellness fields. For example, courses have been offered in introductory Spanish, conversational French, the modern novel, computer literacy, learning to play the violin, Scottish step and square dancing, armchair travel, and drawing and sketching.

A well-attended walk and toning program has been operating for the past couple of years with a particular emphasis on the state of health of each participant.

The mission of CBU’s Seniors College is to rejuvenate learning opportunities for seniors through courses which enhance quality of life.

We recently conducted a six-week course in the geography and history of Cape Breton for upwards of 65 Kiwanis Golden K members and their spouses.
This was in preparation for them becoming ambassadors for Cape Breton as the first point of contact in meeting and greeting cruise ship passengers.
This is a fine example of the Seniors College improving the quality of life for the wider community.

More than 400 participants have taken part in our programs and services, which have taken place at the CBU campus. A modern, up-to-date health and wellness centre would allow the Seniors College to expand its offerings and enable more people of all ages to use the various amenities in the combined indoor-outdoor facility.

Group services are an efficient manner in which to offer programs to as large a segment of the population as possible. The regional municipality is continually striving to offer sports and recreation activities to the community, often with the outcome that there are not enough ball and soccer fields or not enough ice time available.

It would seem prudent to invest in a project designed to meet the needs of a diverse as possible cross-section of the population.

We at the CBU Seniors College encourage and invite all who are stakeholders in this vast, timely undertaking to offer their support by making contact with their local government representatives to encourage their approval of this venture. This is a very costly undertaking, but for our future, can we not afford to see it through to fruition?

As noted poet Robert Frost wrote:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Bernie McLeod
Sydney
Seniors College president

Poster's note: As a former child and teen soccer player (among other sports), one of the things that held the region back in competition against other regions (eg- provincials) was the lack of a year-round facility which many of the more successful regions had. This facility would help not only the organized sports for children and teens, but the access to a high quality heath facility for the region as a whole, though again away from the Northside though the Northside Civic Centre will help a bit with that area.

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http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=224709&sc=152

University presidents hoping for government funding to address infrastruture concerns

CHRIS SHANNON
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Bricks and mortar are on the minds of many university presidents in the province as the Tory government prepares a budget that’s expected to include a major infrastructure program to stimulate the economy.

Cape Breton University president John Harker said there are places at his institution that need immediate attention.

“Some of our buildings are quite an age now and some are 40 years old. We really need to see things like windows and doors replaced,” said Harker, adding the immediate repairs to basic infrastructure, already submitted to the province, are estimated to cost $6 million.

“Our list that we submitted was of very critical things. These were repairs or refitting of buildings — the A wing, which houses most of our scientists, for example, the B block and C wing — so those things remain real priorities. We can’t really always go on deferring dealing with brick failure and windows that leak energy.”

The Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents reports an infrastructure deficit of $543 million among the 11 degree granting post-secondary institutions in Nova Scotia. The council’s revised plan calls for the province to invest $85 million in projects determined to be most critical.

Last year, the province froze tuition at 2008 levels, while giving universities an extra $180 million in order to eliminate tuition increases over a three-year period.

The average undergraduate tuition in the province in 2008-09 was $5,878, the highest in the country, according to Statistics Canada.

Liberal leader Stephen McNeil urged the province to provide “desperately needed strategic investment” in university infrastructure.

McNeil wants the provincial government to ensure universities are able to access funding made available in the recent federal budget.

“Guaranteeing that these Nova Scotia institutions are able to access matching federal dollars and address their most critical infrastructure needs is key,” he said in a release.

Premier Rodney MacDonald has been unwilling to budge from his own timetable in releasing an economic stimulus package.

“Any stimulus of the economy has got to be a blend of short-term and immediate impact spending and longer term investment,” Harker said.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=224809&sc=145

Silver Dart replica pilot Bjarni Tryggvason takes to the air for his first successful flypast of the afternoon, on Baddeck Bay, Sunday. Steve Wadden – Cape Breton Post

Silver Dart takes flight again

CHRIS SHANNON
The Cape Breton Post

BADDECK — A crowd of several hundred people who lined neatly behind an orange barrier clapped and yelled words of encouragement as the Silver Dart replica made its first attempts down a snow-covered runway on frozen Baddeck Bay, Sunday.

It lifted slightly, no more than a half-metre off the ground, before landing and then turning hard on its front wheel after flying a distance of 10 metres.
Its pilot, Bjarni Tryggvason, a former Canadian astronaut, said he wasn’t too concerned with his first test drive over Bras d’Or Lake, even though the front wheel fell off.

Three bolts holding the front landing wheel in place loosened and fell out.

“We had to fix that up, but of course we had the original one with us as well,” said Tryggvason after completing five test runs, three of which successfully made it nearly to the end of the ice runway.

Tryggvason, an aeronautics engineer, made good use of the rickety wings to fly from side to side as he gained altitude of about five to six metres.

The last attempt Sunday afternoon proved to be the most successful as Tryggvason pushed it to a distance of 3,500 feet, or just more than one kilometre.

Asked by a reporter to compare that to Alexander Graham Bell’s Silver Dart experience on the Bras d’Or Lake, Tryggvason said Sunday’s last flight of the day did outdistance Bell’s original flight on the lake.

“(Bell’s team) flew longer flights later on in it. They flew it about 50 times before they smucked in (to the ground) the final time.

“It’ll be nice if we can get some longer flights in here. I think we have to tweak up our engine to get a little bit more horsepower out of it. It’s not quite giving us all I’d like to see.”

The first person to congratulate Tryggvason as the Silver Dart replica was pushed toward a large white tent — a makeshift hangar — was Gerald Haddon of Oakville, Ont.

Haddon’s grandfather, engineer J. A. D. McCurdy was one of the aircraft’s designers as part of a team led by inventor Bell and he flew the Silver Dart for the first time on Feb. 23, 1909. A year later, he would earn Canada’s first pilot’s licence.

McCurdy was fully exposed to the elements as he flew the plane over Baddeck Bay, covering one kilometre at an altitude of about five metres.
“The big thing about flying the Silver Dart is you’ve got nobody to talk to.
You got no manuals to consult, you’ve got nothing. You only have your own experience and your wits with you to get you through the air,” Haddon said.

Groups of young families each took turns having their children stand in front of the replica for pictures.

“It’s cool ... because it’s holded (together) with wires,” said Laura Beth Rogers, 7, of Sydney, whose great grandfather Malcom MacDermid witnessed the original Silver Dart takeoff in 1909 in Baddeck.

Laura’s grandmother, Connie MacDermid Rogers, said knowing family members past and present have been at the place where historic moments have taken place gives her a special sense of pride.

“Just to feel that you’re walking on the same ground that they walked on 100 years ago, just puts chills right through me,” she said.

The replica’s first test flights in Hamilton earlier this month went well, giving the volunteer group of aviation enthusiasts faith that the biplane could fly over Baddeck Bay.

However, it appears the weather is unlikely to co-operate for the Silver Dart replica and the estimated thousands of visitors who will descend on Baddeck this morning to watch the re-enactment of the flight.

As much as 10 centimetres of snow, mixed with ice pellets, eventually changing to freezing rain and rain is expected all day. The biggest problem facing a flight by the Silver Dart is the wind gusts, which are expected to blow from the south at 50 kilometres per hour to 80 km/h.

“This is a bit of a concern but everyone’s hoping and keeping their fingers crossed that it’s going to work out. That’s why we are doing some things (Sunday), just to test everything and make sure it’s working,” said Haddon, who has worked as a volunteer in the design and construction of the replica.

The original Silver Dart was designed with a 40-horsepower Curtiss engine and was built using steel tubing, bamboo, friction tape, wire, wood and rubberized silk balloon-cloth.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean will fly into Sydney airport before immediately boarding a helicopter to take her to Baddeck this morning.

Among the other special guests expected for the ceremonies marking National Aviation Day are three Canadian astronauts, including Roberta Bondar, who is serving as the honorary chairperson, Canadian performance parachute team the Skyhawks, and singer and musician Loreena McKennitt.

