Junction Creek safety focus of new committee

BY TRACEY DUGUAY

The drowning death of a 13-year-old boy this summer, as well as past tragedies and close calls, prompted city council on Wednesday night to vote unanimously in favour of creating a Junction Creek Safety Committee.

Ward 12 Councillor Joscelyne Altmann-Landry, who represents the area along Junction Creek where Adam Dickie died, spearheaded the motion to establish the committee.

Dickie was fishing with a friend on Aug. 25 during a heavy rainstorm when he was swept into the fast-moving creek.

After an extensive search, he was found inside a box culvert near Louis St., 40-feet from where he fell in.

Ward 1 Councillor Joe Cimino will join Landry on the ad hoc committee, along with a representative from the Nickel District Conservation Authority and the city.

As stated in the motion, the role of the committee will be to “develop education and safety programs, and review infrastructure criteria along Junction Creek.”

The information gathered will also be applied to other potentially treacherous water bodies in the city.

A report outlining the recommendations of the committee will be brought back to council by April 2008.

Long-time councillor Ted Callaghan, who represents Ward 8, thought the development of the committee was a great idea because “anything can happen,” when the water levels swell in Junction Creek.

He recalled a time in the mid-1990s when there was major flooding along the creek. The water levels rose so high, sandbags had to be used to prevent nearby homes from being damaged. 

“It was essentially declared an emergency [situation] in that year,” Callaghan said.

Landry also brought forward a civic petition, signed by more than 500 residents in the area asking for a barbed wire fence to be constructed around the Louis St. box culvert.

“This is a petition that has a lot of pain in it,” she said.