Ernst & Young LLP and the Murray Premises Boutique Hotel were recognized at the annual St. John’s Board of Trade 2004 Business Achievement and Business Excellence Awards. On December 1 the Board of Trade announced the winners of this year’s prestigious awards. Ernst & Young LLP was presented with the Contribution to Community & Community Service award. The Murray Premises was presented with the New Start-Up award.

The Contribution to Community & Community Service Award recognizes the company that make an outstanding contribution to area charities or community projects through donations of time or service, or providing financial support.

Community service is part of Ernst & Young’s culture, and all members of their staff, regardless of their level, are encouraged to participate in community activities. To further support this, staff are provided with up to 3 personal paid days off, over and above their normal paid vacation time, which can be used for volunteering. It is estimated that their over 50 staff have contributed in excess of 10,000 hours to volunteer activities in the past year. Their numerous community and professional initiatives include Rotary Club, Duck’s Unlimited Canada, Junior Achievement and Run for the Cure.

For more information on Ernst & yOung LLP visit them at www.ey.com/ca

The New Start-Up Award recognizes a business venture that has demonstrated outstanding growth and/or success in its first three years of operation.

Murray Premises Hotel has demonstrated an outstanding ability to succeed in the hospitality industry during its first three years of operation. The Hotel has enjoyed tremendous success in a limited and very competitive marketplace. The owner of the hotel, Bill Mahoney, decided that the backbone of the company would be based on consistently delivering on its promise of providing extraordinary services to each and every guest. The first full year of operations provided a base of revenue that gave the assurance the Hotel was a good product and was headed down a successful path. The second year provided a revenue increase over year one of 64%. Year three yielded an increase of 20% over the previous year. These year-over-year increases were more than forecasted, and the outlook going forward is very positive.

For more information on the Murray Premises Hotel visit them online at www.murraypremiseshotel.com

Excerpt taken from the St. John’s Board of Trade Business News December 2004

As tradition has it, fireworks will take place at midnight, December 31 St. John’s harbourfront. Should the fireworks be unable to go ahead on New Years Eve, the next firing time will be on New Years Day at 7:00 pm. 24 hour recorded information available at 754 –2489.

Development of the harbour no longer makes it possible to use a land-based site so a barge must be deployed. The fireworks contractor for this year’s display, Fireworks F/X has put together an exciting display of almost 400 bursts of colour and light.

Street Closures

In the interest of public safety, the following streets will be closed from 10:00 pm December 31 to 1:00 am January 1st.
Signal Hill Road
Battery Road
Harbour Drive from Prescott Street to Waldegrave Street
Baird’s (Clift’s) Cove
Southside Road east of Blackhead Road

Should the fireworks be postponed from New Year’s Eve, these roads will be closed from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on January 1st.

Safety is, of course, our first concern. The general public is reminded that firearms, flares, flammables and glass are not permitted on Harbour Drive. Access to the Marginal Wharf is prohibited.

Special thanks to St. John’s Regional Fire Department, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, St. John’s Port Authority. Coastal Shipping, Canada Coast Guard, St. John Ambulance, the Downtown Development Commission and the Special Events Advisory Committee.

St. John's city council has voted down a resolution that would have lowered property taxes. By a 5-3 margin, council decided against a break on residential and commercial tax rates.

Coun. Dennis O'Keefe says the city's treasury is growing at a healthy rate, and property owners deserved

O'Keefe proposed a cut in the respective mill rates of 0.2, which would have shaved about $1 million from city revenues.

For a home appraised at $100,000, the owner's tax bill would have been cut by $20.

"I do believe we can find the money," O'Keefe says, pointing to potential revenue increases from new developments and other government sources.

"It seems that any time there's an increase in revenue, that increase in revenue gets gobbled up pretty easily. I really don't think it's a stretch," he says.

However, Bob Bishop, the city's finance director, said a tax cut would mean consequences.

"With this cut, you'd be looking at cutting back into existing programs. That means cutting back things we do now," says Bishop.

