District of Houston council members attended the North Central Local Government Association (NCLGA) meeting on May 3, 4, and 5 in Terrace.
“Rio Tinto took over Alcan and spent $5 billion and there are tours this summer if you want to go. I think everything that was there is being thrown out and everything new is going in. That was very impressive,” said counsellor Dennis Tait.
He added that the city of Terrace is making a huge industrial site. “I think if you take our industrial site, I think it is about 50 or a 100 times larger. And they are making a huge landfill worth $18 million.”
Tait said the landfill is being done by all local contractors, “and if local contractors weren’t certified or weren’t trained, Terrace trained and certified them.”
“I really appreciated the speaker form the University of Northern British Columbia about rape culture. It was very informative,” said counsellor John Siebenga who also attended the NCLGA meeting. “I also appreciated the trade shows that were there. I had quite a few discussions with the Port of Prince Rupert people, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Products people, and the Trans Canada Coastal Gas people. I found it helpful and came away with a greater knowledge.”
Counsellor Jonathan Van Barneveld said that the discussion about tourism was an aspect about the NCLGA that he found interesting.
“One of the points that is being stressed throughout communities is that passive tourism is very well marketed, that is when you put out a guide or self directed stuff, but they want people to start piecing paid tourism where people can take guided tours directed by an experienced person,” said Van Barneveld.
He added that the B.C. Lotto Corp said that Houston received $159,106.03 in gaming grants this last year.
Van Barneveld also said that Houston was a part of sign assessment through ICBC. “Where they go around assessing all the traffic signs, cross walk signs, etc, and make an assessment of our shortfalls and there is a program to get them upgraded or installed for free.”
Counsellor Tim Anderson said that he also attended the NCLGA meeting, and toured the harbour in Prince Rupert.
“It was quite interesting. A couple of other resolutions regarding an increase pay for on-call ambulance attendants. I thought that was a good thing because their on-call pay is so low,” said Anderson.