ae

_ficials ‘won’t disclose the

is likely in the range of $2.5

‘to the receiver in charge of

- . proceedings of former own- «.
. - er New Skeena Forest Prod- ©

” we were looking at this we |
feel the numbers will stay -.
the same,” s
manager Mike Seibold.

‘set for March 2005.and was
‘formed Terrace

‘deal to. buy the. mill, liter-

to Maynard’s:

“mill, as an operating entity,

laid out I start a lot by lot -
‘catalogue, a detailed listing .

- says Seibold.
’. list and tag the hundreds of

items for brochures and on-
_line viewing. That

Planned mine to bring financial benefits

of Hwyl6 and Hwy37 North at Kitwanga

Freezer treats
College chef dishes |

- about good food for
families who are ina _
hurry\COMMUNITY Bi

Let’s taik

Gov't spends big bucks
to find out what you think
about health care
\NEWS A14

Six Shootahs

.; Team travels far to play

favourite outdoor game
of strategy and intensity ©

\SPORTS B6

&

$1.00 PLUS 6¢ GST
($1.10 plus 7¢ GST * »
outside of the Terrace area)»

VOL. 19 NO. 26

TAXPAYERS. should rest easy knowing

_ the planned. sale of the Terrace Lumber -:
. Company’s (TLC) assets won’t affect the,
$950,000 loan given to it by the city.

That loan was made to help the com-

pany buy the mil} in the first place in Feb. -
* 2005 and is secured as a first mortgage
“against the land on which 'the mill sits:

“The loan is. not a difficulty at all,”

» said Mayor Jack’ Talstra: last week after
learning the company wants to sell the-
mill equipment after deciding once and .

for all that it can’t afford to keep operat-
ing.. | | ue

ally doesn’t have a whole lot to-do with

the assets that they may or may not be =
- Placing for sale,” he said.

- Auction J
people”
here>

OFFICIALS from an auc-
tioneers and liquidation
company arrive today. to as-__
semble the sales list for the ©
expected auction of the Ter-
race Lumber Company’ Sas-
sets Oct. 25-26. :
While Maynard’s . of-
guarantee it has given the
company for the sawmill, .
planer and rolling stock, it -

million. That. was the guar-
antee given by Maynard’s

overseeing the bankruptcy

ucts last year when the facil- |
ity was to go on the block i in...
Feb. 2005.. 7

“From what ‘we gave
them when we were talk- °
ing about them before when |

* says Maynard’s’’

That auction had been.
called off. when the just-_
Lumber
Company (TLC) made a

ally hours. before the assets
would have been turned over

Though TLC officials are
still in talks with two groups |
interested in purchasing the

Maynard’s officials must

ill sal

"By SARAH A, ZIMMERMAN

_. “The loan is attached to the land-as a.
- first mortgage against the land,-so it re- ,

fe) d

The sawmill sits on 70.acres of prop-
erty and if TLC proceeds with the auction
as planned, it won’t include the land.

would have, to pay us out,” Talstra said.
TLC officials say the. auction slated

‘for Oct. 25-26 is a last resort. Company
chairman John Ryan said. last week it is -

in talks with two unnamed groups who

-are considering purchasing the mill as an.
__ Operating entity.

But those companies have less than a
month to make a decision before the auc-
tion is to happen.

If the auction does happen and TLC

: remains the owner of the land, it will have -

to begin repaying the city the $950,000

‘loan according toa payment schedule -

agreed to with the city.

- “They are not selling ‘the land, they -

City. officials won’t release details of
. the Payment schedule, ora number of its

ERRACE

2

“terms, but do say: no payments have been

made since TLC bought the sawmill.
_ The original.loan agreement last year

indicated: the company would have 10 |

years.to repay the loan to the city. °
_ Even without a sawmill,. ‘Talstra says
the land is valuable. ,

This will be the second time in two .

