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CBC
26-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Pulp mill's parking lot plan hits 2nd delay in front of Saint John council
An Irving Pulp and Paper plan to turn part of Wolastoq Park into a parking lot hit its second delay with Saint John council. At the continuation of a public hearing Monday night, councillors said they want to see the company and city staff come to an agreement on community benefit. The company is asking the city for approval to convert 30 per cent of the park into a roughly 500-space parking lot to accommodate the workers needed for a $1.1-billion upgrade project. After a lengthy discussion, councillors voted to send the plan back to the city manager for further discussion, ultimately delaying a final decision. The nearby Simms Corner intersection and its well known issues played centre stage in the discussions, along with the loss of park space for the community. Many councillors expressed concerns about quality of life impacts. "At the end of the day, it comes down to a loss of park, a reduction of quality of life for those who live and use that area," Coun. Gary Sullivan said. "If you're losing a big hunk of park and increasing traffic and making their life tougher, what's the community benefit?" The public hearing on the proposal began two weeks ago at the Feb. 10 council meeting, but the issue didn't get resolved before the 11 p.m. scheduled end. The majority of speakers in that meeting spoke against the proposal, with five left to speak in favour of it. While a date for the item's return to council has not been determined, the city's general counsel, Melanie Tompkins, said council must vote on the bylaw change within six months or the application process would need to restart. One of the remaining speakers — Andy Carson, J.D. Irving's director of government relations — said projected traffic increases resulting from the Irving NextGen project won't hit the same peaks as traffic resulting from other projects. He pointed to the Harbour Bridge construction project slated to be near completion in 2027. Carson said traffic related to its construction will ease this year and while the Irving project will add traffic back into Simms Corner, it would never reach the peaks of traffic related to bridge construction. "Which isn't to say that there won't be an impact. That's still hundreds of cars. We appreciate that and we're going to work hard to try to minimize that impact as part of what we do," Carson said. Tim O'Reilly, the city's director of public works, said Irving doesn't take several factors into account, such as train growth, port expansion and other industrial growth. Irving wants the parking lot for workers who will be needed for the mill's $1.1-billion plan to replace its recovery boiler and increase pulp output. While J.D. Irving Ltd. owns the land, the company's proposal requires a zoning change. The proposal was announced in October and has drawn criticism from city residents and staff, but support from trade and union groups, the city's Chamber of Commerce, mill employees and others. Irving Pulp and Paper mill vice-president Mark Mosher and others say the upgrade would bring a significant economic boost to the city and province through job and tax revenue growth. Opposed residents and city staff members say creating a parking lot would effectively make the area unusable as a park. Carson also addressed concerns about green space loss and said the company is open to discussion with city staff about how it can support other park lands on the city's west side. Mayor Donna Reardon said the delay in making a decision was about doing the right thing. "I mean, 25 years ago when they purchased that, we didn't talk about mental health and we didn't talk about green spaces and we didn't talk about neighbourhoods," Reardon said. "But we've evolved since those 25 years and now those things are important to us as communities." J.D. Irving Ltd. bought the land overlooking Reversing Falls in 1998. The company announced layoffs early Monday to roughly half of its paper plant workforce. The layoffs were not mentioned in the parking lot public hearing.
CBC
26-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Unifor 'pushing and advocating' for laid-off Irving Paper workers
Unifor says it won't stop fighting for unionized paper mill workers receiving layoff notices this week from J.D. Irving Ltd. Jennifer Murray, Atlantic regional director of Unifor, said 100 of the 140 people laid off from Irving's Saint John paper mill workforce are Unifor members. "Today, we have to point our heads to these young families in Saint John and what their futures will look like," Murray told CBC Radio's Shift. "We're not going to stop pushing and advocating for these workers." Workers of these specialized jobs were notified Monday they would be laid off officially within 45 days, said Murray. "People are thrown into chaos … wondering where are they going, how are they going to put food on the table," said Murray. The company has blamed the workforce cuts on what it called the province's "uncompetitive industrial electricity rates," saying increasing costs made it difficult for the company to remain competitive in an international market. Murray said JDI was in discussion with Unifor regarding rising energy costs. Unifor had several meetings with the provincial government to find strategies to protect these jobs. "The timing of this was not expected," said Murray. "Obviously, this demonstrates the importance of collaborating and moving forward together." She said it's been all hands on deck since the news, with local and national members of the union meeting with JDI and government to make sure these workers' needs are met. So far, JDI has said there may be opportunities for some of these workers to be put in positions elsewhere within the company. Murray said it is still very early in those discussions and how many workers may get these opportunities is unknown. She is hopeful that JDI will reconsider these layoffs. Unifor had a meeting with Natural Resources Minister John Herron Tuesday on strategies to bolster the forestry industry in the province. Murray said these layoffs are just another blow to the industry that is already facing the threat of tariffs from the U.S.
