THUNDER BAY -- Roads and storm water management remained top of mind for councillors looking to set the city’s infrastructure priorities.
Council met with Thunder Bay's City Manager Tim Commisso and other members of administration Tuesday for a non-business meeting focusing on setting infrastructure spending priorities.
The city has already committed to spend $6 million over the next three years on roads. But aside from roads, storm water management remains high on the list for some councillors.
While no decisions or direction was given, after the meeting Commisso said council advised the city to stay the course and gradually increase spending.
“There’s no question that storm water management and how we deal with that is also something they want to see as a higher priority,” he said.
“Our focus has been on roads as well as renewal facilities. It’s good timing because we’re just in the process of putting together the 2013 budget. We’ll be bringing back that in January.”
A major challenge is that there are a number of major projects already on the go so the city has to look further down the road in order to find funding for new development, he said. The city looks at spending year-to-year but Commisso added they need to take a five-year approach instead.
“We have a lot of projects on the go there’s no question about that,” he said.
“We have some big projects like the Junot Avenue and Golf Links Road corridor so we’re going to look at ways to find dollars and put priorities on those types of projects so over the next three to five years you can have a solid program.”
Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds said he would prefer if council not only looked at roads but also other priorities, saying he believed issue of infrastructure was broader in scope than just roads and pipes.
He added he wants some focus on parks, equipment and community centres. Above all, he doesn’t want another Trowbridge Falls bridge incident.
“We are working hard as a municipality to get our heads around what assets we have and what condition they are in,” he said.
“Trowbridge Bridge basically fell apart. It was out of commission for three years. We have emergencies like this that land on our desk at the last minute. We cannot allow that to happen. We need to know what we have and what condition it is in.
“Roads are important. Almost everyone uses them so they’re very familiar with roads. Historically we’ve been behind on roads. We’re making more investments in roads and they are getting better but I don’t think people have been thinking about infrastructure in those terms such as parks and community centres."
Next Monday council will receive reports regarding the impacts of the May 28th floods including how the extreme weather events in May affected the Atlantic Avenue Sewage Treatment Plant as well as an update Water Drainage Study and Residential Drainage Assistance Program.
Foulds said it’s critical to keep those reports in mind when setting priorities.
“I think we have to call a spade a spade,” he said.
“These events such as the hail storms and the May 28 event are not going to be fewer but they are going to be more of them. The report is going to set a strategic direction on how this municipality is going to deal with these events in the future and how we’re going to protect people’s homes.”
He argued that it can’t be just about putting pipes in the ground but taking an integrated approach.
