City Has New Dog Control By-Law

If you're being bothered by aggressive strays or neighbours who don't know the meaning of the term "poop and scoop", you're in luck: the city has finalized a new dog control by-law that will give you more convenient hours to call in complaints, among other changes.

Amy Poffenroth telling common council the fines for dog-control by-law violations are going up for as much as $2100. Previously, the maximum fine was $500.

Although the city will no longer respond to calls about stray cats, stray dogs will now be impounded for 72 rather than 48 hours. For a link to the full version of the dog-control by-law, click here

Changes To St. George Liquor Store Angers MLA

The people of St. George will be left high and dry...literally.

NB Liquor announcing it will replace two corporate owned stores in the province with privately owned agency stores and staff members will be moved elsewhere.

NB Liquor president Daniel Allain says the corporate stores in St. George and Florenceville-Bristol are no longer efficient and each are more than 50 years old.

Liberal MLA Rick Doucet says that's not what he thought.

He says this store was slated for renovation when he was in government so this news is a slap in the face.

Doucet says from what he understands the agency stores mean 7 jobs in St. George will be lost locally and residents will be left with about 1/8 of the selection of booze.

Irving Releases Statement on Explosion

Irving Oil has released the following statement to CHSJ News:


"At approximately 11:52am (Local Time) today, during scheduled hydrogen plant turnaround work at the Refinery, a carbonate tank undergoing maintenance work was over-pressurized.

An employee suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

No further damage was sustained as a result of the over-pressurized tank. At 12:40pm, the Refinery issued the all-clear to resume normal operations.

Due to the planned turnaround work taking place, we do not anticipate any production impacts."

Traffic Calming Debated For Douglas Ave

Heritage home-lined Douglas Avenue has turned into a drag strip, according to one local resident. Moran Lannigan says he'd like to see traffic calming measures like curb bulbs and new signage.

 Councillor Donnie Snook disagreed, saying traffic patterns on the West Side wouldn't make any sense at all if it weren't for the flow on Douglas Avenue.

Speeding is currently an issue on Douglas Avenue, but council pointed out there are 100 requests to council to investigate traffic calming in neighbourhoods throughout the city.

Explosion in Small Tank At Refinery

According to a report to the fire deparment, a explosion occured this morning in a small tank at the Irving Oil Refinery.

One person was injured but everyone else has been accounted for. According to fire officials there's no further risk.

Changes Can Still Be Made To Plan SJ

Developers and realtors raising some questions about Plan SJ which will serve as the roadmap for future development in the city for the next 20 to 25 years.

They have been told by the city nothing is etched in stone. 

Realtor Hodges Hamm tells CHSJ News he can see why the city wants more development closer to the urban core but it's a lot more expensive to build.

Hamm warns if the zoning regulations are too tight, many people, who want a more rural type lifestyle, might choose to live in the outlying communities when the city needs a bigger tax base.

Having said that, Hamm says people who build on the outskirts should not expect city services if they're too far out.

The city wants Plan SJ to be adopted by July of next year. Hamm would like to see it reviewed every few years.

Reports Of An Explosion At The Irving Oil Refinery

We are hearing reports of an explosion at the Irving Oil refinery.
 
One person is injured.  Police, Ambulance and Fire are on scene. One man was taken from the refinery to hospital in an ambulance.

We have contacted Irving Oil for more information.

Anne Hickey of Champlain Heights tell CHSJ News she heard a whistle blow around 11:45 in the morning and her house shook. 

Ideas To Keep Youth Here From Liberal Candidate

Provincial Liberal leadership candidate Mike Murphy pointing out ways to keep our youth in the province and help their education.

Murphy tells CHSJ news he'd like to implement a program called "New Brunswick First", which would offer tax credits for business who hire our youth.

Murphy adds he'd also advocate lower or no interest on student loans, remove the parental contribution rule and create a youth investment bank to help with loans. He says it's hard to ask young people to stay here in the province when we don't even invest in ourselves.

The liberal leadership election will be held next month.

Pension Plan Deficit Increases

The city's pension plan deficit is rising and will be above the 193 million dollars it was at last count, likely exceeding 200 million dollars. 

Common Councillor Bill Farren tells CHSJ News the city is in bad shape because of the pension plan and change will have to happen. What that change will be, no one knows. 

The city has been examining the shared risk model but what that stands in light of the rising deficit, Farren didn't want to speculate on.
 
Farren does concede taxpayers are fed up with this and have been for some time.