Special Post - Election Issues

Ward 2 Voter Issues - Part 1

In the course of distributing over 1300 pamphlets since September 10, Pearl and I have kept track of the issues brought to our attention by Ward 2 residents, employers, and employees. This is the first compilation of those concerns, with my responses and comments from the appropriate city officials.
------------------------------------------------------

Train Whistle Blown at Length, at Ridiculous Hours
The current councillor raised this at the September 8, 2009 council meeting. It seems Carlton Trail Railway (CTR) has a new conductor, one who pulls the train whistle too much - in the late, early, and other hours of the day - disturbing (to distraction) residents of Columbian Centre and Hazeldell, in particular. Phone calls to local CTR employees from Public Works do not produce a response, so it appears the company’s Denver head office will need to be contacted before this issue gets addressed. Common sense should dictate that the whistle emits just a couple of short blasts as the front of the train approaches a roadway.

Recycling Surplus Household Goods
Even stuffy Ottawa now does this: a day was set aside this spring for residents to leave out household items they no longer wanted for people to peruse and remove. It happens all over the Greater Vancouver Regional District (except in Vancouver and Burnaby), Montreal, Nanaimo, and in Japan, with varying degrees of formality. One constituent suggested a place at the landfill where people could leave such items. A special recycling centre in Nanaimo performs the same function. In BC’s lower mainland, many residents leave these out a couple of days before a designated garbage day, and anything not taken is picked up for disposal at the landfill. Surrey has a web site to facilitate “transfer” of useful items to new homes. I think we could run a program like the paint/dangerous goods recycling day currently held at the city yards on 10th St. East. Public Works Director Colin Innes said he would consider this suggestion.

Continual Damage to Riverside Drive Overpass
The current procedure is that all Highway 55 westbound “over height” traffic coming into the city is directed by signs to 1) turn north onto Central Ave. North, then 2) west on 15th St. NE, then 3) left onto Highway 2, consequently entering the city from the north. This traffic flow pattern was implemented in 2009, after the overpass was hit yet again. The problem stems from the fact some drivers forget how high their vehicle is. It was suggested by a constituent that the roadway under the overpass be excavated on the west side (where clearance is less than on the east side). Unfortunately, implementing this solution is hampered by the need for the roadway to be at the same elevation as the train tracks at the point where the two intersect. The other alternative is a visible and audible warning - obviously, flashing lights and a blaring horn - when an over height vehicle has been detected by a measuring device. This option was deemed too costly by the city.

Grass Cutting (800 block of 16th St West, Hazeldell, and airport subdivision ditches)
Most of the problem areas get done once a summer. The ditches adjacent to the train tracks are not going to be done by CTR. I suggested that Public Works monitor rainfall amounts (easily done via the http://www.theweathernetwork.com “Historical” tab), and use that data to determine when grass should be cut [rather than sending these employees on a set rotation - one that saw them cut the 200 block of 15th St. West every ten working days, whether needed or not, and always between 7 AM and 8 AM when I lived there . . . .] Colin Innes thought this was a good idea.

Hazeldell Rink Not Open Last Winter
There was no money to operate the rink in the winter of 2008-09. Heather Vallee, the President of the Hazeldell Community Club, should be contacted to see if the budget includes rink operation this winter.

Road Grading (18th St West, lane behind 800 block 15th St. West, rear lanes generally, airport area subdivisions)
Grading is usually done in June by Public Works. Out by the airport, too much soil was brought to the centre of Valley View Rd. this year. Similar to grass cutting, a work schedule that utilizes rainfall monitoring was suggested to Colin Innes. Again, he thought this was a good idea.

Drugs, Prostitutes, and Gangs in the Neighbourhood
The province established a Northern Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit, with staff headquartered in PA, in September 2009. This probably won’t have much impact in the short term. These problems are best addressed by improvements in health, social, and education programs, rather than law enforcement. On the other hand, if you have a specific problem with a particular address, call 1-866-51-SAFER. It may take a while for surveillance to happen [let alone have an impact: one resident told me the wait was almost 4 years . . . .], but complaints to the building’s owner are usually ineffectual and the results of building inspections take time to implement. An innovative, five-year anti-gang program, called Warrior Spirit Walking, is being run by Prince Albert Youth Outreach. This program is now in its third year, and I think it’s making a difference.

