According to Sheraton Holdings Ltd. manager Henry Wiebe, it is full steam ahead at the Comfor Management Services Ltd. (CMSL) owned mill.
He said a gap in log supply that initially threatened operations at the mill has been rectified and production is back on track.
The issue was brought up for discussion at a recent public CMSL board meeting in Wiebe’s managers report.
He stated that Babine Forest Products had indicated that they may not be able to supply the 10,000 m3 of logs within the agreed time frame that the two companies had established.
Wiebe said to help bridge the gap in supply, logs were sourced from Tahtsa Timber.
“If Babine Forest Products is not able to deliver logs on schedule we will be running out of logs sometime in the next few weeks and will remain without logs until sometime in July when logging starts again,” he added.
CMSL president Quentin Beach said to the board that he understood the logs were sold by Babine Forest Products to Dunkley Lumber and West Fraser Timber instead.
Beach later said to Lakes District News, “I think there was a bit of misunderstanding about the log supply and it has all been cleared up now.”
Richard Vossen, Babine Forest Products woods manager said the conversation should have been kept ‘in camera’ as it dealt with contract issues between Sheraton Holdings Ltd. and CMSL. “There is no issue with supply the logs to Sheraton. There was just a delay working in the yard … it was a few days delay, but we are back on track now so there really is no issue, he said.”
Regarding logs sold by Babine Forest Products to Dunkley Lumber and West Fraser Timber, Vossen said those logs were not earmarked for Sheraton Holdings Ltd. “That was not the bundle that we had set aside for Sheraton,” Vossen said.
Late last week Wiebe said Sheraton Holdings Ltd. now has enough log supply, including logs from Babine Forest Products, to supply the mill well into the fall.
“After that we will be looking for a source for our supply, it could be the Burns Lake Community Forest or it could be B.C. Timber Sales, like we used to do. We are going full steam ahead,” he added.
Sheraton reopened March 6, 2012. The mill is running one shift and is employing approximately six people, a number of whom were Babine Forest Products employees.”
