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This is another light meeting in terms of the agenda items. The council meeting is preceded by an open meeting presenting and reviewing the town’s official plan.
Correspondence and Deputations:
4.1 – there is a letter from the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs announcing a municipal politicians seminar on the May 5th and 6th.
5.1 – there is a scheduled deputation on the Mission Park rejuvenation – see item 9.2.1 below.
Resolutions and Directions to Staff
9.1.1 – town staff is recommending that Parry Sound not adopt an Off Road Vehicle (ORV) by-law as was requested by a member of the public at a recent town council meeting. In reading the supporting materials I see that there is no clear cut and dry argument for or against the use of ORV on Parry Sound streets. The cons relate to: the need for an agreement with the OPP to police their use, damage to the town infrastructure (road edges) and the need to provide limits on where they might go. There are a number of parties in favour of the wider use of ORVs in Parry Sound. The report to council is quite detailed and worth reading. My sense is that council will accept the staff recommendation, but with additional work by interested groups it is possible that ORVs may, with time, be permitted for limited use in town.
9.2.1 – a resolution on the agenda for council to endorse a grant application to Canadian National Railways to rehabilitate Mission Park. The resolution also requests $4,000 from the town’s Tree Planting budget, and that $25,000 be considered for inclusion in the 2013 budget, or funding from the Parkland Reserve Fund.
9.4.2 – is a request that council endorse in principle the Downtown Business Association’s downtown revitalization plan. The full plan, along with details will be provided to council at a later date.
9.4.3 – staff is requesting approval to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) regarding use of the Old Fire Hall. This is similar to the RFP that was issued for the CP Station and resulted in a long term lease with Festival of the Sound.
9.5.1 – is a resolution requesting approval for a tender in the amount of $354 thousand for the modification of Sewage Station #11, that serves Parry Sound downtown. The tenders received ranged from a low of $354 thousand to a high of $486 thousand.
9.5.2 – is a resolution to have the town accept the Bridge Inspections report. In all the bridges need an estimated $1.2 million in repair work over the next ten years. The big pieces are: patch and pave ($200,000), and replace joints ($150,000) on the Seguin Street Bridge, and sandblast and paint ($400,000) the Fitness Trail’s Seguin pedestrian bridge. Ouch.
By-Laws
10.2.1 – is a by-law to provide a Schedule of Retention Periods for the records of the Town of Parry Sound; establish a Records Management Policy.
10.4.1 – is a by-law to declare property surplus and identify a means of sale for Town owned property on MacFarlane Street.
10.4.2 – is a by-law to permit ORVs on Parry Sound town streets for the annual ATV Spring Jam. The dates are April 26 & 27.
There was more. This post attempts to capture the more important agenda items. See you there.
Bridge Art 2012 – Anarchy
Hi Jo:
I have waited 24 hour to respond to your notes re “Council Agenda Provisions – March 19, 2013. Now that I have cooled-down, the following is my response.
Item # 9.5.2 – Sequin Pedestrian Bridge.
By Town Council attempting to justify a $400K expenditure to sandblast and paint the “Sequin Pedestrian Bridge” is, in one word, ludicrous. Hello Council!
When in hell did the Sequin “Railway Bridge” become a “Pedestrian Bridge?” Am I missing something here Jo? It wasn’t that long ago the town, et al, paid hundreds of thousand dollars, and more likely millions to widen the Sequin Bridge connecting Bowes and Sequin Streets, so as to make the infrastructure of Parry Sound’s former 19th century bridge safer for vehicles and pedestrian alike. You are a logical person Jo, so please explain to me why we need another “Pedestrian Bridge” (aka Sequin Pedestrian Bridge) just 200 meters south of a perfectly designed bridge which safely provides pedestrians and vehicular traffic access to the “Sound” and “Harbor?” I digress.
To my knowledge, the Sequin Railway Bridge was built by the Canadian National Railway (CNR) so as to link their spur-line from Parry Harbor to Parry Sound in the mid to early 19th century. Frankly, the CNR Bridge has outlived its original “purpose”, the same as the old Parry Sound Water-Tank which used to be situated on Bayview Street, but was replaced with the new Water-Tank situated at the south-end of Bowes Street. The sitting council of the day did the right thing and chose to tear-down the old water-tank, historical implications notwithstanding. I will stipulate that the CNR bridge has some “historical” claim but at what, and at whose cost?
As it is, the CNR Bridge function, as I see it, it to afford high-school children, et al, a safe haven to commune and smoke pot and the local wino’s to brown-bag booze, along with graffiti artists who scribble their obscenities (with impunity) unnoticed and protected from sight by the tall iron-railings on either side of the bridge. The principal support is likely coming from lobbyists from the Ontario Snowmobilers Association which carries absolutely no weight, in my opinion, in terms of spending $400 of tax-payers money.
*SUMMARY*
Before one nickel is appropriated, by council, for the refurbishment of the CNR Bridge (aka Pedestrian Bridge), conduct a “pedestrian count” on the CNR Bridge this summer possibly utilizing grade 12 high-school students, and provincial make-work revenue to fund same.
Require the Ontario Snowmobilers Association to appear before town council to justify the ongoing operation/maintenance of the CNR Bridge of which they cause 100% of the damage to the bridge planking infrastructure resulting from their snowmobile track *carbide-studs *which chew-up the planking upon which they run their machines.
Unless the Town officially owns the CNR Bridge, request the CNR to appear before town council to justify the ongoing support/maintenance of their bridge. If the Town does, indeed, own the bridge; request funds from the CNR to off-set the costs of maintenance. Using the correct approach, I believe the CNR, in terms of Public Relations, may be amenable to financially support the maintenance to their bridge.
*CONCLUSION*
As citizens, and tax-payers, we have a fiduciary responsibility to support Parry Sound’s historical legacy, such as our Museum, the CPR/CNR railroad stations, and those designated heritage buildings in Parry Sound. Notwithstanding, as citizens, there has to be checks/balances associated with those taxpayers who fund and support our historical undertakings.
To simply appropriating $400K to “Sandblast & Paint” the CNR Bridge for the purposes of providing a “Pedestrian Bridge” cannot, and should not be supported.
Bill Beagan.
On Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 2:37 PM, Parry Sounds
Bill, are you trying to show me up by writing more interesting comments than the original posts?
The bridge really is part of the town, it connects the Fitness Trail and it keeps people off the Seguin Street Bridge, especially the younger ones. There is no easy way to get back on the Fitness trail except to cross the Seguin Street Bridge, walk up to Bay Street and then down past the old hospital. But the estimated cost is quite high, and it might be overestimated, or it might not.
If the $400K will keep the bridge in operation for another 20 years, then it’s probably a good investment. If it needs to be redone in 10 years perhaps not. I wanted to note the projected costs in my last post, but I look forward to the town providing more information on the costs and the ‘warranty’ period for the work. Perhaps the Citizen’s Finance Committee and/or the Waterfront Committee should provide their thoughts and opinion. But they’ll certainly want more information than the single line item that has been presented so far.