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http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=225577&sc=151

Lingan flirts with the future

The Cape Breton Post

Given Nova Scotia Power Inc.’s reluctance to invest in cleaning up its most heavily polluting power generating station at Lingan, there’s no great excitement over news that this plant will be involved in a study of one of the hottest environmental technologies currently touted in North America. For what it’s worth, Lingan can claim it has this one finger on the cutting edge of the technological approach to climate change.

NSP, along with four U.S. electric utilities, is making a coal-fired plant available for the study by the non-profit Electric Power Research Institute of Palo Alto, Calif., as well as making a $50,000 contribution. The study will look at ways to retrofit coal-fired power plants to capture carbon dioxide and pump it underground for long-term storage. Lingan, Nova Scotia’s biggest power plant, is included as an example of a small one by North American standards.

The technology, known as carbon capture and storage (or sequestration), is much in the news these days because of the high hopes — unrealistically high, some say — that it will play a major role in rehabilitating both coal and the Alberta oilsands. Production from the oilsands, particularly under pre-recession expansion scenarios, poses a huge hurdle for Canada in coming up with a realistic and credible emission reduction plan for greenhouse gases.
Coal-fired power generation is an even bigger problem across North America and around the world.

If some large percentages of all that carbon dioxide could be pumped into the ground and forgotten, it would be an enormous help in hitting emission reduction targets in Nova Scotia and many other places, including China.
Research and development into CCS systems will be a big part of the so-called “clean-energy dialogue” launched as a result of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Canada last Thursday.

How realistic these hopes are is much debated, however. Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice believes North America “will be leading the world in carbon capture and storage,” which is already technically feasible. Whether it’s economically feasible on the scales envisioned is very much the open question, however.

Dozens of projects are on the drawing board worldwide. Alberta alone hopes to have five running by 2015 but even if that happens the total capture would be only a few per cent of oilsands carbon dioxide emissions. Skeptics note that without powerful incentives or compulsion for industry to adopt this technology, it’s not going to happen on the scale needed to make a difference. Besides, some environmentalists argue, the obsession with big techno-fixes like this detracts from more sensible approaches to climate such as reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Lingan, meanwhile, is still waiting for previous-generation technology to control particulates and reduce gaseous emissions blamed for acid rain. The idea of that plant leaping into the future with a full menu of abatement technologies sounds improbable at this point but NSP is going to have to come up with cleaner, greener electricity somehow. We can count on it costing more but the precise mix of solutions is still very much in flux.

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http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=226876&sc=145

County signatures still wanted on Bras d’Or biosphere proposal

GREG MCNEIL
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — A proposal to designate the Bras d’Or Lakes and surrounding watershed as a biosphere reserve has been sent to Ottawa.

However, where it goes from there depends upon support for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designation at home.

Teresa MacNeil, chair of the Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere Reserve Association, said the group has set aside the next two weeks to try to get the counties of Inverness and Victoria to sign off on the document.

“We submitted the document to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, so it has to be vetted by the federal government before it goes to Paris, to UNESCO.”

MacNeil said the document will not be sent to Paris without those signatures.

“We don’t have to have those but they are part of our watershed and our lake. We don’t have to have it. We’d prefer to have it.”

The entire area of the proposed biosphere reserve is 3,566 square km, made up of the Bras d’Or Lakes and the surrounding watershed.

Among other things the biosphere reserve will focus on conservation, sustainable economic development and logistic support, according to the group’s 256 page proposal.

The two weeks “grace” is to allow the Canadian UNESCO officials to start looking at the document, she said.

“It is not an extension. We have requested that we be given a grace period for the signatures from the two counties and the province. It should start with the municipalities and then the province.”

“I have no indication the province is having any problems with it.”

If the Canadian commission of UNESCO believes the document answers UNESCO’s questions and the signatures are obtained, it will then proceed to Paris.

“We didn’t dream up what we dealt with in that document. People think ‘you emphasized tourism but you didn’t say anything about mining.’ Well we do have something in about mining but not enough for many people.”

MacNeil doesn’t know if the signatures will be obtained but she is hopeful.

In February, Inverness County voted against supporting the proposal, citing concerns with the size of the area involved and possible effects on local industry.

However, Inverness left the door open to supporting the proposal if the concerns could be addressed.

MacNeil said the designation has no power to impose any regulations.
The volunteer group has twice met with each county and will again meet with Victoria County officials, Monday.

Visit blbra.ca to view the application.

Poster's note: All four counties on CBI (Cape Breton, Richmond, Inverness, and Victoria) have shoreline on the Bras D'Or Lake, and include waterways that empty into it comprising it's watershed.


http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=227064&sc=145

Hydroelectric power from N.L. may be coming to Lingan

Breaking News
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Nova Scotia Power is in talks with Newfoundland and Labrador’s Nalcor Energy about the possibility of bringing hydroelectric power from The Rock to Cape Breton.

Nalcor, which has proposed two new generating stations on the Churchill River and has filed an environmental impact statement on its plans to transmit the power from the Lower Churchill dams in central Labrador to Newfoundland, hopes to export some of the power to Nova Scotia and other markets. In order to do that, it is considering an undersea cable that could land in Cape Breton at Lingan, where Nova Scotia Power already has a coal-fired generating station.

A federal-provincial panel is expected to decide on the Newfoundland environmental assessment next year.

Full coverage in Monday's Cape Breton Post.

I'll continue with the March catch-up later, hopefully tomorrow.

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http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=227190&sc=145

Nova Scotia Power in talks about N.L. power

TOM AYERS
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Nova Scotia Power is in talks with Newfoundland and Labrador’s Nalcor Energy about the possibility of bringing hydroelectric power from The Rock to Cape Breton.

Nalcor, which has proposed two new generating stations on the Churchill River and has filed an environmental impact statement on its plans to transmit the power from the Lower Churchill dams in central Labrador to Newfoundland, hopes to export some of the power to Nova Scotia and other markets. In order to do that, it is considering an undersea cable that could land in Cape Breton at Lingan, where Nova Scotia Power already has a coal-fired generating station.

A federal-provincial panel is expected to decide on the Newfoundland environmental assessment next year.

Spokesperson Margaret Murphy said Nova Scotia Power is currently negotiating with the Newfoundland energy company about the possibility of distributing hydroelectric power in Nova Scotia. She said talks include price, infrastructure needs and the Cape Breton landing site of a subsea cable from Newfoundland.

Murphy confirmed that the Lingan power plant is one possible landing site, but she said others are also under discussion.

“I’ll be honest with you, we’re probably not going to get into the details of negotiations, because we are in negotiations,” she said. “But we are certainly interested in the carbon-free energy.”

Murphy said NSP has 33 hydroelectric stations in the province, but that source of energy is “largely tapped out” here and the company is looking to increase power supply while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Buying hydroelectricity from Newfoundland is one source of green energy that adds to the mix of alternatives to fossil-fuel power being developed by NSP, said Murphy.

“It would not be a total solution, but a partial solution to go toward our tagets for emission reductions.”

NSP is also developing solutions such as natural gas, wind and tidal power, she said.

Murphy said the local power company is considering purchasing up to 600 megawatts of electricity from Newfoundland, which would require some investment in transmission infrastructure.

According to its website, NSP’s connection to the power grid with New Brunswick — and markets in Quebec and New England — can handle 350 megawatts of power going out and 300 MW coming in, because of existing line limitations, and new generation would require changes to the existing transmission and distribution system.

However, Murphy added, hydroelectric power coming in to Lingan would not likely mean the coal-fired plant’s replacement.

“There are undoubtedly some upgrades that would be part of the project,” she said, adding there is “going to be an ongoing role for the existing fleet of power plants for some time to come.”

Nalcor Energy of St. John’s, N.L. says on its website the existing Churchill Falls hydro station, which began producing power in 1971, generates 5,428 MW of power which is about 65 per cent of the potential generating capacity of the river. The remaining 35 per cent is located at two sites on the lower Churchill River, known as the Lower Churchill project.

