Region is making good progress

Region of Queens Municipality continues to make “good progress” on capital projects with street upgrades almost complete and work continuing at the recreation facility site.

Director of Engineering and Works, Brad Rowter said the Crowell and Barss Street upgrade is a project they started last fall.

“We’re just now finishing up, the sanitary storm sewer mains and water mains have been installed, the houses have been hooked up to it,” he said, “we are now installing the concrete curb gutter and sidewalk.”

He expects to put the road base down and asphalt the street the first part of June.

The cost of this project totals $300,000.

The water treatment plant has been online since the first week of April.

“That’s essentially finished,” said Rowter, “there’s some very minor landscaping work to be done at the site and we’ll get at that sometime over the next couple of months.”

He said the response to the water quality is good.

“The water qualities improved tremendously, it only now requires probably a quarter to one third of the chlorine it used to require,” he stated.

He did want to mention, “the water has always been safe to drink,” as the Region of Queens is not allowed to deliver water that is unsafe to drink.

They also test the water constantly, he said.

“The only thing, it had some organic content in with the water which gave it a slight discoloration,” explained Rowter, “but it was safe to drink and it’s still safe to drink, only it’s more pleasant to drink now.”

$7.2-million went into the water treatment plant.

Rowter said the Brooklyn sewer and water project may commence this summer depending on approval.

“It’s been budgeted and it’s part of the building Canada fund, which will be a 1/3 share between municipal, provincial and federal governments,” said Rowter.

This phase of the project will cost $510,000.

Cleanup at the South Shore Regional Airport continues after a fuel leak was a bigger project then Rowter expected.

“Roughly 90% of the money we received as grant money that the province gave to all rural airports, we’ve spent it on that contaminated site cleanup,” he explained.

The Region of Queens has spent $225,000 out of the $250,000 they received.

The Region of Queens will do another environmental site assessment and expect results back in June, he said.

After the announcement from Best Western Woodstock Inn and Suites Ltd., Rowter described the plans they will begin at the recreation facility site.

“This year what we plan on doing, first of all is to prepare a construction roadway for access into the interior of the land, for right now allows the hotel developers to go in and start their project,” stated Rowter.

They will put in a base roadway, which will have three lanes and a drainage canal to dewater the site.

Organic vegetation has to be removed from the roadway, areas are cut and filled, Rowter said they plan to install sanitary sewer and water mains.

“In addition we have to install power and communication lines within that roadway system,” he said. “The actual site work itself for the facility, we don’t anticipate doing that this year.”

$2.5-million is budgeted for this work.