Pests, vandals and intersections occupy Council

August 20, 2015 · 0 Comments

Council received an update from By-law Enforcement Officer Bob Fudge on the pest control issues concerning rats along the fence line between KTH Park and neighbouring properties. Fudge met with Able Pest Control at the park August 6th to examine the cause of the problem and possible solutions. Early recommendations by the company are that bait stations be installed along the fence line. It was recommended that the apple trees, suspected to be part of the problem, not be removed yet, as it could disturb the rats and drive them towards the homes in fear.
Councillor Wade Mills told the Free Press, the company “anticipates that the baiting program should destroy most of the rats by this fall” confirming that “the recommended baiting program will carry on for one year and be maintained monthly by Able Pest Control for a total cost of $960.” Council instructed staff to engage Able to start with their recommended course of action. Mayor Ken Bennington says, “Once the rats are exterminated, we will revisit the issue of removing the apple trees.”
Public Works was contacted in regard to alleged vandalism at Hyland Park last week. Photos posted on the Facebook Resource Hub showed that a rubber swing seat appeared to be intentionally slashed exposing sharp and potentially dangerous metal on the seat. Public Works confirmed that the seat was removed until Council can order a replacement.
Councillor Mills noted that important highlights from the July 10th Council meeting included “reports from Steve Burnett (engineer) regarding the cross-walk at Town Hall and the intersection at First and William.” Councillor Mills said, “His report indicated that a traffic study completed at the cross-walk concluded that we have more than sufficient vehicular and pedestrian traffic to warrant a lighted cross-walk which is activated by pedestrians pushing a button.” The Councillor said that a provision for this had been made in the 2015 budget and that the results of the traffic study were provided to the MTO to await their final approval before the lights could be installed.
Plans are in place to add overhead lighting in the intersection at First and William streets “with flashing red lights on the east and west bound sides where there are stop signs, and flashing amber lights on the north and south side where there are no stop signs,” said Mills. Mills also said he suggested Council add “Two Way Only” signs under the stop signs so that drivers know not to treat the intersection as a four-way stop.”

By Marni Walsh