After being asked several times over the past couple years, the town finally may end up helping the Lions Club of Fort Frances install at least part of its walkway project at the Millennium Park here.
Lions Luke Schill and John Pohanka, along with engineer David Beach, appeared before councillors yesterday during a special budget meeting, at which time Schill asked the town to once again help the Lions with the project, which, in its entirety, would span 1,250 ft. from one end of the park to the other.
“I just wanted to say I’ve worked on this project since 1997 and the only reason I work on it is I love this community,” said Schill.
“I want to see Fort Frances be a full-service community so when people can come from outside to work in Fort Frances, they’ll say, ‘This is a nice place to live.’”
The estimated cost for the walkway project is $50,000-$60,000, (including materials and labour), but the Lions are asking the Town of Fort Frances to donate in-kind services to help defray costs.
The Lions would contribute the granular material and concrete while the town would provide construction expertise and manpower to dig out the walkways, place the granular materials, and put in the concrete—in-kind services which would amount to about $30,000 in value, noted Schill.
While it likely would be cheaper to do the walkway using straight concrete forms, the Lions want it to be curved to match the other curves in the park, namely the archway and the semi-circular fountain.
The walkway will facilitate access between the handicapped glider swing and the fountain and washroom areas, and enable those who are wheelchair-bound and seniors to better enjoy all of the park’s amenities.
While no councillor opposed the walkway project, some noted it may be more feasible for the town to help the Lions if the project was broken up into stages to be built over a number of years.
“To me, the most critical of the sidewalks at this point in time is the one for handicap access to the washrooms. That’s what I think is most important,” said Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft.
“And certainly it would reduce our impact costs if we could do the most critical portion right now and fit it into our schedule.”
“I agree with Coun. Wiedenhoeft. I feel that’s the most crucial part,” echoed Coun. Paul Ryan.
While Mayor Roy Avis said he supported addressing the accessibility need (i.e., getting children from the glider swing to the washrooms), the town can’t possibly afford to undertake the entire walkway project within the 2008 budget year.
“I think we can’t afford to do it all, but we can look at helping out with the handicap portion,” agreed Coun Andrew Hallikas.
“I don’t think the Lions Club of Fort Frances would be disappointed if it was done over a two- or three-year period,” said Schill.
This portion of the walkway makes up for about one-third of its total length. Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown gave a rough estimate that in-kind work on this section would cost the town $9,820.
The Lions Club first requested the town consider having its workforce build the sidewalk at the park back in late November, 2006.
But after considering the request, the town’s Operations and Facilities executive committee recommended council not donate the labour in 2007 because the town already had a very busy construction year ahead of it and couldn’t spare the manpower.
Brown said yesterday he felt this may be the case once again this year, with projects ranging from handicap curbs and town sidewalks to landscaping on the Public Works’ schedule.
“When I look at the level of manpower we have, I don’t think we’re in a position to help the Lions Cob unless I’m told to do it and something else has to drop off,” he remarked.
“I’ve been saying this for three years—council can say ‘yay’ or ‘nay,’ but they have to increase manpower levels.”
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig also pointed out the Lions’ walkway is a worthy project, but council must keep in mind long-term maintenance costs and future projects at the Lions Millennium Park that the town may be asked to contribute to.
“The water fountain is something that everybody’s got accustomed to. But it’s got a life, and when it’s done, everybody will expect it to be replaced,” he cited as an example, referring to the fountain’s water pump.
Treasurer Laurie Witherspoon noted the town spent $10,401 in maintenance at the Lions Millennium Park in 2007.
When asked if the Lions could apply for funding to help them with the walkway, Community Services manager George Bell noted there’s not a lot of funding available for handicap accessibility projects anymore, other than the Trillium Foundation.
Coun. Ryan noted the Lions also could apply to the Moffat Family Fund, to which Schill replied the club certainly will.
Schill also noted that many organizations that come to council asking for assistance aren’t prepared to help pay for projects like the Lions are.
Council referred the walkway project to the Operations and Facilities executive committee to look at the cost of doing only a portion of the project, and bringing that information back for consideration in the 2008 budget process.
Fort Frances Times
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