Paradise officially shuffles water and sewer priority list

By Mark Squibb

Paradise council has officially reordered it’s longstanding water and sewer priority list, though the vote wasn’t unanimous.

The matter was first raised in September when councillor Erin Furlong suggested moving Topsail Pond Road to the bottom of the list so that council could use multi-year capital works funding to complete water and sewer work on Dakota Place, Harcourt Road, Gosse’s Road, and Milton Road during the 2027-2031 funding cycle. Topsail Pond Road had been second on the priority list.

Council weighed the pros and cons of reordering the list at great length at that meeting and a subsequent meeting on September 29 with Furlong and councillors Glen Carew, Sheldon Antle, Jennifer Hiscock, and Tommy Maher in favour of reordering the list, and Deputy Mayor Kimberley Street and Mayor Patrick Martin against the idea.

“We were all able to voice our concerns and the things that we have heard from other residents in the town, and I think that we came to a little bit of a split decision here, which is fine,” said Furlong. “That, in my opinion, just means that we’re a good representation of the town.”

Put to a vote last week, the list was reorganized, though not without one last minute tinker.

Initially, the only change was that Topsail Pond Road would be moved to the bottom, but during last week’s meeting councillor Glen Carew put forward the idea of also moving Dakota Place lower down on the list, as there is only one house on Dakota Place and that home would only be able connect to the Town’s watermain by first crossing a private property. The distance of the home from the potential watermain, said Carew, could also prove tricky. Furthermore, Carew noted that as Gosse’s Road and Harcourt Road connect to one another, there would likely be cost savings in doing both roads at the same time, and so they ought to hold the top spots on the priority list above Dakota Place.

With that in mind, Furlong put forward a motion that council move Topsail Pond Road to the bottom and Dakota Place to the second last position.

Councillors Hiscock, Carew, and Furlong voted in favour of the new priority list. Deputy Mayor Street and Mayor Martin voted against the motion. Councillors Antle and Maher were not present.

“I understand the desire to maximize the value of the funding that we have received,” said Street. “But for me, as a councillor, having followed the priority list since I started in 2019, respectfully I can’t support changes to the list.”

The new priority list is as follows – Harcourt Road, Gosse’s Road, Milton Road, Dakota Place, and Topsail Pond Road.

Meanwhile, upgrades to Picco Drive valued at about $3.6 million remain at the top of the multi-year public works list, which puts it above the projects on Harcourt Road, Gosses’s Road, Milton Road, and Dakota Place in terms of priority. Martin and Street voted against that too.