Nalcor is proposing two new installations with a combined capacity of more than 2,800 MW that the company says can provide 16.7 terawatt hours of electricity per year, “enough clean electricity to contribute significantly to the reduction of air emissions from thermal, coal and fossil fuel power generation. In particular, the projects could displace over 16 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 3.2 million automobiles.”

The Newfoundland power company also says the Lower Churchill River project will help meet the province’s domestic and industrial energy needs with power to spare for export.

A spokesperson providing background only confirmed Nalcor is in talks with Emera, NSP’s parent company, about the possibility of exporting power through a subsea cable that could land in Cape Breton at Lingan.

The Newfoundland company is also considering a transmission route through Quebec, and it’s possible the company could consider both routes, said the spokesperson.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=227137&sc=152

Local restaurants invited to have menus evaluated

The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Local restaurants are being invited to have their menus evaluated under a program promoting healthy food choices.

The Healthy Henri Nutrition Program is a voluntary awards program open to all restaurants, schools and workplace cafeterias across Cape Breton. It is a partnership between the Cape Breton District Health Authority, Public Health Services and several community groups.

“This program helps people choose healthier menu items when it comes to dining out,” Brenna MacEachern, public health nutritionist and Health Henri Nutrition Program co-ordinator, said in a press release.

“The program also gives food establishments an opportunity to satisfy the needs of people who are becoming more aware of healthy food choices.”

Menu submissions are confidential and will only be accessible to the Healthy Henri committee. Menus will be evaluated using criteria based on Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, an existing food safety criteria set by the Department of Agriculture - Food Safety Section.

Suzanne Annesty-Udle, owner of the Bean Bank Café in Sydney, says submitting her menu to the Healthy Henri Nutrition Program demonstrates her restaurant’s commitment to serving healthy food for customers.

“Healthy eating is indeed possible within a food service setting,” Annesty-Udle said.

“Taking part in the Healthy Henri Program shows customers that we offer non-processed, high-quality food choices that cater to individual taste and health challenges,” she said.

“By simply making the decision to submit our menu, we show positive desire to become active in our community in the fight against obesity and chronic disease.”

Local food establishments who wish to learn about the Healthy Henri Nutrition Program can contact Brenna MacEachern at (902) 258-2139 or e-mail Brenna.MacEachern@publichealth.ns.ca.

The deadline for menu submissions is Friday.

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http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=227646&sc=145

St. Mark’s Church to be moved from Coxheath to Cove Guest Home

The Cape Breton Post

By John McNeil
Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Don’t be surprised if you see a little piece of heaven driving along Kings Road in the coming weeks.

St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Coxheath will be moved in 11 carefully-cut sections along Kings Road to the Cove Guest Home on Alexandra Street.

Carl Rideout, chair of the Cove’s board of directors, said plans for the move began in 2006, when it was announced that St. Mark’s and three other Anglican churches would be closing.

“Three years ago, the Cove board received a letter from the church council,” Rideout said. “The new Cove has no chapel, but at the old Cove, we did, so the council said they’d give us the church.”

Rideout said representatives from the Cove then met with the church council and exchanged letters of intent before beginning engineering studies to determine if it would be feasible to move the 150-year-old church.

“Then we met with the Department of Highways, Nova Scotia Power, Aliant, and the cable companies to determine the cost involved, because the Cove is a non-profit,” Rideout said.

Each of the 11 pieces will be lifted by crane onto a flatbed and transported from Coxheath to Alexandra Street, onto a new basement foundation next to Williston House, an assisted living residence on the Cove’s grounds.

“Then, piece by piece, it will be put back together like a puzzle,” Rideout said.

The church will face Kings Road and will be accessible from inside Williston House. It will seat 150 people, which will accommodate the Cove’s 108 residents in the guest home and Williston House’s 40 residents.

Before disassembling the church, the Cove conducted a full, computerized inventory of all church contents and put them in storage.

“We’ve removed the stained glass windows and stored them. All the windows, pews, baptismal fountain - everything inside the church is in storage,” Rideout said.

They also videotaped the inside of the church so that it can be reassembled exactly.

Rideout said the chapel will be called St. Mark’s Chapel to honour the people of the church’s former congregation.

“We’re indebted to the people of the congregation of St. Mark’s,” he said.
Rideout said the new chapel will mean a great deal to the residents of the Cove.

“Every one of us is on a spiritual journey,” he said. “People at that age have a lot of time to sit and think. The chapel will not only be a bright light for them, but it will also bring the community to the Cove.”

The move and assembly is expected to be completed in 60 to 90 days.

Where's the show "Monster Moves" to document this one?

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http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=227979&sc=145

Council insists YMCA must pay parking meter fees

CHRIS SHANNON
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — The cash-strapped Cape Breton Regional Municipality has flatly rejected the request of the YMCA of Cape Breton to forgive $70,000 in parking meter fees incurred since construction began on its multi-million dollar expansion project last summer.

The cramped working space in downtown Sydney between the YMCA’s construction site at the corner of Bentinck and Wentworth streets and the street itself meant that 15 metered parking spots at curbside would be needed for construction trailers, as well as creating a safety zone to divert motorists and pedestrians away from the construction area.

At $10 per meter per day, it has added up to a big bill. And the pressure to have the debt forgiven had taken on greater significance since YMCA chief executive officer Andre Gallant said the project’s costs have risen by $2.3-million since last July.

“It may be a stretch to say, ‘Please forgive us for all of the charges,’” Gallant said to councillors in explaining his pitch.

“We certainly would be happy at looking at real revenues lost and paying those. If you look across the street here you can see a number of vacant meters and if you go around the YMCA now you’ll see a number of vacant meters.”

He estimated the actual revenue lost to the municipality is closer to 40 per cent of what the YMCA is being charged for using those spots everyday.

Councillors didn’t see the request as a reasonable one, however.

“This municipality can’t afford to give out 10 cents,” Coun. Wes Stubbert said.

Coun. Dave LeBlanc said the CBRM isn’t in the sort of financial shape to overlook payments that are written in policy.

Chief administrative officer Jerry Ryan added the CBRM’s $1.5-million contribution to the massive transformation of the building demonstrates municipal support for the YMCA, but it doesn’t mean the parking meter fees should be waived.

Gallant said the organization is managing to pick up the extra fuel, steel and labour costs, which spiked as construction began. He said that includes a “bump up” of its community fundraising campaign, which has already surpassed its $1.5-million goal.

Still, he said the YMCA has to raise additional revenue to completely cover the funding gap that currently stands at about $300,000.

It’s expected the first phase of the project will be completed by June.

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Money must be set aside to train firefighters, says director

CHRIS SHANNON
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — A training facility to call their own.

That’s what the Cape Breton Regional Fire Service has been investigating for a couple of years, as it attempts to curb costs associated with firefighter training at the provincial facility in Waverly, outside Dartmouth.

Bernie MacKinnon, the director of fire and emergency services, said $200,000 should be set aside in the capital budget each year over a five-year period to cover the expenses of selecting a site, purchasing equipment and constructing a fixed training tower, which is expected to cost $500,000 alone.

The total cost is estimated at $2-million over five years for capital and operating costs.

MacKinnon said the proposed site would have to be central within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, but he was reluctant to say whether fire officials had any areas in mind. It is estimated that a fire training facility like the Nova Scotia Firefighters School, would need approximately 40 acres.

Securing CBRM funding and a site could make it easier to access funding from the other two levels of government and open a discussion on sharing resources with the other four municipalities in Cape Breton.

“We’re going to be talking with those other areas but it’s hard to go ahead and have the discussion unless you have money on the table yourself,” said MacKinnon, as he responded to questions about where the money should come from.

Funding for firefighters has become a growing issue as insurance costs continue to increase, he noted.

Formal training for a level one firefighting course in Waverly is about $1,800.
Considering a volunteer firefighter turnover rate of 20 per cent, about 154 people will require a full level one course on an annual basis in the CBRM, leaving behind a bill for $277,000.

MacKinnon said when travel costs are factored in the total annual cost is $852,000.

The CBRM’s chief administrative officer Jerry Ryan, who has been preaching fiscal responsibility in the lead up to next week’s budget talks, said it’s an expenditure that the municipality will incur even if it has to continue using the provincial training facility.