‘years. the sawmill is being put on the
‘block. '
_ The first planned auction was to take

place i in Feb. 2005 when former owners
. New Skeena Forest Products declared

bankruptcy after trying unsuccessfully to
raise money to run the facility.
.But a group of local investors formed

- TLC and bought the mill just hours be-

fore the mill would. have been turned
‘over to Maynard’s.
It re-opened. the mill the end of Aug.

2005 but it closed. fora period this spring,

_ TERESA PALAHICKY and Morris Mason are all smiles 2 after the former gave a 39- -year-old life size rubbing -
ofa petroiglyph from Ringbolt Island to the Kitselas band.

petrogiyph rubbing
given to Kitselas band |

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN brushes and water from the river and cleaned it all off § $0”

begin preparations now.
“What we do is once I,

get up there and get things

of the items we’re selling,”
He’ll hire a crew to help

at work.
should take three days. -

IT WAS A typical September day in 1967 when. two local
teachers and. friends, Walt McIntyre and Dave ‘Walker
took a small boat to Ringbolt Island in the Kitselas

Canyon in search of an often talked about, but rarely seen,

petroglyph said be found there.

_ The duo took a boat into what was then referred to..
‘as White Town Kitselas, a former settlement along the
_ Yailway, went up the Skeena River to Ringbolt Island and
explored the rocky outcropping until they uncovered the

large petroglyph they’d heard of.

' “The petroglyph was all covered in moss so, we took’

large,” recalls McIntyre, now 70.

Victoria.

SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO

that we could see it and we decided it would be nice: to
have a rubbing of it because it was so interesting and so

The men returned one week later and carefully took:
three rubbings. They spread a bedsheet over the large
rock, weighted it down, and using one-pound blocks of : |
black wax melted from crayons, the men took a rubbing ;
that shows the detail of the large petroglyph in stunning.
detail. Three rubbings were made; one went to Mcintyre,
the other to Walker and a third was sent to a museum in.

Cont'd Page A2

started up again and closed for good the ,
end of June.. TLC officials ‘cited poor
markets and the need for deeper financial

pockets as reasons for the closure.
The mill was also hurt -by having to >

pay softwood tariffs for importing into .

the United States and the rising Canadian
dollar made payments received in U. S..
dollars worth less: when converted back

- to Canadian funds...

While ‘Talstra’s ‘disappointed to see
the difficulties the ‘mill faces, he gives
credit to the’ group of investors for gét-
ting the mill running when nobody else
could before them.

me | think the people involved with this
company and certainly the investors in
the company have done their level best to
make a go of this,”:Talstra said.
_’ “They’ are still hard at work doing the
‘best they ce can to 9 do what i is the right thing ,

for Terrace.”

-Taistra said the city will provide what

support it can to the company while: it 7
"considers its options.
“TLC’s Ryan said the : company: “has ,

been | ‘in talks with one of the two pro-
spective buyers. since mid-June in hopes

it will remain intact. Whether the com-.
panies are Canadian or not has not been

divulged. -

' "The worst case scenario is we have to :

go to auction and our absolute desire is to
make sure that anyone we owe money to
gets paid,” Ryan said.

~The company also owes some of its °
laid off workers holiday pay and it would

face making severance payments.

A large. majority of those. workers.

had been employees at the mill for years

_ under a series of previous owners and a a
“number of previous closures. “os

SSS

City

gives ok

to new rink ©

“By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN

IT’S AGO.

project.

higher user fees..

-been pledged.

_ of the $2 million.

VIRTUALLY EVERY community inthe

northwest will feel an economic impact
during construction of a massive copper

--and gold mine northwest of here should

NovaGold Resources Ltd. get govern-
~ ment approval for its Galore Creek proj-
- ect. »

With a construction timeline set. to
start next year and lasting until 2010-11,
the project, at its height, will need more
than 800 people and huge quantities of
equipment and supplies.

NovaGold estimates itl] spend more

than (US) $1. 2. billion on the project

which, when finished, has a projected life

-of 20 years.

