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Work begins on
NEMI landfill site
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by Cheryl Waugh
NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN and the ISLANDS (NEMI)
---- Lacroix Construction, of Sudbury, started moving equipment
into position on Monday and Tuesday as they geared up for
the start of constructing NEMI's new landfill site, which
is expected to proceed this week. The landfill will be situated
just off of Highway 6 atop a hill behind Fort Sheg. The $1,759,
362 project is slated to be completed before December 1, 2001,
barring any bad weather. "It's hard to believe we're into
the construction phase of the project," said Councillor Ron
Lewis, chair of the Public Works committee which oversaw the
details of the landfill site. "It's been a long time coming."
Mr. Lewis is also sitting on an ad hoc landfill site construction
committee that will keep tabs on the construction of the landfill
for council. Also on the committee is Councillors Marcel Gauthier
and Bill Koeler, with Carl Ziegler as an alternate. The ad
hoc committee will act as a liaison between council and the
contractor, with the authority to spend up to $10,000 before
consulting council. "It's so we can maintain a line of communication
with the contractor in the event they run into any unforeseen
problems," said Mr. Lewis. "We'll meet monthly with the contractor
to get an update and to ensure everything was going forward
as expected." The ad hoc committee set up worked very well
when council used it during the building of the Water Treatment
Plant. Also involved in the committee will be stakeholders,
including the town's engineers, and Burnside, the town's consultants
on the project. Any concerns ratepayers or the Community Liaison
Committee have will also be dealt with through the committee.
Mr. Lewis said Lacroix plans on working on three areas of
the site, the drop-off area, the first cell, and the road
into the site, in conjunction with each other. Building the
road first isn't necessary because the construction company
is able to get their equipment to the landfill area through
a field, he said. "There's a bit of wagon road up through
there, and they can go in without any road at all." The drop-off
point is where NEMI landfill users will drop off their separated
garbage. There will be seven major facilities on the site,
a recycling area, a garbage container area, a future scales
area, an administration building, a maintenance building,
a compost facility and a rubble and brush site. The site itself
is 54.6 hectares or 135 acres, with the landfill area taking
up 6.1 hectares or 15 acres. The landfill area is divided
into cells, with each cell opening when the previous one has
reached capacity. The average annual waste intake is expected
to be 3,200 tonnes, which gives the site an expected life
of 40 years. The construction crew will work on opening the
first cell, along with building a road from Highway 6 to the
landfill site entrance. Paying for the construction will mean
NEMI will have to arrange for some financing. Mr. Lewis said
while the town does have some reserves, "it is not sufficient
to complete the project." It was expected that NEMI council
discussed the issue of financing for the construction of the
site at last night's (Tuesday's) council meeting. With the
construction of the site, NEMI's two dumps will now start
to be closed. "The MOE (Ministry of the Environment) have
been very lenient with us up to now," said Mr. Lewis. "They
have asked us to close it." In fact, NEMI received notice
last year that their two dumps, the Green Bay and Highway
540 dumps, should be closed.
