People who like to park overnight on Front Street during the winter months had better get ready to cough up some stiff towing fees.
Emo council decided at its regular meeting last Wednesday night to draft a resolution to pass a bylaw prohibiting overnight parking on Front Street between Nov. 1 and April 1.
The idea was broached by Public Works superintendent Dan Wilson, who told council that snowplow operators were having difficulty clearing one of the busiest commercial streets in the village due to vehicles impeding their path.
Reeve Russ Fortier asked Clerk Brenda Cooke to draft a proposal to post signs prohibiting overnight parking for council to consider at its next regular meeting Jan. 21.
Emo council also decided last Wednesday to hold public meetings concerning asking the province to approve a stoplight at the corner of Colonization Road and Queen Street to control traffic flow.
Coun. Geoff Pearce expressed concern that with the high volume of traffic coming in and out of the new Cloverleaf ShopEasy store, and the number of pulp trucks using the highway, there was considerable risk of a serious accident there, for which the municipality might be liable.
Plans also were made to acquaint the public with emergency evacuation plans for Emo. Cooke suggested distributing copies of the plan to as many people in the community as possible in order to solicit public input.
“We’re hoping to have it done by the end of April,” said Cooke.
Meanwhile, a plan to accept wood waste from Couchiching First Nation, which has been on hold since the provincial election back in October, also was raised at last Wednesday’s meeting.
Since the plan, which has been approved in principle by both sides, must be approved by the Ministry of the Environment, no decision was made at the meeting.
However, Reeve Fortier said he saw no further obstacles once the MoE gave its consent.
“Certainly the chief of Couchiching [Chuck McPherson] wants to see this happen,” he noted.
Also at the meeting, Emo council:
•recommended a public meeting be held to discuss the 2004 sewer, water, and garbage rates;
•decided to open the two sealed bids on a new water pump at the Emo water treatment plant on Jan. 14;
•set aside $15,000 from the 2003 budget for the Emo Cemetery Care and Maintenance Fund;
•designated Coun. Ken Fisher to be Emo’s rep at the Rainy River District Municipal Association annual general meeting in Fort Frances on Jan. 31;
•reviewed the municipality’s recycling policy with a view to increasing it to at least 50 percent in order to take advantage of provincial grants and incentives; and
•presented Public Works superintendent Dan Wilson with a plaque and watch to commemorate his 30 years’ of service with the township.
Emo’s next regular council meeting is slated Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. at the municipal office.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
