Category: LOCAL

WARDEN DISCUSSES VTAC

Two busy men coming together on a hot Saturday morning to discuss the common good.  One, the Warden of Renfrew County, was on his way to the AMO, a conference of all Ontario municipalities in Ottawa.  The other, a late-to-the-party hobby journalist, was attempting  to give off the impression of being busy by attending a pow-wow hosted by the Algonquins of Pikangikum.

Time was short, so I, the hobby journalist, wanted to get as much information about VTAC as I could, thankful that I had the opportunity in the first place, albeit brief.

The result is informative and engaging, all the result of the Warden illuminating the back story of VTAC, something important to every resident in this County.

While not my original intent, I’ve decided, with permission, to post the entire 18 minute conversation, because I think people need to hear, and need to know how this thing got started, how it was nurtured and implemented, and what the track record might be to date.

Continue reading “WARDEN DISCUSSES VTAC” →

VTAC AGAIN

I’d like to thank Renfrew County Warden Peter Emon for his time and patience in providing background for this piece.

PROTECTING THE FUTURE OF OUR PAST

Many years ago, I undertook a project that would recapture and bring to life the histories of two places I has some familiarity with, St. Thomas the Apostle School and St. Francis Xavier Church.

In order to successfully bring that mandate to a successful outcome, I had to pour over hundreds of photos, documents, and other pieces of memorabilia that were stored in dozens of cardboard boxes.  These boxes, and the treasures they contained, were almost always tucked away in some out-of-sight-out-of-mind part of the building, something I suspect is the case for most places, and even families, who take the time to save the stuff for preservation then, having no plan beyond that, consign these treasures to the ubiquitous cardboard box for somebody to come along in a couple of decades to make sense of it.

But what if nobody comes along?

Continue reading “PROTECTING THE FUTURE OF OUR PAST” →

RESIDENTIAL PLAN FOR LISGAR

What happens at 436 Lisgar Street is probably not top of mind for most folks unless they live across from it or drive by it on the way to and from home, school, or work.

It’s a stretch of land that basically sits across the street from Renfrew’s dilapidated Public Works garage.  In fact, at some point not long ago, this same stretch of land was intended to be used as a public works yard, perhaps the very place where a new garage might be situated, right after the existing one either collapses under its on weight or is taken down by a municipality painfully short on dollars.  It appears that municipality spent all the money they didn’t have on a facility right around the corner, the place with the radio station logo on it, the one they named after themselves.  So my money is on gravity, and the impending implosion of the building currently held together with elastic bands, duct tape, and best wishes of a council long on ambition but short on cash.

Continue reading “RESIDENTIAL PLAN FOR LISGAR” →

FORMER WATER TREATMENT PLANT NEEDS A PLAN

At some point, we’re going to have to do something with that water treatment plant.  Not the one currently in operation under the auspices of OCWA — Ontario Clean Water Agency — but rather the older one, the one replaced by the newer one maybe twenty years ago.

Until we do, we’re going to have ourselves a problem, which is a way of saying that we may see several problems emerge from an abandoned building situated between two strands of the Bonnechere River.

Continue reading “FORMER WATER TREATMENT PLANT NEEDS A PLAN” →

A RIVER TRAIL

It’s not the way I mapped it out, but we’re going to have to do things a little differently this morning.

I’ve had nothing but trouble transferring video to my computer so that I could work with it and produce a coherent product. Apparently my storage space is non-existent, despite my efforts at troubleshooting for several hours. I did, however, manage to cheat the media gods and get some of my stuff up on YouTube.

And so, it was my first walk, and likely my last, along the Bonnechere River Trail. Not because it’s not worth the time and effort, but more to do with the fact that it’s a gruelling little journey that I can now claim to have completed half of, but no real need to complete the other half.

It would be kind of cool to fly a drone along the length of the river as it corresponds to the trail, but sadly, I have no drone, and equally sadly I’d have no idea how to fly one if I even had one.

CHILD SAFETY AT PLAY

He was at the very top, a boy, maybe six, perhaps seven years old.  His mom, or the person responsible for his safety, was at the bottom, looking up.  He seemed unsure of himself.

The boy was at the very top of a play structure, a modern one, by all appearances state of the art.  His hesitancy involved coming down a ladder-type feature, with rungs, where a climber could move down or up, depending on which way a child might want to go.

Sometimes the climb up is easier than the climb down because, well, you start low and work yourself high.  And you’re not necessarily realizing fully how far up off the ground you might be climbing, what with your eyes being directed upwards, towards the top.  But when you’re at the top looking down, you become more fully aware of the drop, and of the reality of elevation, and the further reality of gravity, and what it might do to you if you make some sort of mis-step on the way down, or even before you begin the journey down.

It’s a play structure, though, for heaven’s sake, and so safety was obviously top-of-mind for the people who designed it and manufactured it, not to mention the people who researched it and procured it, in this case on the part of the municipality.  And so, as a play structure in a public park, one swarming with kids at times, the assumption is that there is no danger here.

Continue reading “CHILD SAFETY AT PLAY” →

COUNCILLOR ADVOCATES FOR HOME OWNERS

It’s late in the third period and your team is down by three goals.  Or it’s the seventh inning, and the boys are down by four, your starter has been knocked out of the game, and your best player swinging the hottest bat was injured back in the third, yet remains in the game, albeit hobbled and a shadow of his regular self.

You’re at a Renfrew Town Council meeting, your eyes are stinging, and you’re questioning all the concepts of good governance you’ve ever learned and experienced.  You’re two-and-a-half hours into the meeting, and you’re convinced that if you stay any longer, it may become a police matter, or a health matter, or both.

So you leave the rink.  Shut off the television.  Gather your belongings and leave.

Continue reading “COUNCILLOR ADVOCATES FOR HOME OWNERS” →

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