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Hope in a
Boat again the toast of Ramsey Lake
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by Diana Smith SUDBURY --- The Sudbury Dragon Boat
Races were a huge success this weekend, as the event succeeded
in raising a total of $125,000 in pledges, and with the addition
of sponsor money, $140,000 for the Heart and Soul Campaign and
its efforts to foster a more comprehensive health care system
in our region. The Manitoulin - North Shore 'Hope in a Boat'
team managed to raise the most money for the second year in
a row. During the opening ceremonies, the team was lauded for
its 2000 efforts with an ovation from the audience. This year,
the team raised a whopping $18, 800 for cancer research under
the Heart and Soul Banner. Dragon Boat racing rules usually
stipulate the crew is to be made up of men and women, with no
fewer than eight women in a boat with a crew of 22. The 'Hope
in a Boat' team, along with North Bay's 'Warriors of Hope' are
the only two teams that have been given special dispensation
to have women-only crew. Both crews are made up of women who
have survived breast cancer, and race in memory of those who
did not win their battle with the disease. The 'Hope in a Boat'
team has eight-Island ladies on the team, as well as members
from Elliott Lake, Massey, Espanola and Sudbury. They spent
many hours gathering pledges, traveling to Sudbury for practices,
and in team manager Marlene Burns' case attending organizational
meetings. Special mention at this point must be given to a special
lady in Sudbury who steers the 'Hope in a Boat' and helps train
the crew, Barbara Courtin, a member of The Sudbury Canoe Club,
one of the festival's hosts. Proudly, 'Hope in a Boat' for the
second year raised more than any other crew of the 108 boats
that participated at the festival. Crew members were each presented
with Sudbury Wolves hockey shirts for their efforts. In particular
five women from Manitoulin Island were awarded prizes for top
individual fundraising amounts. Little Current's June McConnell
for the second year in a row won the top prize of Air Ontario
plane tickets worth $2,000 for raising $6,113. Not far behind
was Gore Bay's Marlene Burns who also won $2,000 worth of Air
Canada plane tickets for raising the second highest amount of
$3,600. Little Current's Lois Bond was no slouch either winning
a diamond ring for raising $2,501. Donna Maguire and Faye Clarke
from Manitowaning rounded out the winners circle by each winning
bikes from Pinnacle Sports in Sudbury for their individual efforts.
This was a truly successful year for the Sudbury Dragon Boat
Festival, from start to finish. One organizer commented that
no other event has attracted as many people to Bell Park in
one single day as this event had. It was standing room only
along the shoreline of Lake Ramsey. The entertainment during
the two days was spectacular, including guest presentations
over the two days by the Chinese Cultural Association of Toronto,
complete with dragons and lions. Ethnic food booths, exhibits,
concessions, children's activities and NBA Dribble and Drive
contest added to the carnival atmosphere. Most importantly the
winners of the races themselves, The Falconbridge Dragons from
Toronto, won the competitive division with a time of 2:07.99
minutes, with the Greater Sudbury Police Fitness and Leisure's
Fit Trackers time of 2:18.45 minutes being second best. The
best Recreational Division times were Sudbury and District Chiro
at 2:15.77, Sudbury YMCA at 2:18.90 and Micado team at 2:27.30.
This event has grown in just one year. There were double the
amount of competitors, with a whopping 2,500 participants. Though
numbers are not in yet, the event is sure to have broken the
10,000-spectator mark from last year's festival. The festival
is surely now the biggest single event in Sudbury, combining
fun, competition and a worthy cause to ensure success. Everything
from the opening ceremonies, to most important, the races themselves
were run smoothly and on time. An area set up like a tent city
for competitors helped relieve a lot of waterfront congestion.
Bus transit helped remove parking problems. None of these things
were easyto do given the numbers involved. Kudos to all those
many groups who worked together, volunteering their time for
the Sudbury Dragon Boat Festival.
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Purolator restores
five day service
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Purolator
Five Purolator restores five day service by Neil Zacharjewicz
MANITOULIN - Purolator Courier has returned to a five-day a
week delivery schedule. According to Ed Borkowski, public relations
manager for Purolator Courier, the decision to restore services
to a full five day schedule was made on July 13, in response
to concerns raised by area customers. "We want to keep our customers
happy and provide the best services we can," Mr. Borkowski stated.
"We listened to the concerns our customers expressed." Manitoulin
had been on a three-day schedule, consisting of pick-up and
delivery on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, since July 3. The
company's decision to restore service to all five days of the
work week was effective July 17. Mr. Borkowski indicated Purolator
Courier plans to thoroughly review the matter of service in
the area, see how viable five day service is, and explore all
of its other options. He said he is not aware of any timetable
for the review process at this time, but added the main objective
is to provide the best service for the customers.
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