THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2018 Vol. 75, No. 31
Serving Fort St. John, B.C. and Surrounding Communities
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Northern Rockies mulls plastic bag ban CONTACT US
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Councillors in the Northern Rockies have voted to study whether to ban plastic shopping bags in the municipality. It’s an attempt to address ongoing concerns at the regional landfill and fall in line with communities around the world doing the same, Mayor Bill Streeper says. Plastic is one of the most dangerous things for the environment because it doesn’t disintegrate and can be a mess to clean up, he says. “When we go to our dump and you go to south of it, the
birds are poking holes in the bags and then they take the garbage out of it, and then the wind comes up and blows them all down into the bush and it’s terrible,” Streeper said. “Every time you turn on the TV you see piles of plastic somewhere, and I think it’s about time that politicians and citizens and everybody just steps back and says look, we got to start doing something about this stuff.” The municipality is only studying its options at this point, and a ban hasn’t been put
in place. Streeper hopes residents and businesses will voluntarily ditch the plastic bags and trade them in for eco-friendlier alternatives before a ban is fully considered. But, the municipality has control of what can and can’t be dumped in its landfill, he said. If approved, there would be a 90-day transition period, and Streeper said it could be in place by the end of the year. “It’s something that in my mind is very easy to cure,” Streeper said.
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth here this week Rural policing and legal cannabis will be on the agenda when Solicitor General Mike Farnworth visits Northeast B.C. this week. Farnworth met with local mayors and police officials in Fort St. John Monday and Fort Nelson on Tuesday. It’s Farnworth’s first visit to the region since the NDP formed government last summer, and Farnworth’s appointment to cabinet. It’s a chance to talk about public safety issues, and how the two municipalities are approaching cannabis legalization, and answer questions, Farnworth said. “It’s to get a sense, in terms of my portfolio, how things are
up in the Peace Country,” Farnworth said. “A lot of times there’s a lot of focus on the Lower Mainland, but this province is a lot more than the Lower Mainland. It’s important as minister that I’m able to get out and
talk directly with the mayors in their communities, and police in their communities, about issues they’re facing, challenges they’re facing, and ideas they may have to make improvements.” In Fort St. John, the RCMP detachment is looking for a new, permanent detachment commander, and the visit offers a chance to talk about recruitment, staffing levels, and other challenges, Farnworth said. “That’s certainly something I would most definitely be interested in and want to hear about,” he said. Farnworth said he doesn’t plan to make any public announcements during his visit.
PAVING 100 Canadian
Residential • Commercial • Industrial Roads • Driveways • Parking Lots
Fort St. John councillors approved last week public planning sessions to develop a pedestrian and bicycle greenway along 100 Street. The greenway is part of the city’s downtown action plan to build a more urban and community-oriented streetscape, and increase foot traffic in support of downtown living and business, according to a staff report. Development of the greenway would run along 100 Street from 96 to 110 Avenues, with a primary focus between 96 and 105 Avenues. Development could mean reducing traffic lanes or moving to angled parking to accommodate wider pedestrian sidewalks, bike paths, greenspace and trees, and patio spaces, and be completed in conjunction with other infrastructure upgrades. “The public engagement is needed for the impact that is going to be had there,” Mayor Lori Ackerman said. The cost of the planning session — called a “charrette” — is an estimated $450,000 over seven days, with $215,000 already approved in the 2018 capital budget for the downtown action plan and other urban development planning. Council approved an extra $235,000 toward the charrette, to be held in early 2019. The city will hire a consultant to run the charrette. “The purpose of the charrette would be to develop a concept that is acceptable to most of the participating stakeholders, which would include city council, affected businesses, local community groups, and general public,” Victor Shopland, the city’s integrated services director, writes in a report. “This design/planning process will provide for ample opportunity to gain stakeholder and public buyin and approval for the final concept. This concept will then go through engineering design and the budgeting process for construction.”
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