“It has pros and cons. I certainly see Bernie’s side of it and we intend on having that discussion at budget,” Ryan said.

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Economy may be down, but sales up at Mayflower Mall

BY ERIN POTTIE
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Despite a stagnant economy, cold weather is pushing brisk sales at the Mayflower Mall.

General manager Paul Carrigan said there was a 13 per cent increase of sales in January compared to the same month last year.

Those figures do not include sales from the mall’s anchor stores, The Bay, Future Shop, Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Sport Chek, Staples, Michaels or Winners.

“The cold weather was good because what it did was a lot of the fashion stores sold a lot of outerwear and warmer clothes,” Carrigan said. “Also our gift certificate sales every year, they increase considerably and we get a lot of redemptions in January.”

Carrigan said people living in Cape Breton are resilient and might not take talks of a recession too seriously. However, he said that doesn’t mean the bottom won’t fall out of the sales market in the near future.

Overall sales for the Mayflower Mall for 2008 were up four per cent over 2007.

“Of course there is a recession, but at the same time, Cape Bretoners, we’ve been pretty much in a stagnant economy for many years so therefore we’re kind of used to the talk,” he said.

Carrigan believes local residents chose to shop locally in Cape Breton this year, as opposed to travelling to major centres such as Halifax.

“We’re very pleased with our customers for shopping and I’m not just talking Mayflower Mall, I’m talking downtowns throughout the Cape Breton municipality and other local retailers.”

But while the cold weather is increasing business revenues, it has been wreaking havoc on the mall’s flat roof. After a long stint of cold weather, about seven inches of ice formed and weighed down the main roof.

“What happens is the weight will allow any melting or water to come in to the individual stores or even the common area,” said Carrigan. “Now (that) the ice has melted, we’re not seeing as many leaks.”

The mall roof will be inspected to see if their is any damage that needs repair. Carrigan said mall tenants have been very patient in dealing with the leaks over the past two months.

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‘Big box’ fitness facilities can co-exist with community assets

The Cape Breton Post

The $10 million Cape Breton Health and Recreation Complex we propose to build on the Cape Breton University campus would feature an indoor recreation facility for activities such as soccer, baseball, lawn bowling, football and walking. It would house dressing rooms and the offices of a Population Health Research Centre, an outdoor eight-lane track and a soccer pitch with artificial turf.

After two years of hard work, we have secured funding from the provincial ($3 million) and federal ($3.5 million) governments, and locally through Soccer Nova Scotia ($500,000) and CBU ($1.2 million in land, project management and capital funds).

We need another $1.8 million to reach our funding goal. Some of our federal funding will be in danger of disappearing if we don’t meet our goals by March 31, and the entire project might collapse. Even those opposing the proposed complex must see the lost opportunity of turning down $6.5 million in secured, outside government funding for this community project.

We recently asked the Cape Breton Regional Municipality for $900,000 spread over four years, a strategic investment which would bring in millions in capital spending to our community. Remember, we are in a recession, and our population is shrinking rapidly.

Apart from the millions spent in construction funding, our facility would attract provincial and national soccer and track and field meets for decades to come, generating million in local spending by visiting teams and their families. We feel it would make our community more attractive when recruiting and retaining young families to live and work here.

Dr. Chris Milburn states there is no evidence that “big box” facilities enhance physical activity (Weekend Feedback: Palatial Fitness Centre an Extravagance Region Doesn’t Need, Feb. 28). We argue that “big boxes” such as community pools, ice rinks, gymnasiums and facilities such as ours do enhance recreation and physical fitness.

We agree with Dr. Milburn that well-maintained bike and walking trails in each of our communities are important. But recognize that our climate makes it difficult for such activities between November and May. We have little spring in Cape Breton, and the winter can be long, cold, icy and dark.

Nevertheless, an honest debate can be had over spending scarce CBRM recreation dollars on helping build our proposed complex, versus building more walking and biking trails. We hope our fellow citizens will see that both the recreation and economic potential of our project argues for a strategic investment by CBRM.

Dr. Milburn is concerned about situating our facility at the CBU campus. Given our urban sprawl, we argue there is no ideal place for such a facility.
However, after careful study, we feel the CBU campus is very suitable. CBU has generously contributed land, project management and capital funding, and its residential facilities would enhance soccer and track and field summer camps. It is central to a large portion of our population.

Dr. Milburn is concerned with our society’s over-reliance on cars. Fifteen minutes of highway driving is more fuel-efficient than 10 to 15 minutes of driving through town, with all the turns, stop signs and red lights. As well, transit buses travel between CBU and Glace Bay, New Waterford and Sydney.

Dr. Milburn’s suggestion to build three separate indoor soccer facilities throughout CBRM is not financially sustainable because of high operating costs. Even if it were, given our urban sprawl it is unlikely that disadvantaged kids could easily access even local facilities on foot in the wintertime. Our committee is intent that disadvantaged children will have ready access to this multi-recreational facility via school programs and school busing.

Dr. Milburn unfairly claims our committee is an elite group working behind closed doors. Our volunteer committee members come from the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board, the Cape Breton District Health Authority, Soccer Cape Breton, our local Track and Field Association and CBU, and there are two physicians (Greg Myatt and myself). All of us are passionate about accessible recreation and population health. All of us desire a prosperous, green and healthy future for our citizens and children.

If Dr. Milburn needs our help and experience to access federal and provincial funding for more green recreational facilities such as biking and walking paths, he can count on us. The difficult part is always who will provide the yearly operating expenses.

Our facility will be run by an independent, non-profit organization and will not require operating money from CBRM. It will not be owned or operated by CBU. We are more than confident, based our review of similar facilities in other cities, that our complex will pay its own way.

We hope readers will appreciate that our proposed facility and Dr. Milburn’s vision of greener recreational opportunities can co-exist side by side to the betterment of everyone in CBRM.

Andrew Lynk, MD
steering committee member,
Cape Breton Health and Recreation Complex

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Lake biosphere a healthy idea

The Cape Breton Post

The clock is rapidly running down on an initiative to have the Bras d’Or Lake and its watershed declared a biosphere reserve by the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The last we heard, about a week ago, the community-based association behind the idea was embarking on a couple of weeks of last-ditch effort to win over two of Cape Breton’s municipal councils, Victoria and Inverness, which — rather unexpectedly, it appears — baulked at endorsing the scheme.

Their support, strictly speaking, is not required for the application to proceed. But to have two of the four island municipalities that border the lake refusing to support the biosphere designation would effectively be a veto. The application needs the provincial government’s endorsement, too, which was not expected to be a problem provided the other key stakeholders were onside.

As Inverness County Warden Duart MacAulay explains it, his council rejected the plan 5-1 largely out of concern for its possible impediment to economic development. Councillors were spooked by the sheer size of the area covered — not just the lake itself, where the need for environmental protection and indeed rehabilitation has won growing public acceptance over the years, but also a large perimeter watershed, 3,566 square kilometres in all.

Proponents of the plan, at numerous public meetings over the last several years, including presentations to the municipal councils, have tried to reassure doubters that biosphere designation is a recognition of the unique ecosystem of the region and not a Trojan Horse for bringing in new restrictions on the activities allowed to take place in and around this unusual inland sea.

UNESCO designation as a biosphere reserve would bring a new focus to conservation, sustainable economic development and ongoing to research towards understanding the ecosystem, proponents say. Far from impeding economic development, they insist, the recognition would bring benefits in tourism, research capacity and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles.

The concept is not easy to explain in a few words, and that seems to be the problem. The more innocuous it’s made to sound, the more one might wonder if there’s more to the story that’s not being told. It takes time to talk though that, and though the project’s been under development for several years, and certainly not a secret, it’s only in recent weeks that councils have been asked to vote formal endorsement.

It will be regrettable if this opportunity is missed for world recognition of an aspect of Cape Breton that is hugely important in defining the character of the island, its values and way of life. This is a good idea that should be brought to fruition.

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Port-to-port study earns national award

The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — A study on possible strategic uses of the former steel plant and coke ovens lands has won a national award from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.

