S TANDARD TERRACE
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VOL. 25 NO. 33
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Province forgives Shames’ debt THE LARGEST financial obstacle to My Mountain Co-op’s purchase of the Shames Mountain ski facility has been removed. The provincial government late last week approved two measures to deal with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and interest owed to it by the facility’s current owner, the Shames Mountain Ski Corporation, and by the co-op. The largest amount is debt totaling $429,010.97 plus interest for a tourism development loan taken out by the ski corporation in 1988. A proposal made by Shames Mountain to pay $125,000 for a full settlement of the loan and interest has been accepted by the province. Shames Mountain must pay the money
by Dec. 31, 2012 for the province to forgive $304,010.97 in debt plus interest. A further $130,000 that wasn’t paid by Shames Mountain Ski Corporation in royalties for the use of Shames Mountain itself will be dealt with by a combination of forgiveness and debt restructuring. The province will forgive the interest portion of the royalty debt which is $46,767 and the co-op has agreed to pay the remaining $88,579 spread out over the next 10 years. Royalties paid by ski facility owners to the provincial government amount to two per cent of chairlift revenues each year as a form of rent to use the land on which the facility operates. Shames Mountain and the co-op struck a sales deal last year in which the co-op took
on responsibility for the unpaid royalties. But the overall sales deal could not be completed until the debt owed to the province had been dealt with. The co-op operated the mountain last year under a lease deal with the ski corporation, and was prepared to do the same this season. News of the financial deal came out at the co-op’s Nov. 26 annual general meeting. Provincial forests and natural resources minister Steve Thomson, the minister responsible for Crown land, said the deal enables the co-op to buy the ski hill assets, allowing it to offer a recreational outlet for the region. “We are satisfied they have the ability to make this work.” said Thomson of the co-
op. “They lined up corporate sponsors and they’re using their own resources and ideas.” He said the province agreeing to forgive interest and write off a portion of the decades-old tourism development loan was the only realistic option it could make given the alternative. “If the purchase agreement didn’t go through, the ski corporation would have gone into bankruptcy. There would be jobs lost and an impact on the community,” said Thomson. The province would have ended up with the ski hill assets in its possession and would have to face any and all costs associated with their disposal, he said.
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Sawmill buys power line logs
RECENTLY-REOPENED Skeena Sawmills says it wants to buy all of the trees it can from those that have been cut down to make room for BC Hydro’s Northwest Transmission Line. The mill took delivery Nov. 22 of 14 truckloads of logs, purchased from the Kitsumkalum First Nation’s Kalum Ventures forestry arm which has the contract to clear 68 kilometres of the 344km power line right-of-way from BC Hydro’s Skeena Substation just south of Terrace to Bob Quinn on Hwy37 North. “We’d love to have access to that wood, we can use more wood,” said Gian Sandhu, who consults for Skeena Sawmills owner Roc Holdings Ltd., about wood that will be cut along the route farther north. “Our people have been talking to First Nations bands,” said Sandhu about getting more NTL right-of-way logs for the mill. “They’re continuing to negotiate.” Skeena Sawmills opened its doors Nov. 5, starting by running one full shift of workers. It wants to get the mill up to two shifts but that would require an additional 450,000 cubic metres of wood, LAuren Benn PHOTO according to Sandhu. Skeena Sawmill’s log buyer, Brendan Wilson says he is speaking with First Nations further north Skeena Sawmills, which does who have clearing contracts along BC Hydro’s Northwest Transmission Line. have markets for what it can pro-
duce, has for months been saying that a shortage of logs is one of its biggest challenges. Last week, it shipped its first order. Save for specific work such as chipping, the sawmill has been closed since the fall of 2007 and the sale to Roc Holdings of the equipment and wood licences was welcomed in the area. Sandhu said the potential to use much of the 490,000 cubic metres of wood being logged off for the transmission line right of way is attractive. Mill log buyer Brendan Wilson is now speaking with First Nations further north who have clearing contracts. He said that because Skeena Sawmills opened in late fall, much of the Kitsumkalum wood had already been accounted for. “If Skeena Sawmills wasn’t around we would have probably shipped that wood down to Prince Rupert like we have with everything else,” said Lyle Bolton of Kalum Ventures of the purchase and delivery made last week. “All the saw logs and the pulp logs have been separated,” Bolton said. “All that is getting burned … (are) tree tops and brush.”
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Love conquers all
Zombie attack
First place
Caledonia takes a look at the healing power of love in the musical Carousel \COMMUNITY A19
The country’s largest military mutiny took place in Terrace \NEWS A5
Midget Reps take top spot on the road at Prince George tournament \SPORTS A30