Sinkhole on Picton Main Street repaired, road open
Administrator | Apr 28, 2014 | Comments 40
UPDATE Tuesday 6:50 a.m.: Main Street is now open in both directions following yesterday’s sinkhole and construction.
UPDATE 6:15 p.m. Road closed while repairs under way.
“Sidewalks will remain open to pedestrian traffic. Updates on the extent of the road closure and construction will be provided as timelines are established,” said Ashley Stewart, Corporate Communications officer.
Picton Main Street is partially closed around the area of the CIBC to conduct emergency road repairs to a sinkhole which opened up this afternoon at approximately 3p.m. Parking spaces on both sides of the street in that area are closed, and being used for through traffic.
Crews are on site assessing the damage and conducting repairs. Traffic is moving fairly well in both directions but motorists are warned to expect delays. Repairs are expected to take three days.
Motorists are asked to avoid the area if possible. Sidewalks and businesses remain open to pedestrians in the affected area.
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But we must all remember that council GAVE all their decision making over to the CAO. Go back to I believe it was twelve months ago in the council meetings it was there they voted for this. So we need a whole new council that will do what they were hired to do in the first place, work for the people!!! We all need to hope that some others will come forward to run for Mayor.
Seeking advice before making a decision is one thing;allowing the advice-givers to run the show is another. It’s common sense for council to rely on in-put from staff as the basis for making the right choices but it is our councillors who should actually make the decisions. Those elected to council should be capable of weighing advice and offering a little in-put of their own. Based on what has happened in the county in recent times some of the so-called experts appear to have dropped the ball.
Some decisions Council does not have the knowledge or experience to make a reasoned decision without staff input and recommendations. In example what would a farmer from…. know about effective staff training for Bill 168? What would a banker from….. know about appropriate livestock locations. You hope for common sense but they do need expertise in many areas. That’s what makes the world go round! $$$$$
We need councillors who will do the jobs for which they were elected – individuals unwilling to leave so much up to “staff”.
The power lies in the municipal staff (administration) who does the reviews, investigating, and makes the proposals to council. Look at their power from a previous article. What will changing the electorate do?
As quoted from article “Wait and See .. Turbine Noise”.
“Municipal staff is recommending council decline . . . noise outputs.”
“Staff reviewed the concept following a deputation …”there are too many unknown factors and a potential exposure to additional costs and liability.”
“Staff advocated a … development of any type of noise regulatory bylaw.”
” “If the legislation is created and defended,… future,” stated the “”executive summary report to be reviewed by council’s committee of the whole …”””
So which tail is wailing the dog here? Council is only as good as the staff within Shire Hall or the consultants the staff hires.
aaarrgh!
That’s pretty harsh unless you can support that with facts.
Technically yes he is. Experience has shown me that he’s avoided accountability as a Mayor for most of his term. 🙁
Wolf, That made me laugh. Yes, since he is still occupying that chair and receiving a paycheck then he still is accountable to the people, right????
“Mr. Mayor it would be nice to hear from you as to why you continue to contract these jobs out when we have the people here to do it when its PROVEN to be more economical and beneficial to this community!”
Are you asking the current Mayor or the fall incumbent?
If you’re asking Mayor Mertons don’t hold your breath. He’s not running again… he’s now a lame duck Mayor.
Agreed, Unfortunately we all dropped the ball in regards to voting on the same old same old. However, going forward I believe that we have ALL seen the light. When I heard there was going to be this huge re-structuring I thought ok, finally. But now I and everyone else realize that it was a scam right from the get go and will have to pay for those mistakes for sometime I’m sure. However, its NOT to late to correct the situation and election time is just around the corner. Mr. Mayor it would be nice to hear from you as to why you continue to contract these jobs out when we have the people here to do it when its PROVEN to be more economical and beneficial to this community!
I believe the putting off of routine road maintenance for several years and the harsh winter have really caught up and we are now probably at a crisis point. The number of roads to maintain in the County is immense. There is no easy answer on this one. I don’t know how we afford to ever catch up now.
http://www.pecounty.on.ca/pdf/2014DraftBudgetSummaryDecember122013.pdf
Marnie suggested the power lies in the electorate…
I agree and suggest we all spend a few hours figuring out how our tax dollars are spent
Our police costs for example are out of this world!
