Thursday, August 4, 2022

Northern Development News - August 4th, 2022 edition

1) July 2022 Northern Development Newsletter - click here

2) 5 Grants totalling roughly $1,000,000 to support NDIT Communities

$300,000 was approved under the Recreation Infrastructure program for the Village of Fraser Lake curling rink upgrade. This project entails a complete overhaul of the facility including new refrigeration piping and headers, upgraded windows, the replacement of the sand floor with a concrete slab, new water repellant wall surfaces, energy efficient LED lighting and a full lobby makeover, along with various other improvements. With these upgrades complete, the rink can be opened to off-season sports such as pickleball and floor hockey and can provide community space for groups (community meetings, weddings and funerals) to use.

$300,000 was approved under the Economic Infrastructure program to the Fort St. John Seed Cleaning Cooperative Association for plant improvements. This project involves the purchase and installation of a state-of-the-art Cimbria SEA Optical Sorter, Chromex Colour Sorter, Cimbria Heid Gravity Separator, Cimbria Delta Model 107 Super Cleaner and the required associated equipment. With the addition of this equipment the plant will be able to efficiently clean unwanted seeds and foreign objects from all grains, cereal crops, seeds and pulses. The addition will also create a significant increase in capacity and throughput, which will allow the plant to clean more seed and in turn, help more farmers in the surrounding areas.

$200,000 was approved under the Northern Housing Incentive program for the Village of McBride to incentivize a multi-phased development in the community. The project entails the construction of twenty, two-bedroom rental suites in duplexes and quadplexes on 2nd Avenue. These are independent living suites targeted towards seniors. Each unit will be approximately 800 sq ft, house two bedrooms and provide ground level exterior entry. Construction will be in phases beginning in 2022 and fully complete in 2024.

$145,627 was approved under the Economic Infrastructure program for the Xat’sull hydroponic vertical farm. This project involves the purchase and installation of a commercial hydroponics growing system on the Xat’sull First Nation. This year-round operation will provide food security to the community, promote food sovereignty and provide a platform for health/nutrition education in addition to creating employment and training opportunities for community members. The greenhouse will also generate revenues for the Nation from the retail sales of the produce grown.

$137,607 was approved under the Cultural Infrastructure program for the Knox music hall development project in Prince George. The project consists of redeveloping Trinity Downtown into a professional-level music performance venue for a wide variety of performing arts and live events – accessible to a wide range of users and community groups. The space will hold 250-300 people for ticketed events. This is phase one of a multi-phased project and includes updating the in-floor heating system to facilitate the removal of pews and shift to adaptable chair seating, installing professional sound equipment and LED DMX controlled lighting, stage drapery and partial roof replacement.

Joel McKay - CEO of Northern Development stated:

"“These latest projects really reflect the vision of the Trust to establish the North as a place that people want to live, work and play in. Investments in housing, the arts, food security, agricultural and community infrastructure play a huge role in retaining and attracting residents.”

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