No 'Metro Fredericton' for a while yet
Published Wednesday May 20th, 2009
Data | Not enough of region's residents work in Fredericton, StatsCan says
A1
By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
mclaughlin.heather@dailygleaner.com
Census metropolitan status isn't coming any time soon to New Brunswick's capital city, says Frank Flanagan, Fredericton's development services director.
Fredericton hasn't been able to meet the benchmarks required by Statistics Canada to achieve the designation, for which both Moncton and Saint John have qualified.
"We had hoped to achieve CMA (census metropolitan area) status," Flanagan told the city's development committee Tuesday.
Acquiring CMA status would help the city market itself better to higher-calibre site developers and investors who use the designation as a measurement of major markets.
Even certain retailers use CMA status as a determinant in whether to locate a store in a city, or the size or class of store that may be built.
There are other technical reasons why Fredericton has been seeking the designation over the past decade, including that Statistics Canada will supply more free data to a CMA and a CMA designation guarantees inclusion in more data and surveys done by the federal statistics agency.
One key qualifier to achieve CMA status is that 50 per cent of the labour force from outside communities included in the CMA must commute to work in the city's urban core.
Oromocto and Burton are key areas in order for Fredericton to achieve CMA status, but only 14.6 per cent of Oromocto residents work in Fredericton and about 24 per cent from Burton come to the city for employment, mainly because Canadian Forces Base Gagetown is a significant employer in the greater Fredericton region.
Fredericton Junction comes the closest to the criterion, with 44.4 per cent of its residents coming into the city to work.
Flanagan said it's not a question of lobbying for support, since the designation is based on Statistics Canada's computer model and data.
Instead, the city will have to continue to market itself and promote what it's already got, Flanagan said.
Fredericton is one of the fastest growing urban centres in Atlantic Canada at 6.2 per cent.
Only Moncton and Halifax have similar growth rates, as measured by the 2001 and 2006 censuses.
Within 100 kilometres of Fredericton is a regional population of 322,670.
"That's a significant trade area," Flanagan said.
The city is continuing to promote itself as the gateway to the Atlantic region, and that 70 per cent of the province's knowledge industries are in Fredericton.
The city has a population of 50,535 and a regional population of 85,688, according to Statistics Canada.
Moncton has a population of 64,128, and it achieved CMA status with a regional population of 126,043.
Saint John has a population of 68,043 and a CMA of 122,389.
Flanagan said the city will continue to track its figures and work with Statistics Canada in hopes of achieving CMA status.
The city is also keeping an eye on the Finn report, which the provincial government has temporarily shelved.
That report came up with ideas on changing local governance structures and geographic groupings of major centres with their bedroom towns and villages.
----
More contracts signed for Marysville bypass
Published Wednesday May 20th, 2009
A4
By STEPHEN LLEWELLYN
llewellyn.stephen@dailygleaner.com
The Marysville bypass got a big boost when Premier Shawn Graham announced 10 additional contracts for clearing and grading on the project worth $11.9 million.
Graham and Transportation Minister Denis Landry made the announcement during a site visit Tuesday.
"We clearly committed to addressing this important transportation and safety issue prior to taking office," said Graham.
"It will be really positive to see this 36-kilometre stretch improve the flow of traffic in the capital region, while helping motorists have better access to southwest Miramichi and northeast New Brunswick."
The cost of the bypass project is $124 million.
Landry said the government will spend $35 million on the bypass this year.
"We want to rush the work because we want to end it earlier than expected," he said. "The work is going very well."
Initially, the project wasn't expected to be complete until 2015.
Construction work revealed fossils in the rock along the route that caused some worry that the project might be delayed. But Landry said experts were brought in to look at the fossils and they turned out to be fairly common plant fossils.
He said he had a chance to examine some of the fossils Tuesday.
"It was amazing to be able to see that it was an old tree," he said. "It was still there after some 300 million years."
Eighteen contracts have been awarded for work completed or underway on the bypass. The contracts range in value from $3,336 to $6.61 million.
