clean up

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

City wants to push ahead with Randle Reef work

Mayor Bob Bratina says Randle Reef project partners are searching for a way to begin work this year despite delays caused by over-budget construction bids.

April 27, 2002

Environment Canada recently revealed all construction bids have come in over budget for the first stage of the $138.9-million project to trap more than a million tonnes of coal tar sludge in Hamilton Harbour.

Work on building a steel-walled containment facility was supposed to start this spring, but may now be put off until sometime next year.

Bratina said he and city manager Chris Murray met with federal officials over the weekend and confirmed “absolute support” for the project, including the contentious decision to contain rather than dig up the pollution.

November 9, 2007

He said federal officials are also convinced the $139-million budget for the project is on target, despite “significant” budget overruns from all bidders.

Federal officials will meet with bidders in July to go over the disparities in detail.

But in the meantime, Bratina said the city and other project partners are keen to “push ahead” on some aspect of the stalled project this year, if possible.

December 20, 2012

He conceded any decision to hive off a portion of the project would need federal approval, but expressed hope more options would come out of talks with bidders next month.

“We really need to show the public that our commitment is there and we’re willing to start the project and deal with disparities as we go along.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Tuesday July 23, 2013

Tuesday July 23, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday July 23, 2013

Residents feel powerless in information blackout

The city waited more than two days to post public information about the emergency response to the Friday storms that downed hundreds of trees and left 20,000 homes in the dark.

The information blackout angered some people more than the mass power outage, say councillors, some of whom are calling for a centralized online information site for residents in emergencies.
“Our city workers are doing a phenomenal job, but we can do far better communicating what they’re doing, ” said Councillor Sam Merulla, who wants to see an “interactive” web page that pulls in information from local utilities. – “Anyone with a smartphone can still communicate when the hydro is out. “We need to adapt to that reality and provide a one-stop shopping avenue for all the critical information residents are looking for.”

Although close to 75 city and contract workers spent the weekend attacking hundreds of fallen trees, blocked roads and limited water shortages, the city didn’t mention any storm-fighting details on its website or issue a public release until after noon Monday.

By contrast, the City of Burlington posted joint releases online with Burlington Hydro on Saturday and Sunday – a difference noted by some frustrated Twitter users.

Hamilton can do better, conceded city manager Chris Murray. “I’m not going to disagree with the (critical) comments, ” he said Monday afternoon. “In these circumstances you need to be doing everything you can to alleviate citizen fears or concerns.”

Murray said the storm didn’t trigger activation of the city’s official emergency plan, which has built-in communication protocols. But Murray said the flow of information to the public should have been better. (Source: The Hamilton Spectator)

Wednesday September 10, 2003

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 10, 2003

Clean up Crew Wanted

Washington’s planned U.N. resolution on Iraq is “some way” from meeting France’s priority of “transferring authority to an Iraqi government,” Chirac said.

Both men, speaking at a joint news conference in the eastern German city of Dresden, discussed the U.S. draft for a new U.N. resolution aimed at getting more countries to contribute troops and money to stabilize and rebuild the country.

But the draft insists the U.S. keep control of the military and political process.

France and Germany had been opposed to the war in Iraq but both countries are now willing to help bring stability to the country.

The two leaders said they would study the U.S. proposal “from a very positive point of view.” But Chirac said France may recommend changes to a proposed U.N. resolution.

“It does appear to be really rather far from the main objective, which is that of transferring political responsibility to an Iraqi government as soon as possible,” Chirac said. (Reuters)