The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flon City Council will ask the province to look at ways in which logging trucks, semi trucks, and similarly large vehicles may be rerouted around Main Street. Councillor Nazir Ahmad, who made the motion for the request, said the trucks may hinder future enhancement projects on Main Street and also represent a safety concern. Himself a businessman on Main Street, Councillor Ahmad said this type of traffic is not suitable for a street so replete with pedestrians and motorists. Councillor Dave Kennedy agreed with the intent of the motion but said the business community would have to be "aware and able to accept the other possibility, that other people will go around Main Street." Councillor Dave Law said it would be prudent for the province to have another route because Main Street is at times closed due to factors such as repair work. Councillor Bill Hanson expressed hope that a reroute might lead to the development of a truck stop, which he said is greatly needed in the community. See 'Sidewalk' P.# Con't from P.# There's no guarantee the provincial authorities will agree to conduct a feasibility study on a reroute, but council voted unanimously to ask them. Discussion turned from one shopping area to another when Councillor Ahmad suggested council look at the possibility of extending the sidewalk along Highway 10A down to the Flintoba Shopping Centre. His idea is to have the sidewalk, which ends near the Gateway Drive-In and Convenience Store, stretch to the entrance of the Flin Flon Municipal Campground, located across the street from the shopping site. He would then like to ask the province to install a crosswalk so shoppers could conveniently walk to and from the businesses. "It's totally for the citizens' convenience and safety," said Councillor Ahmad. Councillor Kennedy was receptive the idea, pointing out that the sidewalk would have been extended had the shopping centre existed back in 2000 when the sidewalk was built. Mayor Dennis Ballard told Councillor Ahmad that the proposed extension would be priced out, with the figures to be brought back to the council table for further discussion. Also, council reviewed a letter requesting repairs be done to the sidewalk in front of the the First Baptist Church near the Gas Bar. "The sidewalk has a significant slope and many large, gaping cracks," read the letter. "It has become a significant safety hazard, as several people have tripped and fallen as a result of the uneven surface and slope." The letter prompted Councillor Ahmad to suggest the City prioritize streets and sidewalks in need of work and systematically repair them on an annual basis as the budget permits. Mayor Dennis Ballard said he believes the City already takes such an approach, though perhaps not as methodically as Councillor Ahmad suggested. Both Councillor Ahmad and the mayor agreed that street and sidewalk deficiencies are by no means unique to Flin Flon. Council referred the church's letter to Engineering Services for further review. As well, council read a belated letter from a Birchview area woman asking the City to remove snow that she said her neighbours have piled up on a vacant lot beside her house. "When all this snow melts, our basement is going to flood," she wrote, adding that she feels her neighbours think they can use the lot for "anything they want" because it is municipally owned. The woman enclosed more than 30 small photos showing the area in question. Council also referred her letter to Engineering Services for further review. In addition, Councillor Kennedy reviewed the Fire Chief's Report for March, which detailed five incidents during the month, including a vehicle fire, a chimney fire, an electrical fire, and a false alarm.8/4/04