Joining Graham and Landry on the tour were Fredericton-Fort Nashwaak Liberal MLA Kelly Lamrock and Fredericton-Silverwood Liberal MLA Rick Miles.
Lamrock said people in his constituency are excited to see the long-awaited project taking shape.
"The people of greater Fredericton had reason to be skeptical after hearing 30 years of announcements and promises," he said.
"Completion of this bypass will make the residential community of Marysville safer, while giving the trucking community a more efficient route."
Three grading and four bridge or overpass contracts will be tendered in the coming weeks, said government officials.
----
Tennis group seeks city support
Published Wednesday May 20th, 2009
A6
By HEATHER MCLAUGHLIN
mclaughlin.heather@dailygleaner.com
The Capital Region Tennis Association is asking Fredericton city council to provide a letter of support to back its application to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency for $730,000 in federal funding.
The association wants to erect a $1.6-million indoor tennis complex tied to the Grant*Harvey Centre when the city constructs the southside regional sportsplex on Alison Boulevard.
Association spokesman David Clark told city councillors Tuesday night that by joining the two sports facilities, the city will be contributing close to $400,000 toward the project through land and in-kind services.
Geothermal heating proposed for the hockey sports centre can be purchased by the tennis association for its four-court indoor tennis facility. Coupled with a radiant heating system and extra insulation, the tennis facility can be heated for about $30,000 annually, he said.
Clark gave councillors an updated copy of the group's business plan, which estimates annual operating costs at $108,000 and revenues of $162,700.
"The sustainability of this, in our view, is incredibly strong," Clark said. "The City of Fredericton has been an excellent partner and has come to the table with $400,000 in-kind (not cash) support."
For about 20 years, local tennis players supported a private tennis dome in Lower St. Mary's, Clark said, and the business model for the new facility draws on a much broader community base and greater construction efficiencies.
The tennis facility will be multi-purpose and can be used for badminton, basketball and other indoor sports, as well as for trade shows and exhibits.
The group has drawn local schools into the mix and hopes that school programs, provincial tournaments, wheelchair events and adult and seniors tennis can round out the mix of users and potential revenue sources.
"We've had good support from the school district," Clark said.
Since there are many groups clamouring for federal cash under ACOA's Building Canada Fund, the group wants city council to submit a letter of endorsement to complement their application.
A second wave of federal funding for recreation projects was announced last week.
The Capital Region Tennis Association has gathered $230,000 in pledges to support the venture. Another $100,000 is expected to be raised from the private sector, with another $140,000 expected to come from a national endowment campaign.
"We're very confident in our fundraising abilities," Clark said.
To cover all the bases, Clark said the $1.6 million includes $250,000 for contingencies and it turned to Eastern Designers and Company Ltd. to vet its business case.
"I think this is a worthy project and clearly you've worked hard at building support," said Coun. Stephen Chase.
Coun. Dan Keenan commended the group for building a business case that includes its own financial contribution. The days of expecting the city to carry the full financial load for sports facilities is long gone, he said.
Mayor Brad Woodside said city councillors will discuss the request, but councillors have generally been supportive of the group's efforts and senior city hall staff were authorized to work with the group on its project.
----
This isn't your parents' middle school
Published Wednesday May 20th, 2009
A3
By JENNIFER DUNVILLE
dunville.jennifer@dailygleaner.com
Construction on Bliss Carman Middle School is in the final stages.
The keys to the school on Kimble Drive, which will replace Albert Street Middle School, are expected to be turned over to District 18 staff by the end of June.
The school will open to students in September.
"Bliss Carman is going to be a great school. Everything is modern. It's a big step from Albert," said Tim O'Connor, senior project manager of facilities and pupil transportation for the Department of Education.
Students Reilly Parsons, Erin Guilfoyle and Tanya Dhayagude got a sneak peek of the interior of the new school Tuesday.
