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 is finding that the old saying holds true: when it rains, it pours. A recent independent study raises concerns about the adequacy of the drinking water treatment system, including its ability to limit trihalomethanes, which depending on who you listen to is either a suspected or a proven carcinogen. It also makes potentially worrisome conclusions about two types of protozoa and identified as ÒconcernsÓ coliform, which can be indicative of disease-causing organisms, and E. Coli, which has been linked to sometimes serious illness. If that werenÕt enough, the study brings up issues with the water systemÕs dependability for firefighters. Concerns pinpointed Òput into question the reliability of firefighting measures and...should be resolved as they directly affect public safety.Ó The study conveyed a certain urgency that couldnÕt have come at a worse time for City Hall, which as a result is proposing to upgrade the water system and build a new treatment plant. Its cost is estimated to be over $2 million Ð and thatÕs assuming the province and feds are willing to each chip in one-third of the price tag. This comes after the city has already agreed to spend over $2.2 million to replace its water supply lines and install residential water meters. It comes after the city had to scrape up almost a million dollars to replace the potentially collapsable Wallace Avenue bridge and now faces the possibility of having to rebuild the Pine Avenue bridge. It comes as our infrastructure continues to show its pipe-bursting, road-crumbling age, a problem that will only grow worse without continued significant investment. And it comes when an already dwindling population faces the sooner-rather-than-later smelter closure as well as an HBMS hiring freeze that could further reduce the mining workforce. With so much happening at once, tough times are ahead for City Hall. From the outside looking in, it appears mayor and council are boxed into four unenviable choices: raise taxes, raise the municipal debt, cut spending or some combination thereof. Obviously standard-meeting drinking water and firefighting reliability must take priority. The new water supply lines, set to be installed next year, are equally vital given the advanced age of the existing pipes. Not all residents see an urgent need for water meters, but council has already made their decision and that is to be respected. Pumping cash into other infrastructure, too, is essential. That includes the deteriorating roads we can see and much of the subterranean piping we cannot. But while council is allocating all of that cash, they cannot lose sight of another urgent demand: a new subdivision to stave off the flow of taxpayers to cottage country, to Denare Beach and even to Creighton. If councilÕs view is that they cannot afford a new subdivision right now, the view of many others is that they cannot afford NOT to. People are moving back to the Flin Flon area to retire. Numerous current residents are on the verge of ending their working lives. Working families with money to spend are dissatisfied with available housing. Many of these people would likely jump at the chance to build their dream home right here in Flin Flon, helping build on, or at least maintain, the tax base. Trouble is, there are too few prime lots available. CouncilÕs job is not always about just safety and infrastructure. A new subdivision is required as soon as possible. Now is the time to invest in the future of Flin Flon. Local Angle runs Fridays.