The power to do something about it lies in the hands of the electorate but probably the same old councillors will be voted right back into office this fall. We had alternatives the last time and passed on some good people who vowed to stop the spending. Who can blame them if they don’t want to come forward again this year? Why do we repeat the same folly time after time while stupidly expecting a different result?
Gary, You are absolutely right we don’t have a town works dept. anymore or any other dept.. Thanks to the ones who believe we could save more money by contracting everything out. I inquired to the approximate cost of the sink hole on Main St. and they believe the cost would be in the excess of $10,000 due to the fact that so much equipment was on site and six men were there. Versus if the municipality did the job and from everyone I spoke to they were more than capable of doing this job as it was only a small water leak that had been leaking for sometime. Even the employees are shaking their heads with disgust, so what does that tell you!!!
Amalgamation provided the excuse for elected officials to spend more money… the thinking was/is more responsibility = more payroll !
In the private sector you get paid more for performance. Meeting goals.
And to think they said one-tier government would save money and improve services.
We don’t have a Town works department. When we did our streets were in good repair and we had spring and fall pickup of yard waste.
I agree Mark maybe Mr.Jones should take over as the head guy of the Town works department…
Good for you Jack. At least in Picton we have Mr.Jones cleaning the streets everyday free gratis! An amazing worker.
My wife and I will be holding a cleanup on our piece of road. Trash Bash started it for us. I guess that does not happen anymore, politics I assume. If you can manage it go for a good spring walk ,never hurt anyone, just take a garbage bag with you and enjoy the outdoors and spring air. Good for the soul.
There was a time when county workers picked up roadside trash in the spring. They walked along the ditches cleaning up garbage that had been tossed from passing vehicles.
Prince Edward County should definitely have a spring pick up and a fall pick up of large household items and leaves and brush. If other counties can have them, why do we not have them as well. I’m sure the County employees could be assigned a week of pick-ups in the fall and spring. Surely they could cover the whole County in a week. Why do we put up with this lack of services? We certainly pay enough property taxes to cover this!
That’s right Doris but you can take garbage or recyclables there twice a week.
You can not put landfill at the dump in Picton because they are not allowed to burn it there
Heads up Argyle. The dump in Picton is open two days a week.
Free yard waste pickup in Cobourg also on Monday. Here in The County residents are forced to haul yard waste to landfills that are open 1 day a week [saturday]. Municipal sevices should include pickup twice a year, spring and fall and the landfill stations need to be open more than one day a week. Any wonder you find garbage and yard waste dumped along most sidroads now.
Belleville had their “free” yard waste pickup yesterday. What a nice idea for the ratepayers.
Yes there is quick sand on Main Street,
A friend of mine rescued someone from the Quick sand near the Regent when we were in High School.
If Council put off fixing main street to do county rd 8, they made a huge mistake.
We must consider our priorities and stop neglecting Picton. It is the County Town. Things were better when we had a Picton Town Council
I think the taxpayers are running low, Wolf, thanks to astronomical hydro bills, sky high fuel bills, water bills and exorbitant prices at the pumps.
The county has a large enough reserve for emergencies such as this one. There is roadwork required on a large scale throughout Prince Edward County, but unless everyone wants to see skyrocketing taxes, we’ll just have to watch them get done one at a time…
There is always money…. taxpayer money ! 🙂
It’s the tip of the iceberg. Our streets are in need of work but there is no money to fix them.
What is the life expectancy of clay piping?
We should of planned for this and got the money somewhere somehow to fix it.
Why is an out of town company working on it (2) actually as one truck was hired by them also???? What a disappointment for sure and right across from the Edward Building. Another kick at county companies
Well if that is the case Paul I hope it isn’t just Picton ratepayers footing the water bill!
I walked down and took a look there was water squirting all over in the hole, was likely a burst water pipe
My dad was shown this picture today and he told me that the road was developed over quick sand so it is not surprising that this has happened. He also mentioned that if he is not mistaken H.J McFarland worked on the sewers etc way back when, and they had difficulty getting them to sit well on main street due to this problem. Especially up near the Regent theater area. My dad is 82.
I like your sense of humor Jack!! Call off the repair! There were a lot that wanted Main St closed. Hope the Edward did in depth ground surveys.
A tourist trap?
Probably not a huge surprise as there has been a large dip in the street there for quite sometime. I believe there is also quick sand around that area.