Newfoundland & Labrador Projects

[Trevor3]

Not sure where else to post this, but some election results as of right now:

Corner Brook

Charles Pender is back in the mayor's seat after a 4 year absence. He has 2,543 votes compared to Donna Francis' 1,601. (according to The Western Star: http://www.thewesternstar.com/Electi...Corner-Brook/1

Edit: Corner Brook will have an all new council, only one returnee from the previous term: Linda Chaisson (as per CBC)

Stephenville

According to the CBC, The battle of the two Tom's (round 3) has Tom O'Brien leading Tom Rose 709-704. O'Brien won over Rose in 2009 and over Rose and two other challengers in 2005.

Edit:
O'Brien takes the mayor's chair, 1094 to 1016.
Councillors (as per CBC): Mike Tobin, Don Gibbon, Laura Aylward, Darlene Oake, Justin House

Numbers are conflicting from sources for the final council chair, either newcomer John Finn or incumbent Cec Stein. Finn has 1149 and 1144 votes, while Stein has 1115 and 1154 depending on the sources.

[RRoome]

Here's an ipod photo of the new long term care centre in Carbonear.


Long-term Care Centre by RRoome1, on Flickr

[jeddy1989]

Billion Dollar Contract Awarded on Muskrat Falls

It looks like an Italian contractor will be awarded an over $1-billion Muskrat Falls contract. While the deal hasn't been finalized, Nalcor says Astaldi Canada Inc. is the preferred contractor. Negotiations are expected to conclude in the coming weeks. The contract will include the construction of the powerhouse, intake, gated spillway, transition structures and other associated work. Nalcor VP Gilbert Bennett says site preparation for the work will begin in the coming weeks. Astaldi Canada Inc. is a subsidiary of an italian general contractor.

Former Natural Resources Minister Shawn Skinner, in a new role with a Toronto-based construction company, AECON, has warned of the hiring of foreign companies. AECON had bid on the same contract.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...39453&latest=1


Oh great ....

Nova Scotia says No to Muskrat Falls without Conditions

The newly elected premier of Nova Scotia says he will not support the Muskrat Falls project unless residents of his province are guaranteed cheaper power. After winning a majority government Liberal, Stephen McNeil says he supports the ruling by the UARB that said the Maritime Link only made sense if more power was obtained at a cheaper rate. That's a message he says he intends to bring to Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale.

Premier Kathy Dunderdale says she's confident the election of a Liberal majority in Nova Scotia won't have an impact on the Muskrat Falls project. Dunderdale told reporters this morning that the Muskrat Falls agreement is between Nalcor and Emera, a publicly-traded company.



Liberal Natural Resources critic Dwight Ball says Stephen McNeil's election will change the approach to energy distribution in Nova Scotia. He says McNeil is looking to break the monopoly Nova Scotia Power has in that province and give people a choice.



He says there will be more pressure now on trying to meet the condition set by the UARB on providing more power to Emera at a much-reduced rate.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...39441&latest=1


I'm not done yet hahaha

Contract Awarded for Elements of Wind Farm

Maderra Engineering of St. John's has been awarded the contract for elements of Beothuk Energy's offshore wind power development off the west coast. Beothuk is proposing to develop a 180 megawatt demonstration offshore wind park in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...39448&latest=1

[Trevor3]

I'm really not impressed with Nova Scotia on that front, they were already going to get a pretty good deal on the power from Muskrat. They were already looking at a below market price for electricity in exchange for allowing us to string up the lines and sell to the US (who don't even want it, but that's beside the point). If this keeps up we're going to end up with a repeat of the Upper Churchill...

Anyway, there are a couple of little projects I came across in talking to some people back home. Surprisingly they weren't announced before the municipal election, which seems strange given that they would have given more weight the incumbent council seeking re-election. I don't know if I'm impressed that they didn't use it for campaigning or concerned that they don't feel the need to tell people what they're accomplishing.

