Carbonear business asks council to lower the sidewalk after patron takes a spill
By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Olivia Bradbury
A business on Water Street wants Carbonear council to lower the sidewalk in front of its store.
An e-mail from the businessowners was brought forward at the June 24 council meeting by councillor Wendy Penney. It included a video of someone tripping over the sidewalk outside the store.
“I don’t know whether there’s anything the Town (can do to) work with the store owner on that, but I’d like to see some communication go back to the store owner whether it’s their responsibility, our responsibility, or whatever,” said Penney. “But I think it needs to be attended to. It’s been ongoing for a few years and now it’s come to this council, so I think we need to attend to it ASAP.”
Deputy Mayor Fred Earle said he had visited the location earlier that day and advised the businessowner to submit a letter so the Town will have it on file and then go through the process.
Councillor Malcolm Seymour, who chairs the public works committee, said the issue has been ongoing for about five years. The town’s public works director discussed the issue with the businessowner in the past, but for some reason, it has never been resolved.
“We’ll try to do our best for the person and persons involved,” said Seymour. “We definitely don’t want to see what I saw on video, someone falling down and doing damage.”
Seymour said the parking situation on Water Street can be difficult for someone using mobility aids such as wheelchairs or walkers as drivers have to park parallel to the sidewalk. He said the businessowner’s concern would be a topic at the next public works meeting, where committee members will discuss the possibility of adding a lower-rise area on Water Street to make it wheelchair accessible.
Some business owners complained about the height of the new curb when parts of Water Street were upgraded with new underground infrastructure and paving over several phases of construction during the past five years.
“This has been ongoing, like you just said, for five years, and I think we need to work with and communicate to the store owner,” said Penney. “No communication is probably the worst thing we could ever do. So communicate with the store owner, let them know what we’re doing, let them know there’s going to be a discussion. It may not turn out favourably, or it may, but at least communicate to the people who send in these emails because what we saw was very disturbing.”
While neither Penney nor Seymour disclosed the name of the business during the discussion, Mayor Sam Slade acknowledged that many of its patrons are physically disabled in some way. “So we don’t need anything down there to increase the risk of falling or anything else,” he said. “If we can do something there, I’m sure we will.”