Summerside holding public forum on future of ditch infilling program
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Additional to its efforts in resolving a 25-year-old argument, the Metropolis of Summerside is holding a public assembly to speak about ditch infilling.
The discussion board is scheduled for June 15, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Credit score Union Place.
Metropolis council has struck an advert hoc committee devoted to arising with potential options to this concern. It’s scheduled to make its suggestions quickly and this assembly is the general public’s major alternative to get details about this system and supply their enter about its future.
“Anybody who’s fascinated about our program, who has questions or considerations – that’s going to be the evening to return and provides your say,” mentioned Coun. Justin Doiron, one in all two councillors on the committee, the opposite is Deputy Mayor Cory Snow.
Ditch infilling is a matter that stems from guarantees made after the outdated City of Summerside was amalgamated with the previous communities of Wilmot, St. Eleanors and a part of Sherbrooke in 1995.
There was a “handshake settlement,” of which there are not any official data, between the mayors on the time. They agreed the smaller communities would obtain the identical stage of service because the outdated city, together with having their open ditches crammed and changed with piped stormwater techniques.
The problem has change into a political soccer between councillors who characterize the outdated smaller communities, who largely have open ditches, and people from the outdated city, who don’t.
The previous nonetheless obtain stress from constituents who need their ditches crammed, whereas among the latter argue the price of the challenge has change into prohibitive and the cash might be higher spent elsewhere.
The most recent estimates from town put the price of filling all of the ditches left on its precedence checklist at roughly $34 million. On the present fee of alternative, additionally it is estimated this system would take at the least one other 20 years to finish.
Colin MacLean is a reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected] and adopted on Twitter @JournalPMacLean.
