ACTUAL I TÉ • NEWS
Warden Guy Desjardins takes charge
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
WardenGuy Desjardins wasted no time in stating his main goals for next year as the new head official for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell. Desjardins listed immediate discussion with the provincial government to take back responsibility for County Road 17 as a top priority. The road was a provincial highway until the past Harris/Eaves Progressive Conservative government downloaded it onto the counties. “County Road 17 is an important eco- nomic driving force,” said Desjardins, “but right now it is a financial burden to (local) taxpayers.” During a later interview, Desjardins expanded on his reasons for pursuing the uploading issue with the provincial govern- ment. The City of Ottawa is involved with the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) in a proposal to expand to four-lane status the highway connection between Rockland and Orléans. County Road 17 and Highway 174 meet at the Canaan Road intersection just west of Rockland. While the UCPR looks after County Road 17, the City of Ottawa is responsible for Highway 174 after it was
Mayor Guy Desjardins of Clarence-Rockland takes his oath of office as warden of the United Counties of Prescott-Russell from Andrée Latreille, counties clerk, during the Dec. 16 inaugural session of the new counties council.
downloaded onto the municipality. But Desjardins noted that Ottawa’s own Master Transportation Plan’s (MTP) sche- dule for upgrading its municipal transit setup does not include the Highway 174
link between Rockland and Orléans on the priority list.The city’sMTP does not schedule that route for major improvement budgeting until around 2030. That is too long a wait, Desjardins believes, given that a final report is due soon on an environmental assessment (EA) on expansion of the 17/174 connection. “Let’s use the study we have now and get something started,” said Desjardins, noting that the results of the EA will be good for about five years. The provincial government funded the EA report. Desjardins noted that he and other UCPR mayors were in Toronto ear- lier in the year to attend Prescott-Russell Day events at Queen’s Park when provincial officials announced funding for widening and upgrading Highway 17 up in Northern
Ontario, including a four-lane expansion to Thunder Bay. He argues that EasternOntario should also receive the same consideration. “If they can spend somemoney up north,” he said, “they can spare somemoney for us.” Desjardins confirmed he will push for a meeting with TransportationMinister Steven Del Duca during next year’s Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) conference, and he will also bring the issue up during next month’s Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus (EOWC) session. Desjardins also listed seeing a final solu- tion to the status of Alfred College and efforts to build on the local tourismand recreation potential of the Ottawa River as other goals for himduring his termnext year as warden for the counties.
Arena ammonia call
Yuletide traffic advice While the «Long Fall» continues to promise a greener Christmas than most people would expect for Eastern Ontario, police and other emergency personnel advise motorists and homeowners to keep safety in mind during their holiday breaks. While there may not be snow on the roads, the lower temperatures and constant drizzle of rain can result in black ice conditions on some stretches of highway or backcountry roads. Keep a container of sand or sand and salf mix in the vehicle along with a roadside emergency kit. Make sure to have winter tires on and adjust driving habits, including reducing speed. Homeowners with fireplaces are urged to make sure to have their chimneys cleaned of any leftover creosote deposits from the past seasons and to avoid using their fireplaces to burn wrapping paper and similar trash instead of disposing of it through the usual garbage collection. -Gregg Chamberlain
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
the public. A fire department spokesman later re- ported that arena employees were doing a routinemaintenance job of draining oil from the arena refrigerant system. Some ammo- nia somehow got out during the draining process and one of the staffers was exposed. He was taken toMontfort Hospital for dia- gnosis and treatment and was later released. He returned to work the following day. The pail containing the ammonia that leaked out was located and sealed for later safe disposal. The Clarence-Rockland joint municipal health and safety committee will investigate further for a later report to the city.
A person was taken from the Clarence Creek Arena to hospital for diagnosis and treatment of possible ammonia poisoning. Firefighters, paramedics and police were called to the arena Dec. 17 just after 4:30 p.m. concerning what was described as “a small ammonia spill”. The arena was evacuated and firefighters wearing hazmat breathing gear went inside to locate the source of the spill. They deter- mined there were no actual leaks and, after about an hour, the arena was reopened to
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