The Port-to-Port Corridor study, commissioned by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Sydney Tar Ponds Agency and federal Department of Environment and written by CBCL Ltd., was one of three projects to receive a national citation award from the society.

Gordon Smith, a landscape architect with CBCL’s Halifax office, said the awards bring significant recognition to the winners, especially because the list is publicized in Canada and sent to the U.S. landscape architects’ association as well, “so getting an award there kind of puts you on the map.”

He said the port study examined the historical uses and possible future uses of the land running from the old Sysco steel wharf on the waterfront all the way to the airport.

“There was some discussion about what might happen on the coke ovens lands and concentrating on areas where you’d want development to happen in future,” said Smith.

“It’s also a bit of an inspirational document as well. This was kind of saying here the area is experiencing population and economic decline and it doesn’t have to be looked at as a bad thing. It can be looked at as an opportunity to preserve quality of life.”

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Peter MacKay announces tar ponds contract and various funding

Breaking News
The Cape Breton Post

MEMBERTOU — Two Nova Scotia companies will divert water from the highly contaminated Sydney tar ponds and coke ovens site as part of an ongoing $400-million remediation project.

MP Peter MacKay and Nova Scotia Justice Minister Cecil Clarke announced Saturday that a contract worth $37.6-million has been awarded to First Nations contractor, MB2 Excavating and Construction Ltd. of Membertou working in partnership with Beaver Marine Ltd. of Halifax, whose main construction yard is located in Point Tupper.

“The Mi’kmaq people are a huge part of our community throughout the province and certainly in Cape Breton,” said MacKay. “Having them as major participants in work I believe is an important part of the spirit of this cleanup. They felt the bane of this particular sore spot more than anyone.”

MacKay said the project is expected to create 29 new jobs and sustain 50 others.

The two partners are expected to begin building a system to redirect water from two brooks in late spring and finish in Sept. 2012.

MacKay also made various funding announcements Saturday on behalf of Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Announced was federal government funding of $1.5 million for renovations at Centre 200 to upgrade seating capacity, install a new video scoreboard system and to add 13 new skyboxes.

Another $1-million will be given to the Cape Breton YMCA for its continued redevelopment that includes the demolition of its oldest section and renovations to the 1979 addition.

The Government of Canada will also contribute $1 million through the Sydney Ports Corporation Inc. for the development of a marine transportation corporation or authority to manage and oversee the Port of Sydney and its commercial development.


For full details, read Monday's edition of the Cape Breton Post.

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Membertou company lands tar ponds contract

ERIN POTTIE
The Cape Breton Post

MEMBERTOU — Two Nova Scotia companies will divert water from the Sydney tar ponds and coke ovens sites as part of an ongoing $400-million remediation project.

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Cecil Clarke and Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway Peter MacKay announced Saturday that a $37.6-million contract has been awarded to First Nations contractor MB2 Excavating and Construction Ltd. of Membertou in partnership with Beaver Marine Ltd. of Halifax. Beaver Marine’s main construction yard is located in Point Tupper.

“The Mi’kmaq people are a huge part of our community throughout the province and certainly in Cape Breton,” said MacKay. “Having them as major participants in work, I believe, is an important part of the spirit of this cleanup. They felt the bane of this particular sore spot more than anyone.”

MacKay said the project is expected to create 29 new jobs and sustain 50 others.

The two partners are expected to begin building a system to redirect water from two brooks in late spring and finish in September 2012.

The project will be constructed in three phases. First a pumping station will be built between the Prince Street and Ferry Street bridge. The second station will be built between Ferry Street bridge and the narrows of the north tar pond. A third station will be built between the narrows and Battery Point Barrier, at the mouth of Sydney harbour.

Steel-panel walls will block the tide and manage other water sources. According to engineers, in the event of a heavy storm, surplus water will drain into the tar ponds.

This system will handle incoming water until a new channel is built in the remediated tar ponds.

Membertou Chief Terry Paul said having the water diversion awarded to a locally owned company is great news for the people of Cape Breton. The contract is considered the most significant awarded to date and comes in addition to $19 million in aboriginal set-asides.

“The feeling is just great. It’s just, it’s almost like getting married or having a birth, this is how huge this contract is for a lot of people in Cape Breton,” said Paul. “It’s creating work and helping people who have the trades stay here in Cape Breton.”

Robin Googoo, president of MB2 Construction Ltd., said the company will help construct the pumps for the project. MB2 had already helped in the solidification of the agency’s cooling pond project. The aboriginal business currently employs 12 staff and will hire more people if needed.

“It’s actually 12 times bigger than before,” Googoo said of the new contract.

Sydney Tar Ponds Agency president Kevin MacDonald said the two companies will be working with project experts to determine how to carry out the work. He also said the project, despite some recent concerns, is on budget.

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Ottawa provides $1M for port governance model

ERIN POTTIE
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Canada will provide $1 million to help develop a governance model for the Port of Sydney.

Minister of National Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway Peter MacKay said the federal government will help fund a transportation corporation to come up with a port governance structure.

“It’s essentially related to the transportation, infrastructure and commercial development that is underway here,” said MacKay. “Any resulting profit from the transportation corporation will be used to meet future infrastructure and operational needs including marketing the benefits and competitive advantages of doing business here in the Port of Sydney.”

Enterprise Cape Breton Corp. is delivering the funding to the Sydney Ports Corporation Inc.

Don Rowe, general manager of the Sydney Ports Corporation and Sydney harbour master, said a port authority is needed because the Sydney Marine Group would be in a conflict of interest when making certain governance decisions.

He said the marine group will have a hand in creating the new structure, but wasn’t sure at this point of its exact role.

“We have to come up with an overall authority for the port because the port is owned by the private sector and whatever authority is in place has to generate some revenue,” said Rowe. “In most ports they generate revenue from tariffs ... (you) can’t assess a tariff on cargos that are coming into a facility that is owned by the people that are importing the cargo.

“So, there has to be some kind of funding there to allow the new authority to develop a structure that will allow them to be self-sufficient.”

Rowe said there are not many port governance models in Canada or the United States that would be suitable to the Port of Sydney.

He said consultants will be hired and details ironed out over the next few months.

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Elitism charge unfair to proponents of health and recreation complex

The Cape Breton Post

Having lived in this community for more than 40 years and been involved in many publicly debated issues for 20 years, I am rarely surprised by the range of community response. Yet the commentary by Dr. Chris Milburn on the proposed health recreation complex has indeed shocked me (Weekend Feedback: Palatial Fitness Centre an Extravagance Region Doesn’t Need, Feb. 28).

To be clear, I am very supportive of public debate and welcome differing opinions. I entirely support the vision of the Cape Breton Health Recreation Complex Society but am under no illusion that the proposal is supported by 100 per cent of the population. That would be a rarity.

What shocks me is the manner in which Dr. Milburn has chosen to express his opinion and his regrettable mischaracterization of the dedicated volunteers who have been pursuing this vision as “an elite group” who has met “behind closed doors.” Nothing could be further from the truth. I suspect many of the hundreds of student, senior, community, public sector, not-for-profit and Youth In Motion volunteers who have assisted in the effort to secure this facility (including some of his fellow physicians) find his suggestion quite disappointing and grossly unfair. They deserve better.

It is clear that Dr. Milburn does not have a grasp of the scope of this project. If he had taken the initiative to inquire about the project or offer his timely input, like some of his colleagues have, he would at least have spoken as an informed individual and avoided his careless assertion of elitism. He is correct that project proponents, including the Cape Breton District Health Authority, Dr. Greg Myatt, and Dr. Andrew Lynk, do not speak for all the physicians of Cape Breton — nor does he.

After three years of hard work, proponents have secured $8.2 million toward the cost of this facility. The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has been asked to contribute $900,000 in annual instalments of $225,000 for four years. In an effort to reduce the financial burden on CBRM, proponents have agreed to undertake a further $900,000 fundraising initiative.

Raising money in these economic times is a challenge; it will now be more of a challenge thanks to Dr. Milburn’s commentary, published in regional and provincial newspapers, and I am certain read by executives of national and regional companies targeted for significant donations.

