Morning crossing guard added
City council addresses safety issues at busy corner near King George Public School
There will soon be a new crossing guard installed at King George Public School in the mornings, city councillors decided Monday night. The plan is to add a morning crossing guard to the afternoon crossing guard who works at dismissal time. he new crossing guard would be installed at the intersection of Hunter St. E. and Armour Rd. The cost to the city will be about $3,000 a year.
In mid-November, a 10-yearold student was struck by a car outside King George School just after 4 p.m., after the crossing guard’s shift was over. Although she wasn’t seriously injured, the girl suffered tissue damage and an ambulance was called.
Coun. Keith Riel said that was one of three incidents outside the school that have taken place since September: he said that in one other case, a parent’s foot was run over by a car.
“We don’t need somebody killed at this site,” he said, adding that he thought $3,000 is a small price to ensure safety.
“Certainly there’s a complete, absolute need for a crossing guard here. It’s a busy street,” Riel said.
Councillors were sitting as committee of the whole on Monday, when they voted for the plan. A final vote will be required at a council meeting on Dec. 11.
Councillors also gave preliminary approval to other plans Monday night:
Neal Drive odour
There’s a pervasive stink on Neal Dr., and councillors came up with a solution.
The odour is caused by leachate from the nearby city/county landfill; the leachate flows through a forcemain until it enters the gravity sewer system on Neal Dr. at Bensfort Rd.
To deal with it, councillors voted to install a carbon absorption unit on a city-owned property at 400 Plastics Dr.
The cost of installation is $244,000, and it’s expected to cost $473,000 to operate it over the next 20 years.
But Coun. Dan McWilliams said he was concerned the odour-eating unit won’t work.
“You’re still allowing the odours to go in the air - you’re just putting lilacs around it,” McWilliams said.
City public works director Wayne Jackson said that’s not the case: he said the unit absorbs odours and emits clean air.
“We’re not trying to put perfume on a problem - we’re fixing the problem,” he said.
Mayor Daryl Bennett called it tried and true technology. He also said people who work along Neal Dr. have long complained about the stink. “It’s time we fixed this,” he said.
Market Hall facade repairs
Councillors plan to hire a firm to do $357,000 in repairs to the façade of Market Hall, starting in January.
The idea is to hire Roof Tile Management, a firm that specializes in heritage buildings, to do the work.
The repairs will be done on the west, south and east faces of the building. They will include the restoration of decayed exterior items, such as wood trim. Other repairs would be done too, such as bricks and tuck pointing.
The city has most of the money set aside for the project, plus there’s some grant money.
When the city received a Canada 150 grant to replace the interior lighting at Market Hall, the project came in under-budget: there’s $68,000 left.
City staff has received permission from the feds to use that leftover grant money for facade improvements to Market Hall.
Bethune Street linear park
City council is still planning to convert Bethune St. into a linear park, meant primarily for cyclists, over the next few years, but council has put to rest any idea of burying the overhead electrical wires.
Last year, council approved a $40-million design to turn the street into a park. The plan is to transform the street after they dig it up to install a new sewer main.
Although councillors decided against pricey underground wires last spring, they still asked for a staff report giving more detail about the cost. On Monday, that report was submitted.
City staff got two estimates and found out that it could cost up to $15.3 million to bury the wires underground along Bethune St. between Townsend St. and Dublin St.
Although the staff report states underground wires would improve the overall aesthetic of Bethune St., burying the wires is too expensive.