Duane Hicks
After receiving some negative press regarding the new sidewalk on the north side of the 300 block of Third St. East, Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown explained the rationale behind project specifics at Monday’s council meeting.
Prior the construction, the road had always been sloped from the north to the south, noted Brown.
After the construction, the north side of the road is now lower than it used to be, having been brought down two percent to be in line with the south side. A crown has been put in the middle of the road, he added.
Since bringing the level of the south side down two percent, the sidewalk was higher up that it used to be. To make sure that residents could get into the driveways at a normal grade, so their vehicles wouldn’t “bottom out” going into and coming out of driveways, the sidewalk had to be lowered where they go into their driveways, explained Brown.
These “running slopes” are between two and five percent, and fall within the guidelines set down by the Accessibility Act, noted Brown, adding, “When you walk it, you’re not even feeling it.”
Brown also clarified that he, not mayor and council, is responsible for working with engineers and contractors on infrastructure project such as this, and any issues people have they should take up with him, not council.
Brown noted he wished people would just ask himself or the on-site engineer why the sidewalk was built the way it was, adding the residents there understand that it is so that they will not have too steep of a driveway.
Brown added council spent $1.2 million to fix a sewer line which, and if had not been upgraded, the town very could have had “catastrophic problems with it in the future.”
The Third Street work is nearly done, with only landscaping work remaining to be completed.
Meanwhile, two infrastructure projects are scheduled to start next month.
Makkinga Contracting will begin replacing 743 metres of watermain along King’s Highway, from just east of Daniel Avenue to Pit Road No. 1, next week, and the week after that, begin upgrades to the pumping station at the Portage Avenue underpass.
Brown noted underpass traffic will be reduced to one lane during a phase of the construction while the contractor applies sealer to the new concrete retaining walls.
Also at Monday evening’s meeting, council:
•appointed Elaine Fischer to the Fort Frances Sustainability Strategy Steering Committee for a term ending Nov. 30, 2014;
•heard an economic development activity update from Geoff Gillon of the Rainy River Future Development Corporation;
•authorized the municipal planner to negotiate compensation with a developer for additional time spent by staff on a development matter;
•agreed to renew a hangar lot agreement with Melaire Ltd. and 427112 Ontario Ltd. at $1.77 per square metre for the next five years;;
•awarded Tender No. 12-OF-07 (three year supply and delivery of granular materials) to Tom Veert Contracting Ltd. for the supply and delivery of granular ‘A’, granular ‘B’, winter sand, rip rap (R50), and cobblestone, and George Armstrong Co. Ltd. for the supply and delivery of crusher screenings and clear stone;
•authorized the purchase of a rescue vehicle from West End Motors in the amount of $53,335. This is in accordance with the tender process and the recommendation of the fire chief and Community Services executive;;
•awarded Mark Nagant as the successful bidder on a request for proposal to run the canteen at the Memorial Sports Centre, and agreed to the enter into a two-year agreement with Nagant;
•approved the 2011 Municipal Performance Measure Program results. The complete results will be published on the town’s website: fort-frances.com; and
•authorized the treasurer and the Community Services division to process and submit a dedicated gas tax fund application to the Ministry of Transportation by June 29 to receive the allocation of $74,281.