If the vision the proponents of this facility are pursuing is to be achieved, we will all have to be pulling in the same direction and physicians have an important role to play in contributing to the facility’s programming. While the proposed complex is not a magic bullet cure for community health, it is in my opinion a significant step in the right direction in addition to providing economic, recreational and family recruitment and retention benefits for our community.

For the sake of our children and grandchildren, let’s stop shooting ourselves in the foot and move forward together on this important objective of community health.

Gordon MacInnis
member, Cape Breton Health Recreation Society

That's it for now, the rest of the catch-up will come soon.

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Paper grows on ports future

The Cape Breton Post

Sydney Harbour is abuzz with port activity. Some of it even involves ships. Unfortunately, what’s generating most of the buzz is a growing stack of studies and much flitting about by politicians, consultants and tire-kickers who might be interested in making major investments at some point if all the pieces fall into place.

We’ve seen a couple of developments of that sort just in the last few days. On Monday, the environmental assessment document for a proposed dredging project and container terminal at Sydport was filed with senior governments. As documents go, this at least has the feel of a concrete step towards a specific project. People understand that you can’t go sucking sediment off the bottom of a living harbour without looking closely at the effects.

Concerns among fishermen have already been reported though the proponents remain confident that the low-impact suction method of dredging and other mitigating measures will answer the questions. The dredging project, which has yet to be funded beyond the study and engineering stage, is promoted as the key to unlocking Sydney Harbour ports to a new future in shipping and possibly heavy steel fabrication.

On Saturday, Peter MacKay, Nova Scotia’s representative in the federal cabinet, delivered a $1 million contribution towards developing a governance model for the Ports of Sydney. It’s harder to get excited about this because it’s all about administrative stuff and not connected with any single project, though in a way it’s connected with all of them.

The money will be used to fund — wait for it — a study to recommend the best governance model for the Ports of Sydney that would encourage, and to some extent manage, commercial development of the ports.

There was talk in the 1990s, as region’s steel and coal industries were in their death throes and publicly owned waterfront properties on both sides of the harbour were coming on the market, that some umbrella group should take ownership and control. Nothing came of that except the purchase by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality of what became the Sydney Marine Terminal, now home to the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion, facilities administered by the Sydney Ports Corporation. The name sounds a bit overstated, though talks are afoot to merge with the Sydney airport as part of a municipally-inspired scheme to create a port-to-port (that is, seaport to airport) corridor.

It can get quite confusing, especially when you add in the Sydney Marine Group, a consortium of six private companies and the ports corporation, which is promoting the dredging proposal. It’s agreed that the dredging is essential to the future development of the ports of the inner harbour but beyond that there’s no clear plan for promoting or managing that growth.

Administrative structures aren’t the most gripping of themes but this is a necessary stage. Getting these things right puts us closer to the day when buzz about port activity actually refers to ships.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=229957&sc=595

Indoor tennis project has a foot in both camps

The Cape Breton Post

The recent opinion articles by Dr. Chris Milburn (Weekend Feedback: Palatial Fitness Centre an Extravagance Region Doesn’t Need, Feb. 28) and Dr. Andrew Lynk (Weekend Feedback: ‘Big Box’ Fitness Facilities Can Co-Exist with Community Assets, March 7) and others have been of great interest to the Cromarty Community Indoor Tennis Centre, which is fundraising to construct its “small-box,” all-season public facility on property at the Cape Breton Airport Authority.

In a way, our charity plans fall into both schools of thought.

As Dr. Lynk sees the fitness complex, we see our facility (obviously most valuable during inclement days of summer and winter) serving the entire Cape Breton Regional Municipality in a hub capacity.

However, more in line with Dr. Milburn’s view, we see the benefit of a satellite facility one day built on the Northside, with our proposed structure serving as a model.

Given the present circumstances (existing land, secured government and local funding, and a dedicated society), in this instance Dr. Lynk clearly wins.
As for the claim that he is part of an elite group, no, he is not, as I observed during several early meetings to which I was graciously invited for my input on indoor racquet sports when they were originally being considered for this location.

Really, what we have here is a familiar refrain, the one centred upon the belief that “big-box,” expensive hubs or central facilities are best, versus the view that numerous less expensive (in individual units but not in total dollars) community facilities, built as close to their centres as possible, serve the public interest best.

In most instances, the side that gets the funds first wins the foot race, with the unfortunate result that the losing side would rather cut off its nose despite its face.

Eric Krause
chair, Cromarty Community Indoor Tennis Centre

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Sydney harbour study could include Louisbourg in future

BY TOM AYERS
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Although the port of Louisbourg isn’t being included in the new port governance study being conducted by a group of marine companies in Sydney harbour, the historic port isn’t being forgotten.

The federal government announced a $1-million governance study over the weekend to help the Sydney Marine Group hire a consultant and develop a plan to create an independent authority to oversee port operations in Sydney harbour.

The marine group includes seven companies and agencies with interests in Sydney, Sydport industrial park and North Sydney.

Sydney Ports Corp. general manager Don Rowe, head of the marine terminal in downtown Sydney, said the immediate priority is to develop an agency to oversee dredging and development in Sydney harbour.

“Once we get a model developed and in place, it’s not going to stop us from looking at Louisbourg,” he said. “We haven’t talked to anybody about it, but we’ve always thought about the port of Louisbourg. It’s been in the back of our minds for some time.”

Senator Michael MacDonald, a native of Louisbourg and a local businessman with Conservative ties who was appointed to the Canadian senate in December by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said recently one of his goals as a senator is to work to restore Louisbourg’s importance as an ice-free commercial port.

He said the Cape Breton Regional Municipality inherited two main harbours when it was amalgamated, and while development in Sydney harbour is important, the port in Louisbourg should not be forgotten.

“I think industrial Cape Breton has to work as a unit and exploit all of their advantages,” MacDonald said.

Historically, Louisbourg was an important port for 18th-century French and British commerce, and it was also an important coal port for many years.

However, in the 1960s Parks Canada began to reconstruct the old French fortress and it eventually closed the road between Louisbourg and Gabarus.
With the loss of the railway between Sydney and Louisbourg, there is now only one main road in and out of the town.

MacDonald said his first priority is to get the road to Gabarus reopened.
“The road opens up a lot of possibilities,” he said.

Lloydette MacDonald, manager of the Louisbourg Port Authority, said one of her organization’s long-term goals is to secure funding for port infrastructure that would help bring in more traffic.

Louisbourg wharf, owned by the federal government but operated by a local authority, is essentially a fishing wharf that occasionally receives traffic from cruise ships and tall ships, she said, but it has no terminal infrastructure to handle general marina and tourist traffic.

MacDonald said creating a port authority with improved infrastructure in Sydney and Louisbourg harbours is an idea that has been discussed and could become a reality within the next couple of years.

“This is something that people I think have been striving for many moons,” she said. “Yeah, we’re hoping for good things in the future . . . but it’s not something that’s on the radar screen at the moment.”

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Cape Breton employers say it’s a good time to look for a job

The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Cape Breton area employers report a favourable hiring climate for the second quarter of 2009, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

Survey data reveals that 16 per cent of employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter (April to June), while six per cent intend to reduce their workforce, said Tracey Collins, of Manpower’s Sydney office.

Another 77 per cent of area employers expect to maintain their current staffing levels and one per cent are unsure of their hiring intentions for the upcoming quarter.

“Cape Breton’s second quarter net employment outlook of 10 per cent is on par with the outlook report by employers at the same time last year,” said Collins.

“However, it is a 13 percentage point increase from the previous quarter when the net employment outlook was minus three per cent, indicating an upbeat second quarter to 2009.”

“This quarter’s national net employment outlook indicates that the steady hiring climate experienced in the previous quarter has decreased,” says Lori Rogers, vice-president of operations for Manpower Canada.

“Canadian employers are telling us that while they will continue to increase their payrolls they will do so at a more cautious pace than in the previous quarters.”

Of the 10 surveyed industry sectors, employers in the services sector report the most hopeful results for the April to June period of 2009 with a projected net employment outlook of 11 per cent once seasonal variations are removed from the data.