Abitibi Mill
- Provincial government has invested $4 million into a project to convert the former mill paper shed in a metal fabrication shop to cater to the offshore industry. The plan was originally announced in 2009 to be operated by Metal World, but they pulled out and wound up in Argentia. No idea who the operator is this time around

Airport
- Apparently now self-sufficient again and hasn't dipped into its line of credit in a couple of years (though not out of the woods entirely), has undertaken a renovation program, replacing equipment like seating, luggage carts etc... and, most importantly, is re-instating the hangar on the west ramp. That hangar hasn't been used (to my knowledge) since Air Labrador ceased it's freight operations between YJT and Goose Bay in the 90s. Work has been going on all summer replacing portions of the roof, stripping down the exterior and refinishing the interior floors. Great to see if it actually does get utilized again in some capacity.

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

I'm really not impressed with Nova Scotia on that front, they were already going to get a pretty good deal on the power from Muskrat. They were already looking at a below market price for electricity in exchange for allowing us to string up the lines and sell to the US (who don't even want it, but that's beside the point). If this keeps up we're going to end up with a repeat of the Upper Churchill...

Except they do want it.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

I'm really not impressed with Nova Scotia on that front, they were already going to get a pretty good deal on the power from Muskrat. They were already looking at a below market price for electricity in exchange for allowing us to string up the lines and sell to the US (who don't even want it, but that's beside the point). If this keeps up we're going to end up with a repeat of the Upper Churchill...

Sorry. I didn't vote for the Liberals...

It's embarrassing, because the Nova Scotia NDP worked extensively with Newfoundland and Labrador. Both provinces were getting a great deal -- and this is clean energy. I mean, for god sake: Nova Scotia is still burning coal!!

I'm hoping that the McNeil Liberals are only posturing and don't plan on screwing over St. John's.

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

Except they do want it.

I'm not sold on this. We're still subsidizing Quebec power via the Upper Churchill, giving them a capacity far above what they actually use. Quebec can turn to the US and undercut any price we put up and come out with a profit. Then there's the pipeline coming through to Saint John, NB. And that's going to be another cost competitive option for the US.

Originally Posted by RyeJay

Sorry. I didn't vote for the Liberals...

It's embarrassing, because the Nova Scotia NDP worked extensively with Newfoundland and Labrador. Both provinces were getting a great deal -- and this is clean energy. I mean, for god sake: Nova Scotia is still burning coal!!

I'm hoping that the McNeil Liberals are only posturing and don't plan on screwing over St. John's.

I'm hoping the same. The margins on this whole operation are pretty thin as it is, and it is a great energy source.

On the related topic of great energy sources, a dairy farm in St. David's (about 45 minutes from Stephenville) is now producing manure power on an impressive scale:

The economic spinoffs of such a project can really be significant, if New World Dairy can reach an agreement to tap its power into the grid. That is not an option in Newfoundland and Labrador currently, Mr. Chaffey said.

Their system can put out about four million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, according to the president, enough to supply about 400 households.

...

The largest dairy farm in the province, and one of the largest in Canada, was incorporated in 2004.

The farm has a herd of more than 1,200 milking and dry cows, and roughly 1,000 heifers. The farm produces 33,500 litres of milk daily, or approximately 25 per cent of the industry’s daily production for Newfoundland and Labrador.

http://www.thegeorgian.ca/News/Local...her-products/1

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

I'm not sold on this. We're still subsidizing Quebec power via the Upper Churchill, giving them a capacity far above what they actually use. Quebec can turn to the US and undercut any price we put up and come out with a profit. Then there's the pipeline coming through to Saint John, NB. And that's going to be another cost competitive option for the US.

Only weeks ago the New England governors were saying they wanted the power and to continue building hydro power because they need it. Papers in that region were also writing about this when the Eastern Canadian Premier's and New England Givernor's met. If Nova Scotia does use the power the excess power might not even make it out of Atlantic Canada, as has been mentioned because NB and PEI may use it all. If Quebec has cheaper power to offer then why aren't they selling it there now?

With the boom that is happening in Labrador it probably won't be long till they need it anyway, which was part of what the project was developed for.

[MalcolmTucker]

Lower Churchill will have to compete with shale gas power based prices in New England - there is no reason it can't do the same in Nova Scotia. The market shall provide.

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

Only weeks ago the New England governors were saying they wanted the power and to continue building hydro power because they need it. Papers in that region were also writing about this when the Eastern Canadian Premier's and New England Givernor's met. If Nova Scotia does use the power the excess power might not even make it out of Atlantic Canada, as has been mentioned because NB and PEI may use it all. If Quebec has cheaper power to offer then why aren't they selling it there now?

