The Citizen, 2006-03-30, Page 7And all that jazz
Musician Willem Moolenbeek gave a music workshop to students in
kindergarten to Grade 4 at East Wawanosh Public School. The workshop,
sponsored by the Foundation for Enriching Education on Monday, March 27,
was meant to encourage music appreciation. (Heather Crawford photo)
Lindsay shot up because she always said that she'd try anything once.
Today she's trying to live with hepatitis C.
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it asterisk equipment used jiw drug OSC, pivrcing and Gottoivd: Attimagh SjfillpOtnn$
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0 Ontario
THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2006. PAGE 7.
M-T ratepayers fed up with road conditions
By Andrew Smith
Wingham Advance Times
Several petitions were
brought to Morris-Turnberry
council at their March 21
meeting, detailing ratepayers'
feelings of the poor road
conditions.
The first group of people
explained the unsafe
conditions of Glenannon
Road, and asked that all the
construction be completed in
2006. One of the main
requests from the petition was
to tile the road to drain the
_ excess water, which many
saw as the problem for the pot
holes.
Don Eadie, who presented
the petition, said his
expenence with filling mud
holes shows that the water
needs to be cleared before
filling it again.
"You-cannot build a good
road over muck underneath
unless you're going to drain
it," Eadie said.
The floor was then opened
to other questions. Bill Ross
stated the farm equipment is
getting bigger and heavier,
and the road isn't made for it
and isn't keeping its crown.
"The roads aren't stable,
they just keep squishing out,"
Ross said.
Road supervisor Barry
0' Krafka said that prior
to construction on
Glenannon Road last
year, test holes were dug
and engineering tests
were completed, along
with recommendations
on how to make the road
to a high standard.
"They did not feel at
that time that drainage
was an issue," O'Krafka said.
"They felt the main problem
was the top foot of silty
gravel."
O'Krafka explained the `A'
gravel is over 20 per cent silt
in areas, where the standard
amount of silt is between two
to eight per cent. The silty
gravel gets saturated with
water and expands in the
winter when it freezes,
causing more problems in the
thaw.
While some areas could
benefit from drainage,
O'Krafka said some spots
could be helped simply by
proper ditching. "We did
those test holes in the spring,
and we didn't see any water in
that road. If the water table
was high, you would have
seen it at the bottom."
Peter Baird asked if there
was a map of test holes, since
they were not done in worst
parts of road and suggested it
was wasting tax dollars.
"Why would you do the
good parts of the road to dig
these test holes," Baird asked.
According to O'Krafka, the
engineer decided to do that to
get a soil comparison in the
good areas and marked down
worse areas as well.
"We have to use your tax
dollars as best we can to make
the road the best we can,"
0' Krafka said.
Eadie again questioned
0' Krafka, saying that
Gilmour Line road is fine.
with the exception of the
section near the swamp, and
that it needs drained.
0' Krafka responded by
saying that excess
groundwater may often cause
road fatigue and unstable
subgrade, but is seldom the
cause of pot holes.
"For actual pot holes, it's
more a question of traffic and
weather," 0' Krafka said.
A group of ratepayers,
including Baird, was at
another meeting in spring
2005 asking for a five-year
work plan for the roads. With
one year passed, Baird asked
how council expects to
accomplish everything when
other roads are still in just as
bad shape. In addition to
construction on Glenannon
Road, new culverts on Salem
Road are expected to take
another two years.
"It was my understanding
that the people who were here
understood it was going to
take some time to get all these
roads done," 0' Krafka said.
Wayne Love asked council
to contract the road work out
and get quotes, as the
township employees wouldn't
be able to finish it quick
enough. Councillor Jim
Nelemans spoke to this,
saying contractors and
engineers need to know the
whole plan ahead of time, and
would be extremely costly
compared to just prioritizing
bad sections of road one at a
time.
"If you get a contractor,
they're going to dig
everything up completely and
it's going to be a one-shot
deal," Nelemans said.
The estimate was that
contractors would add 25-30
per cent to the total cost of the
project.