Late-night Hours at Georgie’s/National Hotel
The law allows them to be open until 3 AM, and on Sundays they’re open until midnight. The new drive-through window may speed up service, eliminate some of the street noise, and make it more likely that service to intoxicated clients will be safely refused. But I am opposed to drive-through windows on principle: they contribute to air pollution and physical inactivity, and waste valuable land. No new drive-throughs should be permitted in Prince Albert, and those that exist now should be required to pay a substantial annual fee to the city to compensate for the additional environmental degradation they generate [the banks, fast food, and coffee shops that have them could recoup this fee by charging customers $1 extra to utilize their drive-through lane]. The fact that Georgie’s is attached to a hotel with a bar exacerbates liquor-related problems. Few people live in the area, so complaints about noise aren’t made often. Six or seven years ago the city approved the construction of a “convention centre” beside the National, though the persistence of the empty lot suggests there was no intention of actually building it. What this area needs (as does all of the downtown) is housing - for all ages and income brackets, of various types. Since local developers refuse to show an interest here, the city should issue a request-for-proposals (RFP) for specific land (Scarrow Plaza, on River St., for example) and start the ball rolling. THERE IS MONEY AVAILABLE FOR SUCH HOUSING - from Western Diversification Canada's new Urban Development Agreements. Downtown will NEVER be “safe,” or vibrant, without a major influx of permanent residents.

Parking on 13th St. Near St. Mary (300 block)
During school hours, 13th St. is dangerous to drive down, due to parking on both sides of the street by students. The 50-odd spaces in the cathedral parking lot are also used by students (funeral times excepted), as are those on the lot north of the new football field. The solution is to encourage other means of getting to school (I have never seen more than 15 bicycles in the fenced area at the northwest corner of the school, and the total of student vehicles parked on 13th St., 14th St., plus in the cathedral and old St. Paul’s lots never totals less than 60 . . . .) Walking, cycling, taking the bus, and getting a ride with your parents to school aren’t “cool,” but they do make street traffic less problematic for the neighbours. The neighbours could ask for permit-holder parking only on the north side of 13th, but this would only move students’ vehicles onto other blocks. When the new St. Mary building was before city council a few years ago, I was the only person to object to the proposal, and parking wasn’t the primary issue: the additional building height cuts off access to winter sunlight for the houses on the north side of 13th St.

Parking Bylaw Enforcement
A constituent suggested that this service be contracted out to Sask. Seniors Association Inc. Local #4, and that large retail (South Hill Mall, Superstore, Cornerstone stores, Canadian Tire) be required to participate in enforcement of handicapped parking stalls. I disagree, since SSAI #4 has a large block of rural members, and there’s a better way: Saskatoon uses the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires as the primary parking bylaw enforcement agency (in a three-way contract with the City of Saskatoon and the police department). The 5-year contract has been renewed several times. Maybe PA should issue an RFP for parking enforcement.

Inadequate Bus Service
We’re on the fourth route map and schedule since mid-2006. The complaint is that insufficient consultation with riders takes place when routes and schedules are changed. I was at a bus service open house in summer 2008, and was the only member of the “public” to show up. For ongoing feedback, and the next time route and schedule changes are proposed, there should be forms given out to bus patrons over an entire week - which they could fill out during their trip, then give back to the bus driver.

Dangerous Intersection - 4th Ave. & 15th St. West
This intersection was to have been “re-configured” (a right-turn lane allowing northbound traffic to turn east without blocking 4th Ave.) in 2003. The property needed was never purchased, and the intersection was forgotten about. It came up twice in the past three years, due to pedestrian safety concerns. Painting crosswalks is unlikely, unless it’s across 15th St. at the east side of the intersection. Construction of traffic islands on 15th St. would separate eastbound and westbound traffic more effectively, and allow a “safe” zone for pedestrians. Colin Innes will consider this suggestion, in light of the fact that the 2010 budget contains $30,000 for a "Pedestrian Refuge and Half Signal" here - an expenditure that was scheduled for 2009.

Property Maintenance Issues (weeds not cut, junk in yards)
Call the bylaw enforcement officers, at 953-4903, then give them a couple of business days to get to the location you’ve identified for attention.

Cambridge St. Asphalt Millings Not Replaced
The city replaced water lines in the 300 block of Cambridge St. NW in 2008, but did not replace the asphalt millings that it removed at the time. Colin Innes said this work will be scheduled.