Many have noticed the activity taking place around the Rez. There has been a near army of heavy equipment and folks zooming around in trucks. And, if you noticed the huge supply of massive pipeline sections being trucked in and layed down, then you've probably guessed that its a pipeline project.

As many people in the community know, there is a pipeline that runs from the drinking water supply at Latimore Lake beneath the "Pipeline Road". What many do not know is that the pipeline that is being replaced is made of wood and dates from the 1700s!

As part of its ongoing efforts to modernize the water supply, the City of Saint John is now wrapping up this pipeline project. During the lead-up to construction Little River Reservoir Association was contacted by city officials to take our input both on how their work would affect our activities and how we thought we could make the finished pipeline project better. We were thrilled to be able to sit down with both city staff and the engineering firm that was handling the job. Obviously we don't know much about pipelines but we do have insight on how to best curb the illegal dumping activities that serve to contaminate the very water that they are delivering to its customers. We also have a pretty clear vision of how we would like to place to look when its finally a park. We showed them our plans we have for the walking trail and they offered to make improvements to their design based on our input. Here is what they have done that we had suggested:

The Curve

At about three hundred meters to the east of the parking lot there is a noticeable serpentine section of roadway with some trees on either side. This actually has a purpose! Eventually, when the trees mature, this will form a visual break in the road that will guide the users of the trail to the planned trail head nearby. It will block the view of the long, unappealing road and make the users of the trail feel that they are in a more secluded area.

Gates

Obviously, illegal dumping is carried out by people in cars or trucks. If you can't get in there with a vehicle then the trash is more likely to end up in a proper landfill rather than a planned park and watershed. Gates and other physical barriers (big rocks) have been placed in strategic areas to eliminate truck and car traffic.

Visual Improvements

This was the fun part! Remember those huge sections of old pipeline that stuck out the ground near the parking lot? They had been there so long that trees had been growing out of them. They are now gone. Good riddance. Ugly. Next was the berm. Remember the big hump of dirt beside the parking lot. I'm not really sure why it was put there but its now gone. Woo hoo! A great surprise for us was the new layer of asphalt on the parking lot. We didn't see that coming but boy are we happy. The old stuff was looking pretty bad. Also, you'll notice some new trees around the parking lot that were planted just recently.

Things aren't done there just yet but as I said, it is wrapping up. What I want to say on behalf of the Board of Directors of LRRA, without hesitation, is that the folks at city hall were absolutely fabulous to work with. They did what they said they were going to do and then some. They took guidance from us, the indigenous folk if you will, on how to make the project work for everyone and they followed through. What a pleasant experience.

LRRA Proclaims Project to City Council

Well, it was a rough go. I was sick with a baaad flu and seriously considered rescheduling. However, I had been in the cue for months to get the spot in front of Council and figured that I may as well just go ahead and do it. I medicated myself fairly heavily with what amounted to a king's ransom in pharmacutecals, which had kept me up the whole night before. Like I said, it was rough.

The mission was to simply proclaim our intent to develop the site to Mayor, Council & Staff in an official way. It is, after all, City lands, so they are logically included in this project. The Powerpoint was done on the previous week but my speaking parts only got finished a couple of hours before I got in front of the lecturn to speak. I feared it would sound a little sloppy but I think it went OK. It gave a chronological journey through all of the phases of the project to date including the conception, forming the association, all of the clean-ups, the architectual stuff, etc. Pretty much what you can see on the website.

Well golly, it went very well. Every one of the councillors, save one, spoke and threw their support behind the thing. What a relief! I don't do public speaking very often so I'm always unsure of myself. Not nervous, just unsure.

Anyway, they loved the whole thing and now staff is going to study it and try to work it into their larger plans for the city. We'll see how it goes when we actually ask them for money!

I want to take a few lines to thank the City Staff. I deal with many, many people in the run of a day in my real job at Imperial Theatre. No where do I run into more consisitantly helpful, smart, good people than I do at the City of Saint John. They are the often treated with a little harshness, which I think is unjustified. I have nothing but good things to say about these folks. Bravo to them for helping LRRA down this path. They have been fantastic to us.

Hopefully this summer will see lots of movement on this project so keep your eyes on us.

Before I close, here is a nice article that April Robinson wrote in the TJ. Thanks again April!

http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/985691

Cheers.