With the boom that is happening in Labrador it probably won't be long till they need it anyway, which was part of what the project was developed for.

I missed anything about NE being interested in it, I don't get to hear much NL news over here. If so, then that's great. However, the U.S. is pushing toward energy self-sufficiency and is likely to be the world's biggest oil producer within 20 years. Assuming that we have to charge on a cost-recovery basis, it's likely we'd still have to undercut domestic oil in order to keep any U.S. customer in a long-term agreement. Quebec currently sells excess power to the New England states under short term deals and much of the focus for Hydro-Quebec's future growth is on the US market.

No matter which way it's cut, as of right now we have 40% of Muskrat power going to the island, 20% going to NS for next to nothing so we can string up the power line. The last 40% is where the profits should come from and right now we don't have a customer. I have a hard time believing that the US markets will materialize when the power comes on stream (if they do, Hells yeah that's awesome! Give'r that!!). I'm sure Labrador industry could eat up some of it, but an amount equal to the daily requirements of 500,000 people and their businesses and industries on the island? No, and we still end up footing the bill for the whole thing on the backs of ratepayers.

But we're building it, and if we get in a mess because of it then so be it. Wouldn't be the first time, and I'm sure we'll figure out a way to fix it. It's kind of what we do as a people.

[Trevor3]

Here's a slideshow from The Western Star of the new residence building at Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook. It's only 5 photos, so kind of disappointing really, but it's an attractive building. They're really sticking to the alpine lodge kind of theme. I could easily see this as a hotel out at Marble Mountain.

http://www.thewesternstar.com/Slides...ew-residence/1

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

I missed anything about NE being interested in it, I don't get to hear much NL news over here. If so, then that's great. However, the U.S. is pushing toward energy self-sufficiency and is likely to be the world's biggest oil producer within 20 years. Assuming that we have to charge on a cost-recovery basis, it's likely we'd still have to undercut domestic oil in order to keep any U.S. customer in a long-term agreement. Quebec currently sells excess power to the New England states under short term deals and much of the focus for Hydro-Quebec's future growth is on the US market.

No matter which way it's cut, as of right now we have 40% of Muskrat power going to the island, 20% going to NS for next to nothing so we can string up the power line. The last 40% is where the profits should come from and right now we don't have a customer. I have a hard time believing that the US markets will materialize when the power comes on stream (if they do, Hells yeah that's awesome! Give'r that!!). I'm sure Labrador industry could eat up some of it, but an amount equal to the daily requirements of 500,000 people and their businesses and industries on the island? No, and we still end up footing the bill for the whole thing on the backs of ratepayers.

But we're building it, and if we get in a mess because of it then so be it. Wouldn't be the first time, and I'm sure we'll figure out a way to fix it. It's kind of what we do as a people.

It's being built because it's $2 billion cheaper than any other proposal to power the island of Newfoundland. Partnering with Emera, who is spending 1.2 billion on the subsea link to Nova Scotia, gives us access into markets into Atlantic Canada and the United States. We can sell the power into other markets for any price because the energy is already being produced. Either we sell it or let it run over Muskrat Falls.

New mines in Labrador will also require a lot of power.

[RRoome]

Housing starts are up in GFW. Commercial spending is sustained, possibly growing by the end of the year. Also there are a list of new food places opening including Robin's, a pizza spot on Hardy Ave and Burger King. Unfortunately it's fast food...but still business. Also, Stokes recently opened in the EV mall.

Good news for us in central.

Link

[Trevor3]

Corner Brook

Wing'n It - Now opened on Union Street in the city
Menchie's Frozen Yogurt - Also opened on Union Street.

I remember when I was in school at Grenfell, nothing was walkable in the winter from residence so going anywhere for food was pretty much out of the question. These places aren't too far to walk, so they should do a little business from students.

I'll definitely take a trip out to CB over Christmas to try out Wing'n It. I liked it in St. John's, hopefully it's good here too!

[RRoome]

http://www.gfwadvertiser.ca/News/Loc...ntre-a-no-go/1

Looks like the Civic Centre planned for GFW has been sloughed, as costs were rising over budget.

[RRoome]

I took a trip back to GFW this weekend, but forgot my camera. I'll get some selected iPod photos and maps of new developments up.