They chatted excitedly throughout the tour and paused several times to explore some of the special features of the school.
"This is really amazing," Parsons said while standing inside the front doors of the building.
"I'm surprised how big the gym is and that there is a science lab. The technology lab is really big, and I really think we're going to enjoy this school."
Bob Phillips, the architect of the building, said the state-of-the-art facility was designed to give students more space, a high-tech cafeteria and a better gymnasium.
The school includes 24 regular classrooms, several doubled classrooms, a music room, two science labs, a library and resource room, an art room and a lab for sewing, woodworking and computer science.
The footprint of the facility is just more than 4,000 square metres, but the floor space of the two-storey building is more than 7,300 square metres.
"It's a big project, so there's a huge sense of pride as it nears completion," Phillips said.
"We have more than 85 construction workers in here working hard to finish this by June. It's been a long process that hasn't been without its growing pains, but it's all worth it to see the joy on the kids' faces as they walk through the facility."
O'Connor helped lead the tour. He pointed out many of the features the new school will have that the old school doesn't.
"There's a cafetorium, wireless Internet throughout the school, motion-activated lights, Smartboard technology in every classroom and indirect lighting that reflects off the ceiling to prevent glare," he said.
"The double classrooms will allow teachers to combine their classes for team teaching, and the staff rooms throughout the school will allow space for staff to prepare coursework."
Other features of the new school include: FM sound systems in every classroom; a heat-recovery system; and biometric technology in the cafeteria that will allow students to pay for meals by simply scanning their thumb to access an online account.
"After seeing the new school, there isn't really anything I can think of that I'll miss about the old school," said Grade 7 student Tanya Dhayagude.
"I'll be part of the first class to graduate from the new school, so that's exciting to think about, too. The focus is definitely on the new school now."
Public tours of Bliss Carman Middle School are expected to take place in the next few months. Construction is scheduled to be completed June 30.
----
Fredericton, Oromocto, New Maryland to split millions for infrastructure projects
Published Wednesday May 20th, 2009
A4
By SHAWN BERRY
berry.shawn@dailygleaner.com
Fredericton, New Maryland and Oromocto will get almost $5 million to invest in infrastructure this year after the federal government doubled gas tax transfers to municipalities.
"Families and workers in Fredericton, Oromocto and New Maryland will soon see faster improvements to roads and other local infrastructure thanks to the Conservative government's doubling of gas tax transfers to municipalities," said Fredericton Tory MP Keith Ashfield, who's also the minister of state for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
The amount of money shared with municipalities accounts for five cents on every litre sold.
The announcement is part of a series of announcements by Conservative MPs in their ridings. Federal gas tax transfers to the provinces and municipalities were doubled April 1.
Municipalities across the country will be provided with $2 billion a year to invest in projects such as roads, water treatment plants, bridges, sewers and transit systems.
Fredericton, which received about $1.9 million in gas tax funding last year, will get about $3.8 million this year. This year's funding was anticipated to double and has been allotted to projects.
Area mayors welcomed news that the federal government will continue to provide bolstered funding to municipalities for another four years.
"This funding means a lot to a community like Oromocto," said Mayor Fay Tidd.
"It means when we need new wastewater treatment plants, we'll have some additional funding," she said.
New Maryland Mayor Frank Dunn said the money will hopefully help his community link new wells to water towers in the village.
Fredericton Mayor Brad Woodside said the city plans to use the money to refurbish the waste water treatment plant on the city's north side.
Ashfield said the federal government continues to invest in infrastructure projects in Atlantic Canada.
He said the first project in the government's $104-million Community Adjustment Fund - a $7-million silviculture program in Miramichi - was announced last week.
He said there are also likely to be announcements in the next few months related to Ottawa's two-year, $12-billion Building Canada Fund meant to promote economic stimulus through infrastructure projects.
----
Also noticed some activity at the Costco site this morning, they were digging with a loader at the gas bar area, so hopefully construction is finally starting, im guessing its prep work for the engineered wetland.