CBC
06-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Saint John pulp mill and city staff in conflict over 550-spot parking lot on parkland
Social Sharing An Irving Pulp & Paper proposal to build a 550-stall parking lot on parkland not far from the west Saint John mill is causing conflict between the company and the city. Irving wants the parking lot for workers who will be needed for the pulp mill's NextGen project — a $1.1 billion operation that will replace the mill's recovery boiler and increase pulp output. J.D. Irving Ltd. bought the land overlooking Reversing Falls more than 25 years ago, and the Centracare psychiatric hospital that stood on the property was demolished. The company then created Wolastoq Park, honouring the Wolastoqey name for the St. John River, with trails and statues that tell the history of the area. WATCH | Pulp mill official says parking is necessary to attract workers: Irving pulp mill and Saint John at odds over parking lot proposed for west side park 2 hours ago Duration 3:27 An Irving Pulp & Paper proposal for a parking lot on Wolastoq Park land has a major hurdle to clear — winning Saint John council's approval. The city has concerns about losing park space and increasing congestion. Now the pulp mill, which has a regular workforce of about 350, wants land rezoned from "park and natural area" to "stable commercial" to make way for the parking lot. The lot would take up a third of the park space. The proposal was sent to the city's planning advisory committee in January after resident pushback. Mark Reade, a senior planner with the city, Tim O'Reilly, the public works director, and Irving Pulp & Paper vice-president Mark Mosher addressed the committee. City staff are not on board with the Irving proposal saying the new parking lot would have a large impact on the already complicated Simms Corner intersection and on the quality of life for residents in the area. The change is also likely to reduce or eliminate the community-park-oriented function of Wolastoq Park now enjoyed by the city and nearby communities, staff said. Reade told the committee the company "could construct a parking structure on the mill site, so [the proposal] is not necessarily due to lack of land." Staff recommended denying the Irving proposal, but the planning committee disagreed. The proposal now goes before city councillors on Monday, when there will be a public hearing. A city spokesperson said there would be no further pubic comment on the parking proposal until the hearing. The Irving plan has supporters as well, including the Chamber of Commerce and Saint John Construction Association. Mosher said that that when JDI bought the property in 1998, it was on the condition that something be done with it to drive the city and provincial economy. Until such a solution was found, the site was to be converted into a park. The NextGen Project, he said, will replace much of the pulp mill's infrastructure and is necessary for the mill's long-term viability. He said the city and province will benefit through tax revenue and job growth. Mosher said the company did explore alternatives, including building a parking garage on site. While the immediate need is for parking for 200 people needed for the mill upgrades, the mill's site will also be losing 350 parking spots because of the NextGen construction. He said constructing more parking on the mill site would require shutting down the existing lot for at least 18 months — during which time there would be no parking. That left few options, other than using shuttle buses, which Mosher rejected. "To ask a construction workforce that currently works 10-hour days, four days a week to then stand in line waiting for a bus to be taken to their car in the middle of the winter … will create a significant challenge," Mosher said in an interview. Parking is a necessary amenity to attract workers, he said. "Construction associations are telling us if you want to bring workers back to New Brunswick, you need to provide amenities, and one of the very basic amenities is parking." Simms Corner intersection a complication The nearby Simms Corner intersection, which the city has been exploring ways to fix for at least two decades — plays a significant role in the issue. O'Reilly said increases to road, port and rail networks have already had a challenging impact, and the parking lot proposal would add to them. "Some of the additional truck traffic in terms of some of the development is going to grow as well over the number of years," he said. O'Reilly said the Irving group hasn't done a good job identifying these impacts. Mosher said the heaviest traffic period will be during the construction phase of the NextGen project, after which there will be less road traffic as the company will transition to rail. He also said there are factors, such as population growth, are also affecting congestion at Simms Corner. Committee member Anne McShane questioned how the increased traffic might affect safety. While McShane ultimately sided with city staff in a committee vote, she said she is hoping a proposal will come about that benefits both Irving and residents.
