Street and traffic issues to be tackled with MTO this week

December 2, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Peter Richardson

Council had a busy night on Monday, with the presentation of the 2017 Draft Budget to the general public, and a long list of business to consider.

The meeting was not well attended by the public, however those that attended did have questions for Council members. One gentleman, George Meunier, was quite concerned about having the installation of street lights on the West end of Main Street towards 4th Line.

He had previously been to Council requesting that lights and sidewalks be installed along that section of Hwy. 89. Council had proposed that this issue would best be dealt with by the developers of the scheduled new residential developments in that part of town.

However, later in the evening, during new business discussions, it was proposed that Council, in conjunction with the MTO, initiate a study as to whether street lights should be installed.

Mayor Bennington supported this motion, citing his concerns that the Town might be the object of public blame should an accident or injury occur due to the lack of said street lights.

This motion proved fortuitous as the MTO is scheduled to meet with CAO John Telfer this Thursday to investigate several issues in town. These will include the new turning lane at Main and Owen Sound Streets and the contentious crosswalk issues.

Councillor Walter Benotto presented a motion for Council to purchase, as a budget item, a pair of Speed Indicators for the town at a cost of $13,200.

These would be portable and are used to alert drivers to their speed in areas such as speed zones, school zones, or any area where the speed limit changes.

Police Chief Kent Moore spoke to the motion and said he was was highly in favour of the units, citing their use to great effect in many of the surrounding communities.

These units are solar powered, and mount to a pole, either designated, or a utility pole. They then flash an approaching driver’s speed, allowing them to then slow down, if necessary. They may be used with or without a police presence.

The motion was carried by Council.

Council also approved the appointment of the new BIA Board of Directors.

Chair will be Linda Armour Grant, Vice-Chair is Lynn Goutouski, Tammy Austen is the new Treasurer and the Secretary is CarolAnn Luxemburger. The Board’s term covers for the next two years.

Councillor Tom Eagan proposed a motion to the effect that Council support a resolution from the Township of McKellar, that municipal fire services be recognized as critical infrastructure and that they be included as part of the provincial government infrastructure strategy.

The motion further proposed that the resolution of support be circulated to McKellar, the surrounding municipalities and the appropriate provincial government ministry.

Council gave its unanimous support.

A report was read out from the town engineers, S. Burnett & Associates concerning the rental of a standby electrical generator for the tertiary filter upgrades, at the sewage treatment plant, pending the delivery and installation of the new generator, being built in the United States.

This would entail a cost of some $12,000 in fees.

CAO John Telfer explained that this generator would power the entire sewage plant, but that a less expensive option existed, involving an existing smaller generator currently owned by the Aqua Company, the contractors.

The lesser generator would be available for $750, however, due to its smaller output, would only be able to pump the raw, sewage into the town’s lagoon. The lagoon could accommodate about one week’s sewage output.

Based upon past electricity outage durations, this option was viable, as no outage of a week’s duration had been experienced in recent history.

The backup generator was a safety issue, however, as the town’s existing generator had reached its life expectancy and was the reason why a new generator had been purchased.

In effect, this was a backup to the backup.

Based on these factors, Council voted to adopt the report with the option presented by Mr. Telfer, in place of the larger generator.

Council was adjourned, with the next meeting scheduled for December 5, when the 2017 Budget will be approved, by resolution.

The final Budget By-Law to adopt the budget will be presented on December 19.