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Anchorage Road water main to be high priority for CBS next year, says Tilley

By Craig Westcott/December 2, 2022

The Town of CBS has yet to present its 2023 budget, but at least two projects look to certain on the capital works priority list next year.

One is the upgrade of Minerals Road, which is a major collector road for Peacekeepers way.

Infrastructure and public works committee chairman Gerard Tilley reminded his colleagues at their November 18 public meeting that the Town has already committed itself to that project, which is the last of the collector roads to be tackled, with Legion Road, Fowlers Road and Lawrence Pond Road having already seen improvements.

“We’re going to upgrade that in the spring of 2023,” the Ward 3 councillor said. 

“2022 saw the highest capital investment for roads, water and sewer in a single year,” Tilley pointed out. “Work continues in 2023 and we’re forecasting approximately $10 million in infrastructure projects, including sidewalks in our school zones and along the Conception Bay Highway.”

Providing safe and reliable drinking water will also remain a priority of council next year, Tilley added. “2022 saw the upgrade of water mains in the Kelligrews area in the section between Jerathon Place and Pond Road due to poor pipe conditions. In 2023, we’ll continue with a section of the water transmission main being replaced. We’ve recently experienced several leaks in the Anchorage Road area, so that’s going to be a megaproject from a public works perspective, and we hope to get that work done in the year 2023.”

On a related note, Tilley said if he is still part of the public works committee next year he is going to ask it to look at making the use of clear bags mandatory for garbage collection.

Tilley said a discussion about the use of clear garbage bags was held at the recent Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador convention and one delegate, from another town, reported that not only did the switch to clear bags in that jurisdiction spark an increase in recycling, but it also led to a sustained increased in recycling.

“That’s something we’ll have to look at,” agreed Mayor Darrin Bent. “And promoting people to properly compost is another great way to keep the tipping fees down, because most of the stuff that can be composted is most of the weight in all of your garbage, of course.”

Bent observed that economic development and tourism committee chairperson Christine Butler and her group is looking into launching a backyard composting program.

The councillor-at-large later elaborated on that work in her committee report.

“We heard from residents on their desire to compost and we are grateful for their sustainability efforts,” Butler said, adding the Multi Materials Stewardship Board offers a program that allows for the purchase of composting bins at a reduced cost for a minimum order of 40 units.

“In anticipation of this program being launched, we would like to get an idea of the interest from residents, and we’ll be initiating a survey over the coming weeks. Pre-orders will not be taken until the program is launched by the MMSB. The exercise at this point is simply to gauge interest in the bin types that will be offered.”

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