Council decided to keep the no parking zone around the Waterford Drive traffic circle and approved the fire chief to go to tender for new breathing apparatus for the department.
Waterford Drive
Council decided on May 5 to maintain the no parking zone on the Waterford Drive parking circle.
Originally the parking was restricted because large vehicle like buses and fire trucks couldn’t get around the circle when cars were parked on the side of the road.
Then, at the April 21 meeting, Waterford resident Barry Pennington made a presentation asking council to reconsider it’s decision to restrict parking.
However, Road superintendent Larry Van Wyck said, “Since this issue originally came up there’s no real information that’s come to light that will alleviate my concerns regarding the obstruction of traffic and the safety concerns associated with that.”
He said it would be expensive to make any structural changes to the area.
Another argument Pennington had was that he needed street parking for the day care his wife runs out of their house but Van Wyck cautioned council, “If you do this once this will set a very dangerous precedent.” He said that other businesses could seek similar treatment every time they relocated.
In the end no change was made and council decided to retain its previous decision of a no parking zone.
Breathing apparatus
Fire chief Dan Callaghan was given the go ahead to get quotes for the sole source purchase of NFPA 2013 Compliant Breathing Apparatus from Scott Safety and associated dealers in Ontario.
In his report Callaghan said the Erin Fire and Emergency Services personnel are trained in using these specific devices and they are also used by most of Erin’s mutual aid partners. This means intermixing of breathing apparatus bottles and systems can occur easily during large incidents.
Council approved his request but asked that he bring back information about other sources in the market for this type of equipment when he brings back the quotes he has gathered for council’s approval.
“We would like to see the other quotes just so we know it’s not smoke and mirrors,” Mayor Allan Alls said.
