Dear Editor:
On July 24, local residents affected by the closure of bridges on the 3rd, 4th and 5th lines in Centre Wellington were invited to an information meeting at the Fergus sportsplex by a consulting firm hired by the township.
Our particular bridge on the 4th Line has been closed since 2013.
This study was undertaken to determine if the bridges should be repaired, replaced or permanently closed. The 4th Line bridge was constructed in 1923 and the others about the same time frame. One of the claimed reasons for not getting on with the replacement is lack of funds; in 1923 there was an acute lack of funds but they managed to build the bridge back then.
When infrastructure fails it is a fundamental right of the taxpayers to have it corrected in a timely manner – that is what we pay our taxes for.
We are now in a situation where the bridges on the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th lines are closed between County Road 22 and the Sideroad 30, since the 5th Line bridge is closed for the summer for repairs.
I feel this is very poor planning by staff and council who would have authorised this debacle.
All municipal vehicles, graders, snow clearing, garbage trucks and all other town vehicles that travel to the dead end and back on both ends of this 4th Line over the last 11 years could have paid for a new bridge if you consider fuel, wear and tear as well as man hours – that is not even taking into consideration the environmental issues and frustration of staff.
Emergency vehicle access and restrictions should also be a very important consideration when this process is being evaluated.
It would appear to me that our planners and those making the decisions have been more interested in satisfying special interest groups, especially in the town centres of Fergus and Elora, than fulfilling their obligations to maintain infrastructure in the rural areas.
Some years ago the town asked residents to fill in a survey and part of the questionnaire was if we would we agree to a levee over and above the normal increase in taxes to deal with the backlog in infrastructure projects. I have to admit I thought that would be a good idea.
How wrong I was to think our council could manage that simple process. I believe we are still paying that levee and infrastructure projects are further behind that ever.
It would appear that our council representative didn’t even make it to the meeting to address the concern of all those in attendance.
Ian Milne,
Centre Wellington