Mayor Andy Wells and Coun. Paul Sears voted with O'Keefe.

The remaining councillors voted against.

Council did approve a hold-the-line approach on property taxes, although it passed a $25 increase to flat rates charge for water-and-sewer services.

The city's residential mill rate remains at 12.2. The general business rate is 18.76 mills.

WebPosted Dec 14 2004 12:14 PM NST CBC Radio

A proposal to restrict tractor-trailer access to Duckworth Street in downtown St. John's for several months of the year is raising concerns in the trucking industry.

Forcing tractor-trailer operators to travel longer distances to get from downtown to the northeast section of the city will lead to increased transportation costs, an expense that will be felt in the pockets of consumers, said Gerry Dowden, Newfoundland vicechairman of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association.

"The route that we take now is the shortest possible route", said Dowden, who's also a past-president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Carriers Association. "You have to accommodate the trucks as much as you can with respect to deliveries and getting to the customers on time."

Dowden said an alternate route will add time and higher fuel costs to trucking operations. "Any additional inconvenience to the service that we provide would have to be pased on to the end user," he said.

Coun. Paul Sears, chairman of the city's police and traffic committee - which plans to study the issue further and make a recommendation to council in the new year - said he's fully aware of the cost arguement. "But we have to be concerned about downtown residents and motorists who frequently see tractor-trailers travelling through narrow corridors," he said. "The most direct route from the downtown to northeast sections of the city does not necessarily mean it's the most appropriate route."

Sears said Duckworth Street is a busy, narrow stretch of road, particularly when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street, and safety is of key importance. "We'll certainly consult with the trucking industry, particularly as it relates to using that corridor through the downtown to access King's Bridge Road for that north-south link to Stavanger Drive and other areas," Sears said.

"We're the oldest city in North America, and a wooden city at that, and we still allow aviation fuel, for instance, to be transported through the downtown."

But Dowden said there are options other than restricting truck traffic on Duckworth Street. "If they're going to look at a traffic restriction for Duckworth Street for a certain period of time, eliminate parking on one side of the street," he suggested. that would help the traffic flow more smoothly, he added.

Jon Summers, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Independent Truckers' Association, said the city also consider making Duckworth Street one way as a means of enhancing traffic flow.

Summers said when city councillors debated whether to allow truck traffic to continue along King's Bridge Road last year, the trucking industry clearly demonstrated that access through downtown to connect to the city's north-south link is the most economical and efficient route. "There's no other route," he said.

Bob Ledrew Jr., the carriers association representative on the city's police and traffic committee, said until St. John's comes up with "a more user-friendly road to service the downtown," there's no other feasible or viable route for truckers, other than the Duckworth Street/King's Bridge Road link.

But Coun. Art Puddister, who raised the downtown traffic issue during a police and traffic committee meeting last month, suggested tractor-trailer traffic through Duckworth Street could be restricted from May to December.

Truckers could use Pitts Memorial Drive to access Columbus Drive via the Kilbride exit in order to head to the northeast section of St. John's, he said.

Puddister said, however, whn it isn't feasible to do so during the January to April winter period - in cases when the Kilbride ramp is too steep to use during slippery conditions - tractor-trailers heading east could be permitted access to Duckworth Street. Roughly $6 million is required to upgrade the ramp.

He said people are concerned about the number of large trucks that use the downtown as a route to the east end and the northeast sections of the city.

LeDrew said he finds it odd that an arguement is being made to force tractor-trailers to go around the city from May to December, but to allow them to travel through Duckworth Street from January to April - a period when streets are slippery, snow-covered and made narrower by snow banks.

Craig Jackson, The Telegram, Wednesday, December 8, 2004.

An estimated 17,000 pounds of non-perishable food items and over $6,000.00 were collected by the employees of Newfouundland Power at this years Annual Downtown Christmas Parade.

At the Annual Downtown Christmas Parade Awards Ceremony, Eg Walters of the Community Food Sharing Association was presented a cheques by Bill Mahoney, DDC Chair and Mr. John Keogh of Newfoundland Power.