FALL RIVER: The local councillor says he has heard an earful at all hours of the day from residents with complaints about the ongoing work on Fall River Road as part of the water project.
Councillor Steve Streatch said while the complaints aren’t piling up as they had when the project first started with night work, there still are steady concerns coming forward.
“There are nuances to this type of project in this type of area that are uncomfortable,” said Streatch. “One of those is the night shift, which has commenced and there is work that is going to be taking place around the clock.
“It’s necessary for the type of work and bedrock they’re encountering and due to the limitations of the budget that we have for this work to take place. This is what this aggressive schedule will do.”
He said there are people concerned, who have called and said they understand the importance of the project and the challenges that Dexter is up against.
“At the same time in the middle of the night when you’re finding it hard to sleep because of the banging of hammers and bedrock, that really doesn’t make much difference,” said Streatch. “Dexter has been quite open.”
Streatch said the project manager Tyson Joyce has spoken with a few residents who have taken time to speak to him about their concerns.
Another issue Streatch has heard is that the construction work is delaying the response of volunteer firefighters, who are held up in the traffic while responding to calls.
When seconds could mean life or death, the Waverley-Fall River-Musquodoboit Valley representative feels that could be better communicated between fire dispatch and the traffic crews on site.
“It should not be up to them (the volunteer firefighters) to advise safety officials, so I have to believe there should be greater communication between HRM Fire dispatch and the local person in charge of the project,” he said.