Employers in the public administration and construction sectors expect a moderate quarter, both with net employment outlooks of 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, across the country, Canadian employers expect only modest opportunities for job seekers for the April to June period of 2009.

The survey of more than 1,900 Canadian employers reveals that 15 per cent expect to increase their payrolls in the second quarter of 2009, while nine per cent anticipate cutbacks for a net employment outlook of six per cent.

Of those polled 73 per cent of employers plan to maintain their current workforce and three per cent are unsure of their hiring intentions for the upcoming quarter.

“In Atlantic and Western Canada, the hiring forecasts are ahead of the national forecast,” adds Rogers.

Employers in Atlantic Canada report a hopeful hiring climate with a net employment outlook of 19 per cent, while employers in Western Canada expect a fair hiring climate with a net employment outlook of eight per cent.

Employers in Quebec anticipate a mild hiring climate reporting a net employment outlook of three per cent and with a net employment of one per cent Ontario employers predict a quiet hiring climate for the upcoming quarter.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforce during the next quarter. It is the most extensive forward-looking survey of its kind.

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Councillors defer vote on capital budget

CHRIS SHANNON
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Second thoughts of taking on nearly $15 million in new capital debt to finance infrastructure projects this year gave councillors pause to defer a vote until after debate concludes on its operating budget, which will likely happen later today.

Debate will begin this morning on a proposed $127-million operating budget, which is forecasting a $2.3-million shortfall.

Councillors were preparing to vote on the capital budget late in the afternoon Wednesday when Coun. Kim Desveaux said she was expecting more debate on the capital budget before a vote.

She said it’s time to make tough decisions and find ways to cut expenses from the budget.

“I don’t think we can approve this at this level. I think we have to look for some deeper cuts and maybe some things need to wait,” Desveaux told her council colleagues. “What was the point in our coming here and studying the budget if we’re not going to cut anything?”

Desveaux said items such as $400,000 set aside for the possible extension of the Sydney Port Access Road to the Sydney Airport or the $237,000 allocated for upgrades to Renwick Brook could possibly wait.

She also questioned the need for a $5-million firefighter training facility in the CBRM. Cape Breton Regional Fire Services is hoping to secure $200,000 from the municipality each year for the next five years in order to open cost-sharing negotiations with the province and federal government.

The CBRM’s ability to pay its debt was raised by many of the councillors as a growing concern.

“We don’t want to cut anything. We don’t want to borrow. We don’t want to raise taxes. What a vicious circle . . . because we’re going to have to try to find $2 million or $3 million more to (balance) the operating budget. And that’s when we get into the option of raising taxes,” said Coun. George MacDonald.

Director of finance Marie Walsh said the debt-servicing ratio is currently 15.4 per cent only because the municipality has yet to borrow money for projects announced last year. When long-term debt is added to the equation and future capital spending, the debt ratio will rise to about 18.8 per cent by 2013.

“As for short-term borrowing, we’re only paying the interest (and) that’s what’s increasing our debt ratio,” Walsh said.

CBRM chief administrative officer Jerry Ryan said by limiting borrowing, the debt could stabilize within four years.

“We can get there by 2012-13 and then we’d be advising to maintain or stabilize at that level. Not necessarily reducing debt, but not increasing it,” he said.

The province has already raised the issue with the CBRM as “a growing concern” because it had passed through the 15 per cent ratio. A municipality becomes unable to operate, and is effectively bankrupt, when the level hits the theoretical 30 per cent threshold.

Public works is looking to spend $3.8 million in general capital programs — a drop of $1 million from last year’s budget — and $1 million each for the arterial road and collector rehabilitation programs, which are responsible for the maintenance of city streets and sidewalks. Those budget allotments are as “low as we can go,” Walsh remarked.

Controversial J-Class roads, owned by the province but with half of the paving cost going to the municipality, were given $400,000 after an often rancorous two-hour debate on the issue.

The proposal to extend the SPAR by constructing a road behind the Wal-Mart store leading out through Crown-owned land to an intersection at the Sydney Airport, was being promoted by Ryan as a way to divert traffic off a heavily travelled section of the Sydney-Glace Bay Highway. The concept of having such a roadway is an integral part of the port-to-port study to increase business at the Sydney coal piers.

Ryan said it’s important to have the money on the table in time to be considered for provincial and federal stimulus cash that’s being used to counter the severe economic downturn.

[Smevo]

Local landmark gone, more of a landmark business than landmark building, but the effect is the same. Hopefully the business will rebuild.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=231426&sc=145

A fire fighter blasts a stream of water into a second-floor window of Master Meats on Johnstone Street as the building burned Thursday night. John McNeil - Cape Breton Post

Master Meats goes up in flames

The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Firefighters remained on the scene late Thursday night as Master Meats on Johnstone Street went up in flames.

One of the owners of the longtime Sydney business watched in disbelief as flames began shooting out the front windows on the second floor.

“We just got the call to come,” said an emotional Derrick Dupe. “It caught fire, that’s for sure.”

The fire, which is believed to have been discovered around 10 p.m., quickly spread to a neighbouring building, owned by Maurice G. Bidart General Contracting.

“My brother called me around 10 o’clock and said Master Meats is on fire,” owner Geoffrey Bidart said. “It just jumped buildings.”

Bidart said he bought the building from his father in 1986 and used it to store equipment and inventory for his business, which specializes in sprinkler installation and maintenance.

At about 10:20 p.m. Bidart and another man helped firefighters gain entrance to the front door of the building and then dragged a small propane tank and what looked like air compressors out into the street.

“The building is worth about $500,000 and there’s a couple of hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment in there,” he said as the building burned.

The cause of the fire is unknown. Cape Breton Regional Police Fire Services was unavailable for comment late Thursday night.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=231428&sc=145

CBRM passes budget without raising taxes or cutting services

CHRIS SHANNON
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Repeatedly saying their backs are “against the wall,” Cape Breton Regional Municipality council passed a balanced operating budget of $127 million, Thursday, with no tax increases and no cuts to services or staff.

Mayor John Morgan and councillors approved a recommendation by the director of finance Marie Walsh to use $2.3 million in last year’s surplus to cover a revenue shortfall and balance the books.

In offering the option, Walsh said using the surplus is “a false lifeline as these same issues will be facing us next year.”

The other option — raising the residential tax rate by five per cent — wasn’t a choice most councillors wanted to consider as the CBRM has among the highest rates of property taxation in the province.

“Next year we will have the same challenges,” Walsh told them.

“Our building reserve will have been depleted. Likely, equalization will be the same or less. We will still have increased debt-servicing charges, so this surplus is allowing us to deal with that this year. Next year, I don’t know what the answer will be. We’ll likely have to look at tax increases.”

Revenue for the year came in at $124.7 million, with $81.4 million in taxes accounting for the largest piece of its fiscal pie.

The largest expenditures remain the department of engineering and public works with a budget of $42.4 million, and police services, which was given a $1-million increase to $21.7 million.

Public works will add $240,000 to its payroll to cover ongoing building maintenance.

In a time of economic upheaval, Coun. Ray Paruch questioned engineering and public works director Wayne MacDonald whether it was really necessary.

“In these days of fiscal restraint, major companies laying people off, cutting services, here we are, at the face of it, we’re hiring. But you’re saying long-term, this is in the best interest of the CBRM?” Paruch asked.

“This is certainly cheaper than contracting out,” MacDonald replied.

Still troubled by the thought of carrying nearly $15 million in new capital debt to finance the $39.4-million capital program this year, which was debated during budget talks Wednesday, Coun. Kim Desveaux told her fellow councillors they should be looking to cut costs and find efficiencies in the operating budget to cover the revenue shortfall.

“My thoughts are $2.3 million is about 0.02 per cent of our operating revenues, so I suggest rather than dip into the surplus for that, can we at least cut our expenses by 0.02 per cent?” said Desveaux, in asking chief administrative officer Jerry Ryan for his opinion.

She said the municipality could curb “soft costs” such as office supplies, equipment and computer hardware by as much as 15 per cent.

