| Crystal Beach Strand page two |
| FIRE DEPARTMENT STATION LOCATION REPORT RESTRUCTURING MAY BE IN TOWN'S FUTURE Chief Douglas Sees Challenges and Improvements Ahead for Fire Service Delivery |
| Lakeland Consulting will deliver its Station Location Operability Report report to Fort Erie Council at its Regular Meeting on December 8, 2008,. The land use planner was retained by the town to conduct a thorough study of the present fire station locations and make recommendations as to how to update or relocate current fire services. "I'm excited about the possibilities the study represents," said Fort Erie Fire Chief Jim Douglas in a phone interview on Friday. On Thursday, November 20, a public forum was held at town hall to discuss the results of the four month study. Residents could get information about current fire services and ask questions about the future of the town's six fire halls. Douglas pointed out that two current fire stations, #2 on Jarvis Street and #4 on Ridge Road are outdated and landlocked, this giving few options for expansion or improvement. The station on Jarvis Street is over a hundred years old, built in a time when fire apparatus was horse drawn. Station 4 was built in the 1950s when fire apparatus was smaller and volunteers lived within walking distance to the station. Fire fighting has evolved greatly since those early days. Firefighters must now be trained to deal with fires involving newer and more complex materials and the equipment used to handle these fires is more sophisticated. Older fire stations often do not have the space to house the larger fire apparatus and equipment. Douglas says that the town has been very supportive of his efforts to streamline fire service delivery. The consultant and his department have "left no stone unturned" in a thorough exercise to address location issues that could effect future fire service delivery. Once the study is presented, Chief Douglas realizes that he will first have to sell any improvements to town council and then to the taxpayers. He said that it is a scary prospect considering the current difficult economic times, but fire and emergency services should remain a top priority. A glaring example of what can happen when improvements are caught up in the system was shown during the freak snowstorm in October, 2006. While the fire department waited for funding to install generators in all fire halls, there was a massive power outage as a result of broken tree limbs falling on power lines all over Fort Erie. Fortunately, town fire halls now have emergency generators, but the lack of a nearby place where those without power could go, was a real problem for those without transportation to the emergency centre at the Leisureplex. For now, it is merely be a blueprint with recommendations. It will be up to the current council to find a way to fund the improvements. |
| OK. Where's the $2 Million? |
| We kinda know where it is (Nordic Games,) but it should be returned now that the proposed $300 million resort is off the table. That money was given to Nordic Games in good faith that it would be used as seed money for the proposed resort. It is taxpayers' money from the Province's Economic Development Ministry. We need it back. We have places that need it - like Bay Beach - a major tourist draw in the summer. Where is our money, Mr. Thibert? You were the one who decided that it would all go to the racetrack. You bet it all on the racetrack and lost. Not smart putting all that money on one horse. |
| Dumpsters on Parade |
| The new Crystal Beach BIA has its work cut out for it from Day 1 as an on-going problem lingers since last summer: the view of the garbage receptacles of the Crystal Beach Tennis and Yacht Club from Erie Road. This is a close-up of a picture I took at Mia's Antiques on Erie Road. This is the view from her store front window. It looks tidy now, but summer residents fill those receptacles up quickly. It's another unsightly image that visitors see as they walk or drive towards the public beach or visit businesses on Erie and Derby Roads. There have been discussions with the developer of the gated community, and promises of some kind of screen to block the sight; so far nothing seems to have changed. Another eyesore is the public parking lot just up the street towards Ridgeway Road. Most do not know it is public because of poor signage and lights that do not work. But the biggest problem is that residents of a nearby apartment bulding park their vehicles in the lot - some never moved - giving passersby the impression it is a private parking lot for denizens of the by-law challenged building. There's even a basketball net left behind by a tenant. The BIA hopefully will get the town to properly mark the parking spaces and ticket cars that are parked in the public area of the lot illegally. A large, well-lighted sign informing people that it is a public parking lot would go a long way towards helping customers stay in the area. |
| And Another Thing ... |
| The parking situation along Erie Road is problematic. In the summer, beach goers park in the few spaces available to customers of businesses in the area. The are clearly marked "2 Hour Parking" but they are ignored and there seems to be little or no enforcement of that rule. To everyone's astonishment, an employee of one restaurant in the area, parks all day in the 2 hour space right in front of the restaurant! Get a clue, somebody. That's for your customers, 'mkay? I can't believe that anyone has to point this out, but it has been an on-going problem for years. Other businesses suffer as well because their customers can't use the few parking spaces available as the restaurant's staff has them all tied up. |
| Firefighters make short work of kitchen fire - and save a cat. |
| On Friday, November 21, firefighters from Station 6 in Crystal Beach were called out to a smoky fire on Erie Road in the so-called Artisan Village. The second floor apartment sustained minor smoke damage when a plastic container left on the stove, caught fire and melted. A new tenant was moving in and did not realize the stove was on. Firefighters quickly doused the fire and aired the apartment out. They rescued the tenant's cat who came through the ordeal unscathed. Chief Douglas did advise that they haven't yet had a need to use the special pet-friendly breathing apparatus that was donated through the efforts of Crystal Beach resident Kim Gallagher whose own cats were saved when her apartment on Derby Road was destroyed by fire last year. Each fire station has one. Douglas did say that the fire department is very grateful to have the life-saving equipment. |
| New Property Maintenance By-Law is a hot mess. (Read More) |