City to maintain back lanes in 2016

Coun. Ted Zurakowski was the first to speak on the topic on Monday evening as he gladly moved the recommendation.

“To me this isn’t an elevated level of service. To me this is a maintenance that should be going on,” Zurakowski said. “If people are asking us for a few things to get it done, then I say let’s get started and let’s get it finished.”

Back lane maintenance was a concern often raised during phase one of the neighbourhood meetings which took place over the last two months.

Coun. Don Cody and Coun. Rick Orr both reiterated that fact, with Orr saying one of the three calls he gets from residents are about back lane maintenance.

The back alley plan will cost the city $922,000 over five years. Councillors will discuss the price within the budget and how it can be allotted over the five years it is planned for.

“Our back alleys have not had service for years,” Mayor Greg Dionne said following Monday’s meeting. “Some of them I’ve driven on personally and they are appalling.”

Dionne said, among other issues, the weight of garbage trucks over the lanes cause the road to rot.

“Some of them, their potholes are huge,” Dionne continued. “Some of them retain water, some of them the water runs off the alley and into people’s backyards.”

The proposed 2016 General Fund Budget Package is expected to be released on Oct. 30.

knguyen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @khangvnguyen

by Khang Nguyen

City to maintain back lanes in 2016

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