As a brief of what I saw in GFW:
GFW has a lot more small apartment housing since I was here last year. It's mostly infill housing, filling vacant lots. All the subdivisions have progressed substantially... not that I'm crowing about sprawl, but GFW is already fairly dense and growth is good. There is a large new industrial park development that I was unaware of, north of Hardy Ave. The "Gorge Park" which was in development last fall, is complete: this includes a long wood walkway, a bandstand, and a wooden terrace which steps down to the river. More work is planned, but it looks fantastic so far.

Towns outside GFW:
Bishop's Falls looks almost the same as it was since I left high school in 2005 - with the exception of a few new streets. Botwood has a lot of new seniors housing and a new housing development north of the hospital. Badger has a new town hall (which i was unaware of) and a small area full of people relocated from flood-damaged homes. It's not new growth though, so I didn't take pics. They have a neat little cafe/parlor called The Purple Frog (or something similar), which looks refreshing in comparison to the rest of Badger.

Overall, the theme I'm seeing back home is that a significant amount of people are moving to farming and small business is growing quite significantly. Almost all of the new growth is in GFW, while the other small towns seem to be in disrepair and/or stagnant. There is still the bleak feeling that this growth is borrowed and that sustainable producing industry won't have a foothold for a while. Seeing farming development makes me optimistic, though.

One more big change is the interchange at Route 350 and the TCH, where the new Robert Bond bridge will end. There is significant blasting and land clearing around the old interchange, suggesting a new overpass and possible highway twinning.

[MalcolmTucker]

As long as the workforce is gaining skills, the added value in human capital will help propel the communities along after primary resource extraction declines a bit.

[RRoome]

Here's a small photo update from Remembrance Day weekend in Exploits Valley, the place with the most red rock in Newfoundland!

Grand Falls-Windsor:


This is the map showing key updates since Nov 2012.

Blue squares (residential) are:
1) New apartments at the former GFA Elementary Lot
2) New rowhouse infill at Brown's Ave (former water tower location)
3) New seniors apartments on Grenfell Heights.
All the residential subdivisions have grown quite a lot, but the road maps are the same as those I posted last year, so they aren't included here.

Green (commercial/industrial) are:
1) Wingin' It
2) A&W
3) Burger King
4) Jumping Bean
5) Robin's / 2for1 Pizza
6) New building on Park Street, no photo

Red Road:
Maloney Street Industrial Park expansion, with new unnamed road.


GFW_2013 update by RRoome1, on Flickr

Here's the new Jumping Bean:


Jumping Bean GFW by RRoome1, on Flickr

I took three shots of the industrial park. These photos are in order, as you move further away from Hardy Ave in the new road. The arrows show the vantage points. There is a lot of good rich earth in this area which resulted in the site being rather mucky. There is more to the road than can be seen in these photos, but the road was too mucky to walk through and I was afraid of getting the truck stuck.


Industrial GFW 3 by RRoome1, on Flickr

Industrial GFW by RRoome1, on Flickr

Industrial GFW 2 by RRoome1, on Flickr


Bishop's Falls:


Not much news here. Some progress on the Reid Subdivision, on Centennial Drive.


Reid Subdivision Bishop's by RRoome1, on Flickr

Botwood:

Some new senior's housing with a residential subdivision just past the hospital. The road bends to the left, which points directly at the hospital.


New Road Botwood by RRoome1, on Flickr

And I saw an old friend at the port.


Tuvaq in Botwood by RRoome1, on Flickr

Badger:


I noticed that Badger has a new town hall building, though I'm not sure how new. Not much else is new, though there is a new café.


Badger Town Hall by RRoome1, on Flickr

[statbass]

Thanks for the update, RRoome. Developments seem to be progressing well in GFW and surrounding area.

[Trevor3]

Found this is today's Western Star, Emera is setting up a west coast office in Stephenville to oversee construction of the Maritime Link.

Emera Newfoundland and Labrador, the company that will carrying out the work on building a transmission line across a section of Newfoundland, is in the process of opening an office in Stephenville airport...

...The office will be linked into the company’s main office in St. John’s in this province and contain a conference room for meetings. The company is preparing for the office to be ready to go when the project moves ahead.

http://www.thewesternstar.com/News/L...ille-airport/1