oe AN ENGINEERING and construction challenge awaits those who will build a road from Kincolith at IT SOUNDED so straight forward four years ago -~ a road would be built connecting the village of Kincolith at the mouth of the Nass River to the outside world, ending a de- pendence on air and ocean travel. The cost would be divided between the federal govern- ment at $10 million, the provincial government at $15 mil- lion and $5 million in cash and in kind from the Nisga’a Tribal Council for a total of $30 million. But a different.cost breakdown inadvertently released two weeks age by the B.C, Transportation Financing Authority, the crown corporation which raises money for road building, provides a different look at the financing. And it would seem to cement the stature of the Nisga’a as being tough negotiators. Or, to use the words of a transportation aulhority press release, the authority “worked with the Nisga’a Tribal Council to identify innovative funding sources and pro- gram savings.” That new cost breakdown put the federal figure at $11.9 million and the provincial figure at $17 million with the Nisga’a contribution dropping to $1.1 million. As it tums out, this new set of figures is just as real as the criginal set — depending upon, of course, how you look at things. The key i is how the Nisga’a contribution of.‘‘cash and i in kind’? is interpreted, tion Financing Authority, the crown corporation which is borrowing the. money .for the province’s portion, says the federal $10 million was sent four years ago, It's been quietly gathering interest ever since’ until needed when construction does begin. That interest to date represents the difference between the original $10 million and last week’s $11.9 million figure. Since the $10 million is meant to benefit the Nisga’a, said Doyle, the $1.9 million has been credited against the $5 million Nisga’a contribution. Subtract $1.9 million from $5 million and the Nisga’a contribution requirement drops to $3.1 million. to the original $15 million, there’s a story behind that, too. Right now B.C. Ferries pays Western Pacific Marine a su bsidy to defray the cost of a passenger and freight ferry between Kincolith and Prince Rupert. Last year was (he first year of a five-year contract with Western Pacific and the amount was $270,000. By the fifth year, the amount will be $294,000. When the road is complete in three or four years, the ferry service subsidy will be cut. But since there are other coastal communities with a road aad a ferry and Kincolith will have just a road when the It all depends IN THE WORLD of high finance, they are known as soft costs — figures attached to a particular budget or project for now but which may change at the end of the day, This scems to be behind some of the maneuvering con- nected to the Nisga’a Tribal Council’s $5 million portion of the planned $30 million road to connect Kincolith with the outside world, “You need to understand that our contribution by and large was to be in kind,”’ said tribal council forester Collier Azak last week, An advisor to ihe Nisga’a Highway Committee, a body made up of various Nisga’a government officials to act as a sounding board on roads in the Nass Valley, Azak said one of the soft costs is the value of the timber to be logged for the roadway, *The value of the timber is at the bottom right now, but that could change when it is logged,’’ said Azak. The Nisga’a have already made one attempt to log in the area of the road. That was done several years ago by building 4km leading west of Kincolith, But by the time it was finished, the fall- ing timber markel made the idea of logging unprofitable. The driving force behind that was Nisga’a Economic En- terprises, the prime Nisga’a-~owned economic development arm in the Nass Valley. It is now in some financial dif- ficulty. A failure to log and gain revenues hurt the overall effort of the Nisga’a to include more cash to its $5 million contri- bution. It may have also sent them back to the bargaining table with the federal and provincial governments. Azak was susprised last week by a press release indicat- ing the federal and provincial portions of the road cost had increased while the Nisga’a portion had decreased, "What we had agreed to was to release the provincial government portion and say the balance was to paid by the federal government and the Nisga’a,’’ lie said, Allhough that would have the effect of perhaps making the financial picture fuzzier, Collier said it would also have reflected the solt costs which could change. “I's a bit ofa mystery to me why it was released that way,’' he sald. John Doyle of the provincial government’s ‘Transporta As for the new provincial figure of $17 million compared | the mouth of the Nass River up the Nass Valley to Greenville to connect with the Nisga’a Highway. Who pays what for road takes a complicated turn subsidy is cul, the Nisga’a appear to have been successful in arguing the subsidy figure should also be credited against the $5 million ‘‘cash and in-kind” contribution agreed to by the tribal council, Doyle was unsure as to the dollar figure involved, but over a five-year span — which is the length of the current subsidy contracl — a figure of more than $1.4 million is not out of line. Subtract that from the $3.1 million left afer the federal interest was deducted, and the Nisga’a contribution drops again — this time to $1.7 million. But Doyle cautions against being too precise in breaking out the $5 million ‘‘cash and in-kind’ figure. Some of that is also ta be reflected from the sale of tim- ber logged to clear the right of way for the 29km road from Kincolith to Greenville. The value of the wood will only be known when it is sald and the price depends upon market conditions at the time. More interest can also be anticipated from the federal $10 million as it won’t be tapped until it’s needed. To get to the $5 million, a number of things were taken ‘into consideration,’* said Doyle. “There were no individual monetary figures attached to . the individual portions, But the individual portions are to add up to the overall contribution of $5 million,’ he said. The Nisga’a have already spent some cash which may be ‘in the Tange of-the $1:1-million listed'as the tribal council’s contribution last week. That was to buiid a 4km section from Kincolith east to Mill Bay. The intent was to reach areas which could be logged to provide revenue for the Nisga’a contribution. Highways ministry officials say that stretch will have to be widened and improved to bring it up to the 50kph con- struction standard being applied to the remaining 25km. Construction could start as soon as this fall pending com- pletion of an environmental review and final design and engineering. Once again, Doyle cautions that the $30 million is just an estimate; could vary depending up the final design and results of the environmental review. But whatever happens, the Nisga’a $5 million ‘‘in cash and in-kind’? appears to be locked in regardless of how things add up to producc that figure. Computer Specs: * 300Mhz Mil MMX Enhanced. + 512 KB L2 Pipeline Burst Cache + 32 MB Total PC100 Memory « 4.0 GB Hard Drive . - 4 Meg Video memory * 32X CD-ROM ° * 56K V.90 Modem a * Aureal A3D 360° Positional Saund .° Gompag Internet Keyboard * 100% Y2K hardware compatible 2268 Options: “ Juster Speakers $40.00 Upgrade to 64MB $50.00 § 699.00 Optional 15" monitor $245.00 Plus Applicable Taxes ; 1 pplicable Optional 17" monitor $415.00 Monitor mot included Loans Available "| through Terrace & District Credit * Microsoft Windows 98 + MotoRacer © Union * Microsoft Encarta 98 » Quicken Basic * Microsoft Bookshelf 98 + McAfee AntiVirus E * . 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