By Chad Ingram
Published March 16 2017
The following are brief reports of items discussed during a March 9 Minden Hills committee of the whole meeting.
Minden Hills council will grant a request from the Trillium Lakelands District School Board for the Minden Hills Community Centre to be used as an emergency evacuation centre for students of Archie Stouffer Elementary School should an emergency arise.
“The fire chief noted that the township’s emergency response plan in the event of a disaster would be to support the evacuation of the ASES facilities in Minden” reads a report from community services director Mark Coleman. “This is identical to the request received from HHHS in late 2015 that council approved. The community services department position is to make the arena/community hall available as community emergency priorities are determined by the township. Facility rental contracts note that in the event of the Minden Hills Community Centre being designated an emergency centre that rentals may be cancelled and asked to vacate.”
As part of the agreement the school board would compensate the township for any lost rental income should such a situation arise.
Councillors were supportive of the agreement although Reeve Brent Devolin did comment that the province is more and more looking to townships “to basically backstop things that are their responsibility.”
Pavement markings
The township will spend about $9500 on freshening up pavement markings single-sourcing the work to to Midwestern Line-Striping.
The work will include painting centre lines edge lines stop blocks crosswalks loading zones parking areas etc.
“Staff is confident in the ability of Midwestern Line-Striping to perform their work on time and on budget” reads a report from roads superintendent Travis Wilson. “They are familiar with the area and our routine.”
“Staff have budgeted for a spray durable test area (crosswalk at the CIBC)” the report reads. “Spray durable paint can last up to five years while staying visible. Staff will monitor the performance of the paint to see if it is a viable option for the township to perform on all crosswalks.”
Rotary Park playground
The township will apply for a grant through the Access4All Barrier Buster Program for a new accessible playground at Rotary Park.
The request is for $20000 in capital costs and $2000 for an awareness event.
“The current playground swings and play surface area are in excess of 10 years of age and do not meet current safety and accessibility standards” reads a report from community services director Mark Coleman. “The play area was also affected by the flood of 2013.”
The Minden Rotary Club is being invited to participate in the project.