The work will begin with the construc-

tion: of a road to Galore Creek stretching .
west of Hwy37 North and an intensive

airlift operation will be needed.
‘NovaGold already uses an airstrip at
Bob Quinn on Hwy37 North but wants to
build another one closer to the mine site.
By road, the mine will-be 200km from
Iskut and 280km from Dease Lake.
Aside from the main camp at the site,

NovaGold will build a series of smaller
ones along Hwy37 to support’ “the: main
operation. .

As itis, the company has already spent

tens of millions exploring and proving its
ore body and ‘in environmental and en-
gineering work needed not only for the
phase leading up to construction but for

Various government approvals since ac-
- tive work began in 2004.

Terrace has already benefitted through
the flow of equipment, supplies and peo-
ple being flown to the location, first in

‘fixed wing aircraft to Bob Quinn and then

by helicopter to the mine site.

NovaGold’s official in charge of the

project, Carl Gagnier, paints a picture
of large proportions when talking about

construction. .

- The impacts on communities depends
upon what they can offer and where they
are located in proximity to the mine site. ”

’ Gagnier envisions equipment arriv-
ing by ship and barge at Stewart before
being hauled further,north and fleets of
large trucks turning north at the junction

7

i
’

7

- The City of Terrace will -build.a second sheet of ice-ata
*~ planted cost‘of $8 million’and spend another $1.2 million ‘on™
upgrades to the existing arena and aquatic centre. wt
The Sept. 25 announcement ends years of debate and
numerous false starts that involved everything from a large
multi-plex to a stripped-down new rink. .
Dubbed phase one of.a greater sportsplex project, work
on the new arena, which will be an addition to the north side
of the existing arena, could begin as soon as this month.
_At the same time, the city will work on upgrades to the
existing arena and the aquatic centre — a project officials are
calling phase two.
It includes lowering the ceiling in the arena, changing the
- lighting and replacing the rink slab. It also includes the i in-
‘Stallation of a dehumidification system at'the.pool. .
City officials have a third phase on the books as well — a
conference centre but the time and place of its construction an
as well as the cost have not yet been determined. oe
| The current approved plan-was developed after the city .
_ ‘spent more than $500,000 on architect and other°fees. and a
obtained bids in the $13 million range last year. °

- It then hired rink-building consultant Wayne Aussem of
Vancouver to act as a project manager and re-tendered the
-. project in ‘several smaller components rather than one large :

_' The planned $8 million bill also means: ‘taxpayers face
_ borrowing up to $3.5 million’for the project and up to $1.2 ©
million for the arena and swimming pool upgrades. oe
Those two borrowings were recently approved by city”. .
council, paving the way for its official blessing of the Proj- ‘.
ect. Mayor Jack Talstra says he still. hopes the city won t :
- need to borrow that much. |
‘He says the city will apply to the Northem Development .
Initiative Trust, set up by. the province to stimulate invest-
ments, for up to $3 million in interest free loans and grants,
Those grants may be applied for jointly with the ‘Regional
District of Kitimat-Stikine. | |
- Other money could also come from gasoline’ tax revenues a
the city receives, “applying for Olympic legacy grants and

The city must now busy itself with calling i in the pledges |
and commitments of money and donations in kind that have

That’s crucial if the city is to keep the amount it needs to.
- borrow at the minimum. _

All told,. the already-donated and. committed amount
Stands at $4. 5 million. It includes $1 million already received
from the provincial government and an expected: $2 million

. grant from a separate provincial-federal program.
‘, :“T am not sure when exactly we get our hands on that
money but there are some hoops that you have to go through - .
which we are in the process of doing right now,” says Talstra ;

Cont'd Page A2—

for equipment coming in from the east.

- Terrace’s role in all of this will. more’
than likely be focussed on the airport as °
a marshalling point for for people arriv-

ing from the south and for those living

~in the immediate area: before fe being flown _
-up north.

“With Terrace right now, we have’ a

' few more options because of the two air-

lines,” said Gagnier in referring to Air

Cont'd Page A2

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