Given even the slightest possibility of an incident stemming from the war in Iraq happening here in Borderland, sirens on both sides of the border have ceased—only to be sounded during an actual emergency, Mayor Glenn Witherspoon said at Monday night’s council meeting.
The decision came after some consultation with Fort Frances Fire Chief Steve Richardson and International Falls Fire Chief Jerry Jensen last week.
“All sirens, including curfew and test sirens, have ceased to operate,” the mayor said. “If anything is detected, any chemicals or any explosions, the sirens will sound.
“At this time, tune into your radio for further instruction.”
“We don’t want any confusion between tests and the real thing,” Chief Richardson noted yesterday, adding test sirens include the one that sounds here at 2 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month.
In the past week, all key officials—including representatives of the two town’s police forces—have either met or talked over the phone to ensure emergency measures are in place, he said.
Mayor Witherspoon said the “no siren” policy is the least the “sister cities” could do. “The minuteness of our problems is very small compared to that of those who are in Iraq,” he remarked.
Also Monday night, council heard a verbal update from CAO Bill Naturkach on the fate of old Fort Frances High School following a meeting last Wednesday with the Rainy River District School Board.
As reported in last Thursday’s Daily Bulletin, neither the board nor the town has the resources to pay for the $1-million demolition cost of the building.
But some possibilities, such as the town and board teaming up to get provincial funding to help cover the cost, still can be explored, Naturkach said.
Council also heard a report from Operations and Facilities manager Pat Hickerson regarding frozen and broken water lines in town.
While Public Works had to deal with 30-40 cold-related problems the week before last, only one water break was reported over the weekend, and Hickerson said he was hopeful that would be the end of these problems for this year.
He added this has been the worst year for these problems since 1994.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, council:
•denied the Muskie girls’ hockey team’s request to waive rental fees for two benefit hockey games to raise money for Gavin Davey (this was on the grounds the town did not want to set a precedence);
•authorized the purchase of a treadmill from Commercial Fitness for $7,095 plus taxes, and tables and dollies from The Accent Group, for $5,434 plus taxes, for the Memorial Sports Centre;
•received a report on the “Fort Frances Water Distribution System Model,” and from that approved the construction of a water main on Williams Avenue from Scott Street to 70 metres south, as well as referred construction of water mains on Eighth Street (Walker Avenue to Portage Avenue and York Avenue to Cornwall Avenue) to the 2004 budget process;
•authorized the purchase of a sand truck and multi-purpose tractor for a total of $203,100.65;
•finalized details for the tender for La Verendrye Parkway signage, which was awarded to Dutka Signs; and
•authorized a sponsorship of the Muskie boys’ curling team’s attendance at their all-Ontario championships in St. Thomas from March 17-21 in the amount of $200 as a council public relations expense.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