Another question asked was
why graders weren't used to
clear the road of wet gravel in
early March in order to get the
air in and dry up the road
quicker. 0' Krafka said the
reason was that doing so
would just make things worse,
as seen on Kiefer Line.
"We graded that when it
was wet, and the first two and
a half inches turned to slop,"
O'Krafka said.
The wet gravel turned the
discussion back to the need
for drainage, but O'Krafka
restated that the top layer of
gravel won't drain due to the
saturation from the silt. Eadie
disagreed, bringing up again
how the swamp is the only
bad section of the road.
Comparing it to farm tile in
fields, he said the results are
clear.
"It would dry your road off
faster and let you work on it
quicker," Eadie said.
O'Krafka said he sees merit
in tile and has used it in the
past, but doesn't see a need to
tile the whole road. Nelemans
offered support to O'Krafka,
saying tile wouldn't solve all
the problems and the road still
needed to be rebuilt.
Baird said that whatever the
solution need be, the
problems have been building
and something needs to be
done now.
"This council 'has to step
forward and do something
and start us on the right way
to get these roads fixed,"
Baird said.
Councillor Neil Warwick
brought up the question of
who wants to pay for all the
work, and if everyone would
be okay with a huge tax
increase.
With $280,000 in the
budget for Glenannon Road
already, another $500,000
woul increase the tax rate to
almost 23 per cent, opposed
to the original eight per cent
decrease.
Living in- Morris-Turnberry
his whole life, councillor Paul
Gowing added his experience
that there are only a few days
in the spring when the frost
comes out and makes for
rough conditions.
"There's a number of days
when the roads are bad, and
it's just part of living on back
roads," Gowing said.
Council also heard from a
group representing Salem
Road, who shared the
concerns of Glenannon
residents. Allan Willits
commented on the slippery
conditions caused by the silty
gravel, saying that even heavy
cattle trucks lose
control sometimes.
"You don't expect a
road to be slimy like
that in the fall,"
Willits said.
Due to the high
amounts of clay in the
gravel, O'Krafka said
caution has to be used
when grading in
Tumberry, as a heavy rain can
turn the surface very slick.
Eadie said it does pose a
danger for accidents.
"It is greasy, it's just like
being on ice," Eadie said.
A last group brought a
petition on the roads for
Morris, where pot holes again
were the main problem. The
signed ratepayers stated a
need for stepped up
maintenance and threatened
to send a letter to the Ministry
of Transportation if
conditions weren't improved.
Frank Sanders said it's not
just a matter of a few pot
holes.
"Some pot holes are okay,
but not the size of my car,"
Sanders said.
O'Krafka said some larger
pot holes require more than
one pass with the grader to cut
down, and the weather hasn't
been good this year for a
second time.
Carmen Bernard said a
better grading job could be
done, rather than just pushing
stones in the holes. Warwick
agreed, saying grading hasn't
been the best.
"I agree with these guys, we
have to do a better job on this
grading stuff this year,"
Warwick said.
Grader operator Bob
Dickert said that gravel for
roads needs to start coming
straight off the crusher belt
instead of being stockpiled,
which causes the gravel to
lose its fines and ends up
filling 90 per cent of the holes
with just stone. Dickert added
that stone needs to be crushed
smaller, since the round stone
isn't staying on the road.
"It's like driving on
marbles," Dickert said.
Contractors can only crush
1,500 tonnes of gravel a day,
O'Krafka said, and the tender
for the municipality calls for
3,500 tonnes a day.
"There isn't anyone that
would take it for you off the
belt, it's not the standard in
the industry," O'Krafka
said.
A few years ago, the roads
in Morris were a point of
pride, but have now reached
the worst condition in recent
memory. The question was
asked why have the roads
gone downhill in the township
when other municipalities
have justas much traffic and
they're almost 100 per cent
better.
"I don't think the traffic has
increased that much in the last
three years, and the roads
have deteriorated terribly,"
Bernard said.
Mayor Dorothy Kelly
acknowledged the problem
with the roads, and said the
options would be further
discussed at their April 4
meeting.
`It's my understanding
people understood it
was going to take time
to get roads done'
— O'Krafka