Ward councilors prioritize water infrastructure

THUNDER BAY – Ward councilors have water on their minds as administration wades through the city’s infrastructure needs to develop a priority list by month’s end.

A series of recommendations for the Building Canada Fund infrastructure program applications will appear before council in the coming weeks.

Several councilors are ready to say their top priority will be adapting the city’s infrastructure to meet the increased strain from the summer storms of climate change.

“Flood control is number one on my list of priorities. That includes sewers of course but it’s a lot more than sewers,” said McKellar Coun. Paul Pugh, whose ward was struck hard in the June 25 downpour.

“We have a lot of problems in how to prevent the rainfall from going into the storm drains in the first place. That gets into the capacity of flood control measures but I believe we need to put more emphasis into continuing the work on storm drains, sewage, culverts and all the engineering types of things we normally think of.”

Pugh is teaming up with Northwood Coun. Shelby Ch’ng to hold a joint ward meeting on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Slovak Legion to discuss flooding with their constituents.

Ch’ng has observed a four-year natural cycle to the area’s extreme rainfall and resulting flood risk. Although she noticed a “marked improvement” in municipal systems’ response to the 2016 flood over a similar event in 2012, she sees improvements as necessary.

“At the end of the day, Mazlo’s hierarchy of needs, we need to have security of our home and if our homes are flooding, no matter what other infrastructure project, we need to protect what’s in our very own backyards first,” Ch’ng said.

“My philosophy has always been not one big jewel of an events centre but rather a strand of pearls across the city.”

In the semi-rural Neebing Ward, Coun. Linda Rydholm faces similar flooding issues with a much less dense population. The June rain filled a blocked culvert to flood homes across Broadway Avenue and rolled downhill to pool in yards on Falconcrest Drive.

“Most of the ward doesn’t have storm sewage,” Rydholm said.

“It’s a rural/semi-rural ward and certain streets were developed according to the rules of that day. Unfortunately with climate change and vast rainfalls, the culverts don’t always work well enough. The ditches cannot always accommodate the climate change patterns we’re seeing.”

While Current River Coun. Andrew Foulds pointed out urgent need to address the role the invasive species emerald ash borer is playing in increasing runoff into the city’s stormwater, his list includes other water projects as well.

Foulds’ ward includes a 350,000-cubic-metre, mercury-contaminated area in the North Harbour on Lake Superior. It also includes what he calls the “gem of Thunder Bay” in Boulevard Lake, whose dredging has been delayed and whose dam replacement is undergoing a second environmental assessment.

Foulds tied those projects to recreational infrastructure as his top priority, including increased recreation paths, recreation centres, parks and increasing cycling infrastructure in and outside of his ward.

“Here’s the bottom line: municipalities across the province – across the nation, Thunder Bay included – are desperate for infrastructure dollars,” he said.

“The heavy lifting is done by municipalities and the infrastructure gap is enormous. This is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with.”

Westfort Coun. Joe Virdiramo rejected the idea of ranking infrastructure priorities, saying social infrastructure is as valuable as roads and storm sewers. 

“I think you don’t need to rank priority number on or priority number two or whatever,” Virdiramo said.

“I think you need to rank under certain categories. We have social needs, so you need to rank a youth centre under social and under recreation. Roads, you need to rank that under specific infrastructure.”

Couns. Brian McKinnon and Trevor Giertuga were unavailable for comment.