After being delayed for the past few weeks, construction on the Portage Avenue underpass is scheduled to start up again Tuesday (Sept. 2), council learned at last night’s regular meeting.
Environmental and facilities superintendent Doug Herr reported that there has been delays due to shoring modifications and modifications to the footings on the abutment wall and soil anchors into the main bridge structure.
The contractor, JTJ Contracting of Emo, has told the town it will start back up Tuesday to work on the footing modifications, while a subcontractor will be on-site Sept. 4 to commence the installing of the anchors into the abutment wall.
The contractor also has requested that segment of Portage Avenue be closed to traffic from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. each day from Sept. 2-5 to allow work to be done on the installation of footing on the abutment wall. Herr noted emergency services will have to be contacted first before giving them permission to do this, but the town will let the public know if there is a temporary closure.
Town CAO Mark McCaig said there’s been a lot of concerns from citizens regarding the underpass project, and apologized for the inconvenience it’s caused, but added the project has seen numerous unforeseen difficulties, the scope of the project is “way outside our realm of usual activities” and the town is working with the engineer and consultant “to make sure we get a good product.”
“The latest incident is the deflection of the shoring, that’s the big steel piles along the embankment, and we had to look at a new process to ensure the footing would sound in that area,” noted McCaig. “We have a commitment from the contractor to begin the work again.”
In other news, Herr said the painting of the water tower is 100 percent complete. The filling has commenced for disinfection, and samples will be delivered to Thunder Bay for testing this weekend. He explained the process involves filling the tank to five percent of its capacity, add calcium hydrochloride in a concentration of 50 parts per million, then fill the tank to its overflow and let it sit for 24 hours before taking a bacteriological sample.
The sampling has to be done twice, 24 hours apart. If both tests comes back with zero bacteria, the water tower goes online.
“We’re expecting the tank to be online Sunday or Monday. We’re having the lab test do testing for us on the weekend to ensure this happens,” said Herr, adding once the town gets clearance from the lab, they will lift the water restriction and advertise it in the newspaper and on the radio.
McCaig said that the overwhelming majority of the public heeded the water restriction this summer and should be commended for their cooperation.
Herr said there still remains a couple deficiencies at the water tower that have to be addressed, but will not affect the water tower going online. These include the boiler system not being completely installed (they’re waiting for pump parts) and new chlorination system, which is about 25 percent complete. These deficiencies should be corrected by mid-September.
Herr also said the work on Central Avenue resumed this week, and is continuing according to schedule, with the contractor currently working on the water and sewer infrastructure north of the intersection. This phase will be completed by Sept. 6. Work on the sidewalks, curbs and gutters will follow, with paving expected to start by mid-September.
He clarified that while there was a period of time crews were not working at Central Avenue, this is because they were waiting for a new manhole to arrive as well as the fact contractor Bay City Contracting was doing water and sewer installation on Eighth Street for the youth detention facility being built there.
McCaig also pointed out that at times the crews are not seen working there because they work a 10 days on/four days off schedule.
Animal control bylaw
After referring the matter to the Planning and Development executive committee twice for review, council approved a report regarding Bylaw 12/79—the Animal Control Bylaw— at last night’s meeting, with an amended version of the bylaw up for vote at a future council meeting.
The report recommends:
•That the clerk make the necessary language and outdated reference corrections to the bylaw (including a clarification of the term “kennel”);
•That the clerk advise council as to the legalities of including in the bylaw the use of electronic anti-barking collars; and
•that the Planning and Development division/bylaw enforcement department run a series of media ads to address public awareness issues (such as licensing, dogs running at large, cleaning up after your dogs, etc.).
After Couns. Sharon Tibbs, Rick Wiedenhoeft and Andrew Hallikas stated they’d like to see the town sell animal licences on a one-time basis (one licence per pet for its lifespan) as opposed to the current system which see pet owners having to buy one licence per pet which has to be renewed each year, council also directed administration to investigate the pros and cons of the former option.
The agenda also included a presentation by local resident Randy Thoms regarding the current animal control bylaw. Thoms said he reviewed the bylaw as well as animal control bylaws from Kenora, Dryden and Thunder Bay, and found Fort Frances’ to be the best among them all the way it is.
Thoms added that he agreed with the town doing more education regarding cleaning up after dogs and licensing, and he would like to see more pets licensed—after all, only 22 dogs are currently licensed in the Town of Fort Frances—and would support a one-time licence if it would encourage more pet owners to get their animal licensed.
He said he does not think the town should consider limiting the number of pets per household, as many multi-dog families do their research before getting each new dog, and treat them well. After all, 99 percent of animal control complaints have to do with one dog treated poorly by its owner, not multi-dog families.
If the town wants to look at homes with too many pets, they need to look no further than some residences in town Thoms knows of which house 14 and even 50 cats.
On that same note, Thoms stressed pet owners have to be responsible and have their pets spayed or neutered.
Thoms also stressed that if council is looking at the possibility of electronic anti-barking collars, they should seek expert advice, as those types of devices are not universally approved of by experts in the field and could in fact harm dogs if used improperly.
Also at last night’s meeting, council:
•approved applications for tax adjustments for 27 properties at Erin Crescent;
•referred a joint request from Murray and Linda Snider and Philip and Carmen Williamson re: purchase of land to the Planning and Development executive committee for recommendation; and
•passed bylaws to amend Official Plan Bylaws No. 7/98 and 8/98 (528 Second St. East) to allow for the construction of a new Robert Moore School.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