It was an idea that made several councillors visibly uncomfortable and irritated the CAO.

“What it means though is that two councillors have to give up their Blackberry, their computer, whatever. We get two councillors to do that and we’ll do the same with staff. The inefficiencies you’re driving when you reduce technology in an organization is ridiculous,” Ryan said.

“We need to add. We need more workers, more equipment. Cutting? You don’t have the service out there. If there’s one thing you do have, it’s a good technology base.

“You should be focusing on increasing service and if that means increasing revenue to do it, then so be it.”

Services are well below the norm for a municipality this size, he added.

There has been no money designated this year for any of the decaying sewer and waterline infrastructure that’s more than 100 years old. Patch jobs will have to do until next year.

Capital investment of $750,000 in municipal buildings has been deferred, leaving repairs to such municipally owned properties as the Cape Breton County Recreation Centre, the McConnell Library and the Cape Breton Regional Police headquarters to wait until next year.

The capital budget was also passed Thursday in a 12-4 vote. Councillors Tom Wilson, Ray Paruch, Derek Mombourquette and Kim Desveaux opposed it.

With a $1.17-million decrease in the equalization payment from the province, Morgan said the provincial government is contributing to the “subtle dissolution” of the municipality and Cape Breton as a whole.

“Our first step and focus ought to be to get justice for the people of the region and to take one budget at a time and try to survive as long as we can,” said Morgan, suggesting that the current legal action accusing the province of chronic underfunding must first be resolved in the courts before the CBRM can find stable financial footing.

“The first step has to be to keep ourselves and the community focused on the principal issues at hand and not to begin fighting with one another or fighting with our own citizens over drastic draconian cuts that may or may not occur in the future.”

[Smevo]

I can't say I'm surprised that Whalley's jumped on this as a "sign of doom", since he repeatedly turned a blind eye to positive signs pointing to the census as his "proof". That said, the numbers are troubling but hopefully the positive hiring outlook can counter it.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=231718&sc=145

Cape Breton disadvantaged as recession deepens, says economist
Can’t afford stimulus projects: Whalley

CHRIS HAYES
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — A Cape Breton economist says February’s jobless rate of 15.8 per cent shows the area is starting out at a disadvantage as Canada enters a deepening recession.

Economist John Whalley said what’s more, local governments in Cape Breton can’t afford to get in on cost-shared stimulus programs involving federal and provincial government dollars that could help ease the effects of the recession.

“Most communities see 10 per cent unemployment as a major catastrophe,” Whalley, economic development manager of the Cape Breton Regional Municipal-ity, said Friday. “We are starting this recession at basically over 15 per cent unemployment.”

“That should be a concern.

“The ironic part of this whole thing is that the communities that are most in need of stimulus are the least able to offer the matching funding.”

Cape Breton’s unemployment rate increased in February, to 15.8 per cent, compared to January’s rate of 15.2 per cent, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The federal statistical agency reported during February, 9,700 people in Cape Breton were unemployed, 51,800 were employed, the labour force was at 61,400, the labour market participation rate was 53.3 per cent and the employment rate was 44.9 per cent.

StatsCan said in January, 9,500 people in Cape Breton were unemployed, 53,000 were employed, the labour force was at 62,500, labour market participation was 54.2 per cent and the employment rate was 45.9 per cent.

In February 2008, Cape Breton’s unemployment rate was 14.4 per cent, meaning 9,200 people were unemployed, 54,800 were employed, the labour force was at 64,000, labour market participation was 55.2 per cent and the employment rate was 47.3 per cent.

The increase in Cape Breton’s February’s unemployment rate likely reflects a seasonal slowdown that is typical of the winter months, job losses in areas like the auto parts sector and the dramatic slowdown in the Alberta oil industry where so many Cape Bretoners had been employed, Whalley suggested.

Labour market surveys from Statistics Canada wouldn’t do a very good job of capturing a change like a large number of people returning from Alberta, he suggested.

“I think that change has been very substantial,” he said. “Just in testimonial evidence when I talk to people here about the number of people in New Waterford who have returned from out west, it gives me a sense that a lot of these projects are on hold right now and I think a lot of people are in a waiting mode.”

Across Canada, workers were taking the full brunt of the deepening recession as another 82,600 lost their jobs in February, boosting the country’s unemployment rate a half-point to the highest level in more than five years, the Canadian Press reported Friday.

The national jobless rate was 7.7 per cent, almost a full two points higher than where it was a year ago.

Nova Scotia’s jobless rate for February remained unchanged from the previous month at 8.8 per cent and the unemployment rate for Halifax was 5.9 per cent, compared to 5.6 per cent in January, the Canadian Press reported.

Some causes of this:
-Alberta oilsands slowdown...nobody can dispute this as a cause of CB's unemployment jump.
-Downtime in between Tar Ponds contracts...each contract has a noticible direct and indirect impact on employment in this area.
-The recession impacting local industries such as but not limited to the closure of the Magna Auto Parts plant recently due to the troubles faced by the domestic auto-makers.
-There's undoubtedly other smaller contributors on both sides, but those are the big reasons.

[Smevo]

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=231952&sc=145

CBCEDA adds new navigator position to welcome immigrants

ERIN POTTIE
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Newcomers to Cape Breton are being urged to access the help of a navigator who can steer them in the right direction.

As part of a new position with the Cape Breton County Economic Development Authority, a second newcomer navigator is now available to welcome immigrants and provide information.

“The focus of our navigator position is for settlement purposes, being that co-ordinating body in a community,” said Eileen Lannon Oldford chief executive for CBCEDA. “It provides information for people coming to Cape Breton. How they go about their banking (and) go about contacting the health authority. Our website is linked in for business purposes, for housing, for information they would need for contacts within schools.”

The new navigator position for Victoria and Cape Breton counties is held by Cape Breton University graduate Amanda MacPherson. This service is also co-ordinated with an already established newcomer navigator, Tanya Felix, who serves the Strait area.

On their website, www.movetocapebreton.com, newcomers are introduced to the island and its climate, geography, history and government before moving here.

The website also has information about arts and entertainment, shopping, health care, transportation and education.

“We are not immigration agents. What we are, we provide connectivity in our community so that Amanda’s job would be to direct that person to the right person,” said Lannon Oldford. “It’s that co-ordinaton.”

Since April last year, more than 70 people have accessed the navigator service.

For more information about how to get in touch with a CBCEDA navigator, phone 562-2201 or visit the website www.movetocapebreton.com.

[Smevo]

I've been waiting for more word on this, this sounds good for development picture updates when I'm home in July.

http://www.capebretonpost.com/index....=232416&sc=145

Completion of downtown Sydney office building expected in August

CHRIS HAYES
The Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY — Businessman Martin Chernin expects construction of his new office building in the city’s downtown to be finished in August.

The steel framework was being erected on the $4.8-million building, Monday.
“It’s full speed ahead now,” said Chernin.

Harbour Royale Developments, a company which includes Chernin and another local businessman, Hugh Tweedie, is developing the new office building, which will have two stories on the Charlotte Street side and three stories on the Esplanade.

The office building is over 90 per cent leased by two major tenants and there is one small space that has not yet been taken, Chernin said.

“The first tenant will probably be moving in in early September,” he said.
“There will probably be in excess of 70 people working in that building.”

Chernin can’t reveal who the tenants will be, saying they will want to handle those public announcements.

Chernin, who has built a number of office buildings in downtown Sydney, said the necessity for underground parking and some construction requirements specific to one of the tenants added a bit of difficulty to this project.

Downtown Sydney has been seeing other construction projects, like the new building where a Lawtons Drugs store is located and major expansion of the YMCA, he noted.

“It is going to be great for the street.”

Joneljim Concrete Construction is the major construction contractor for the office building. The building was designed by Trifos Design Consultants of Sydney.

The construction project is probably employing more than 65 people, Chernin estimated.

The dimensions are pretty much what I expected. This and the YMCA redevelopment are going to make that block of Charlotte St fit in much better with the urban feel of the rest of the street south of Scotiabank (Pitt St).