School delay raises a lot of questions
Sir: Regarding the June 14 news story, ‘Student move to new Great Lakes school delayed.’
I have a few questions:
WHO is responsible for this debacle? Who, if anyone, will pay a penalty for this “delay?”
WHAT was the Lambton Kent District School Board thinking when it hired the contractor? Did anyone think to ensure the corporation had its workforce in place?
WHEN will the new school be completed? To say “It’s not known when the work will be complete” is not an acceptable answer to me, a taxpayer.
WHERE will the money come from to pay for this indefinite delay? It is no secret the cost of the project already exceeds the original estimates.
HOW, exactly, did this happen? How many years has the LKDSB been planning to build this new school? (We know they never intended to keep SCITS open). How does a construction company fail to “secure enough skilled tradespeople” knowing it has a contract to build a new high school? How did it fail to guarantee it would have enough skilled tradespeople lined up from the start?
WHY? Quite simply, WHY? This defies all logic and common sense. This doesn’t make sense to me, and given all that has gone on between this board and our community, I have to wonder if the true story is being withheld from the public.
Once again, I ask my fellow citizens to take note and to remember come Election Day. We need to elect accountable and trustworthy trustees.
Sincerely,
Claudette Gasbarini
Sarnia
Think you’ve got a bad road?
Sir: I am writing about our bad roads in Sarnia.
We have lived on King Street for 11 years in the Colborne-Indian-402-Rosedale area. Each year the city comes and patches the road, sometimes two times.
Not sure what they are using for patching but it disintegrates very quickly.
When I complained to a councillor about our grass seed growing better on the road than in our yard, we got more patching done. That was three years ago.
I am sure ripping out and redoing this short road and the drains that pool water after a storm would be more cost beneficial than sending the trucks out yearly, and having the same or worse road condition than before.
I also agree with previous commenters about speeding on Indian and Colborne roads.
Will the speeding stop on Colborne after the bike lanes are incorporated, or will the bikers, me included, still need to use the sidewalk to protect ourselves?
It’s not about saving money for the city. It’s about getting the best resolution for the infrastructure, which has been so neglected.
It is also about supervising the companies doing this work, making them financially and project accountable. We have seen too many disasters lately in Sarnia.
Keep the letters flowing and maybe Sarnia will become the city we truly want it to be, a safe, cultural, and family and nature-orientated place that we want to live in.
Margaret Banovsky Holmes
Sarnia
Canatara speeders come in all ages
Sir: Recently there have been numerous comments in the Sarnia Journal concerning noise and speeding in Canatara Park.
As a frequent user of the park for walks and drives, sometimes numerous times a day all year, I would like to point out that aside from the noise caused by car and bike enthusiasts in the parking lots, many of the residents of Sandy Lane are complicit themselves in speeding through the park.
Numerous times while driving on Lake Chipican Drive, either in my car or on my motorcycle, I’ve found myself being tailgated. Upon my turning left onto Sandy Lane, the tailgater can be seen heading into the apartment parking lots. This also happens going the other direction.
It seems some of the residents of Sandy Lane, most likely by contemptuous familiarity with the route, treat Lake Chipican Drive as their personal expressway to Oak Acres plaza or Tim Hortons.
These are generally not young people but middle-aged to retirement-aged people, with more than a goodly percentage of them woman as well as men.
The park, as I understand it, is a playground zone and should be better enforced. Often many cars are parked along the route and it is sometimes difficult to see if there are kids around the cars, yet these same people just speed by unconcerned or unaware they are in fact in a park.
There is a playground sign on Lake Chipican Drive as you enter from Christina, but there isn’t one entering from Sandy Lane. The posted speed limit is 30 kilometres per hour, yet most are driving well in excess of 40 kph.
Repaving this road without proper speed bumps or other traffic calming measures would be foolish, as the rough surface is all that’s keeping them from going any faster.
Pete Kelly
Sarnia
Fluoride and lead levels linked
Sir: It was interesting to listen to Mr. Rod Gowrie’s presentation to city council on June 11 about adding hydrofluorosilicic acid (fluoride) to our drinking water.
This is industrial waste and it leaches lead out of any older piping systems it passes through. Most municipalities do not add this acid to their water.
Only a few of our councillors seem to understand that the high lead levels now being found in our water is most likely being increased by the fluoridation process.
I fail to understand why the Lambton Area Water Supply System insists on continuing to operate the system this way.
Earl McMillan
Sarnia
Flag-flyers, let’s show our true colours on Canada Day
Sir: Canada Day is fast approaching and that is when we feel most patriotic and fly the Maple Leaf.
Unfortunately, a number of “flags” are currently flying that are a disgrace and disrespectful. They are torn, have holes in them or are so faded that they are a pale replica of what should be a brilliant red colour.
If you don’t want to spend the money on a new flag, please take it down. Otherwise hoist a flag that is a credit to you and the nation to which we belong.
I look forward to seeing the Maple Leaf flying proudly all over our fair city and county.
Happy Canada Day!
David Murray
Bright’s Grove