Record pace set A SURGE OF building permits issued in June has the city on track for a new record year in construction. Sixteen new homes valued at $2.2 million, Petrocan’s $1.2 mil- lion bulk plant and the 31.5 mil- lion library expansion project were major contributors to a June total of close to $5.6 million. Thal’s sent the year-to-date soaring !o just short of $14 mil- lion, squeezing past record year 1992's halfway tally. And senior building inspector Paul Gipps says there’s no sign things are going to slow down in the short term. While unable to give details at this stage, ‘‘there are a couple of big things in the wind,’’ he said, indicating only they were in the industrial sector. The acceleration in single fam- ily housing permit applications has brought this year’s total level with 1992 at the same point. That, Gipps said, is due in part lo the increase in what are called spec’? houses — homes built without a buyer being lined up first. : He said they were now running Slightly ahead of 792, the last time this many builders felt confident enough to take the gamble. Add in multi-residential devel- opments (mainly duplexes) and Terrace had seen 91 housing unit starts as of the end of June. Canadian Morigage and Hous- ing Corporation figures released last week show only Prince George, not surprisingly given its population, has beaten that figure with 189 starts, Prince Rupert is up from last year at 18 while Kitimat is stag- Out & About W . THROUGH THE ROOF. Doing his part in getting the city on a record breaking construction pace is Steve Kern, a builder for CW Developments, The CW crew were busy last week putting the roof on new duplexes being constructed at the corner of Lazelle and Kenney. nant with just one new house being constructed in the first half of the year. Housing as a whole, both new construction and Tenova- tion/addition, accounts for more than $10 million of building ac- tivity in Terrace this year, ~ FREE DELIVERY iN” TERRACE AND KITIMAT : = Bylaw changes suggested THE CHAMBER of commerce has put forward a few ideas it would like the city to incorporate into its proposed home occupa- tion bylaw, : An amendment to the 1966 zoning by-law, the draft limits a heme based business to employing only those living there. Unpaid volunteers are also banned unless unfess they are members of the immicdiate family. The chamber wants to see that section loosened to allow a non- resident, non-family employee provided they don’t put in more = hours than a half-time equivalent in any quarter. It also wants to see changes to the space limits. The draft says the area used by the business should be limited to 300 or 400 sq.fL., depending on the zone it’s in, with that figure split evenly - between in-house and outside storage areas, The chamber wauis to see a blanket 750 sq.ft. maximum with no distinction between operating and storage areas, Finally, if it adopts the above recommendations, the chamber wants council or one of its committees to review all exisiting home businesses that don’t meet those conditions and decide ona cast-by-case basis If they should be classified as non-conforming under the new by-law. Alcan back in black ALCAN ALUMINUM LTD, is back in the black after nearly. three years of losses. Ss The company reported a $7 million profit for the second quarter of 1994, That's a big improvement from its $35 million loss in the Same quarter of 1993, ; A recent upturn in aluminum prices could be the signal the in- dustry is coming out of the price doldrums that resulted from a glut in world supply of the metal. The increase in ingot prices — up some 40 per cent since Janu- ary — didn’t play a major role in the 1st quarter profit, however. The increase hasn’t worked its way down to the realm of fin- ished products. Thats in part because many customers are still locked in at earlier prices as a result of longer-term contracts. Company officials predicted the price increase will show up on balance sheets in the form of more profits later this year or in 1995. They attribute the first quarter profit to increased shipments of fabricated producls and further cost reductions. Caffeine prices frosted IF YOU’RE a hard-core coffee drinker, you will have noticed a sudden leap in the price of your fayourite beverage. A surprise frost in southern Brazil has wiped out nearly half of next year’s coffee crop, and commodity traders have responded by jacking prices 30 per cent. Brazil is a producer: of primarily lower grade coffees, so the increase won’t be as visible for coffee drinkers who have an affinity for the higher grade beans from places like Guatemala, Cosla Rica and Mexico. FREE 2: WEEK TRIA Purified Bottled Water 635-2341 Sales and Rentals of Water Coolers and Dispensers ASSES. ae _ Hurry inl Sale ends September 2, 1994, The temperatures rising but the prices of Mannington fiooring are falling. Now is the best time to ‘put a Mannington Silverado™ or Stardance® floor in your home. 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