Fort Hotel remediation to begin as soon as possible

 

Fort St. John City Council voted today to obtain services to proceed with the Fort Hotel site remediation as soon as possible.

The City has allocated $250,000 in its 2010 budget for the Fort Hotel site remediation. City officials have investigated grant opportunities to reduce the cost. The Provincial Government has a Brownfield fund that allows for 50% in grant money for site clean up. This fund will not be open until Jan. 2011 and funds would not be released until April 2011. City Manager Dianne Hunter feels its important the site gets dealt with immediately.

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It is hoped that the site can be cleaned up by the end of 2010, but council notes with the winter months coming that may be difficult. It is estimated that the project will take 4-6 weeks to complete after it is started.

The Fort Hotel’s land transfer to the City is currently in waiting at the Land Title office and until this is resolved the city cannot proceed with the project. The site became the City’s as a result of a 2009 tax sale due to three years in unpaid taxes on the property. The remediation is needed because of a 2009 fire that destroyed the building.

After remediation is completed there will be a downtown study to help assess what should be done with the land. City Manager Hunter hopes the community can be involved in the process.

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The estimated cost of the remediation is $201,000