Tuesday, July 7, 2009

June Weather Review

Northwestern Ontario residents can expect a cooler than normal summer.

Environment Canada says last month was a degree and a half cooler in Kenora.

Climatologist Chris Hampel says the colder than normal weather will continue.

Hampel notes the region will also see less rainfall in July and August.

Above and Beyond Canada

There's an unusual Cross Canada tour making its way to Kenora.

Above and Beyond Canada is a group of individuals who are flying a powered paraglider 10 thousand km across the country.

Spokesperson Benjamin Gordon says they're fundraising to send kids to camp.

Gordon and his crew will be arriving some time this afternoon at Anicinabe Park.

Visit www.aboveandbeyondcanada.com

Boil Water Advisory

Its going to be a few more days before the water in the City of Kenorais considered safe to drink again.

A boil water advisory was put in place on Saturday night following apower bump at the water treatment plant in Lakeside.

Operations manager, Rick Perchuck says part of the problem was thatmaintenance work was being carried out at the plant at the time ofthe power outage.

The Northwestern Health Unit says it needs to have two clear watertests back before it can lift the boil water advisory.

That's not expected to happen until the end of the week.

Fire Hall

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department is hoping to put atender out on the new fire hall before the end of this month.

The detailed design is being finalized and should be ready to out totender by July 20th.

David Nelson has been working on the project and says there is stillspace to add a land ambulence base, if the Kenora District Services Board has a change of heart.

Fire chief Warren Brinkman says he's looking for alternate sourcesof funding for the project, including the Northern Ontario Heritage Funding and FedNor.

Keewatin Memorial Arena

Its going to cost the City of Kenora over 30 thousand dollars to getthe Keewatin Memorial Arena ready for summer ice.

Recreation Manager Colleen Neil says they did an inspection of the facility recently and discovered a number of deficiencies.

The work will include amonia detection upgrades, brine pumps, valvesand water pump repair.

Neil says they hope to have all the work complete before the end of the month.

Family Day Kenora

The Kenora Rec. Center could be open once again on Family Day in 2010.

Council says its willing to put the item into next years budget.

Chair of the Community Services Committee, Chris Van Wallenghem says Keewatin Arena wasn't used very much last year, so it won't be included next year.

But he says it was likely one of the busiest days of the year for the Kenora Rec. Center.

He adds that it will likely cost about 38 hundred dollars to operatethe Rec. Center on the Statutory Holiday.

OPP Parking

The Ontario Provincial Police will have access to some free parkingon Water Street in front of their building.

Council says its willing to approve the removal of three parking metersin front of the former Communications Center.

Councillor Dave McCann says it will offer the community some extrapolice visibility if police cars are parked there.

He feels it will more than make up for a potential loss in revenue fromthe parking meters.

Blood Donor Clinic Today

The Summer Blood Donor Clinic resumes at St. Thomas Aquinas High School today.

Yesterday, 120 units of blood were collected.

Spokesperson Harvey Heather encourages people to attend today's clinic.

The clinic runs from 9:30 until 12:30.