It is important that the mill site can be re-developed and re-purposed into a situation, where we can see employment while the site is being rejuvenated.
That’s from Powell River Chamber of Commerce president Dave Formosa, talking about the future of the tiskwat paper mill site.
This comes after, Paper Excellence Canada announced the permanent curtailment of the site earlier this month.
A large tax base for the area, Formosa says this is his first concern for both his members and the community.
“The rate of taxes that would be coming in off that site could be considerably affected,” said Formosa. “It would mean that taxes in this area that are already on the high side, will be even higher.”
According to Formosa, a lot of people who worked at the mill lost their jobs because of the curtailment, leading to people either leaving or commuting.
He adds that when he was mayor, council had several companies looking at putting in hydrogen facilities at the site as an option for the future of the site something that he supports.
“That would be something nice because it’s clean, it seems to be new energy, and seems to be up and up in the province, the world, and country,” said Formosa.
However, he adds that is not the only option and more avenues could be explored with the site’s access to natural resources.
“Other than that, maybe the site can be developed into a marine industrial site that is there for light to heavy industry that isn’t pollutant but can take advantage of the power of the deep seaport, land mass, and buildings.”
He says the commerce hopes for the best with the site’s future.
