At its special January 11 meeting, Huntsville council will be asked to approve the final site plan design for the permanent washrooms proposed at River Mill Park, including the recommended removal of all trees on the site to ensure public and property safety.
“We are thrilled to see this facility in the final stage of planning,” noted Tarmo Uukkivi, director of operations and protective services in a press release issued by the municipality on January 9.
“The report and discussion at the January 11 Council Meeting will be on the sitework undertaken to date to install year-round access to washrooms in River Mill Park as well as the recommended final design, options to provide new trees, new plantings and a new seasonally maintained trail – a trail that will become part of a strategy to connect people to places in Town,” added Uukkivi.
Last September, council approved a ready-made washroom solution and the contract was awarded through an RFP process to Niu Smart Toilet. The Town of Huntsville’s goal is to have the new facility operating no later than May 1, 2023, in time to enhance Huntsville’s peak summer season, according to the media release.
Uukkivi’s report to council outlines recent tree limb clearing conducted by the power provider as part of routine power line safety work as well as to prepare the washroom site for power. As a result of this work, the tree limb clearing left some trees misshapen and imbalanced and staff concerned for tree health, hired Coulson Bros to conduct an in-depth arborists assessment. The arborist’s recommendation included the removal of many mature trees to help ensure public safety and protect the new building from potential damage, states the release.
At the upcoming January 11 Special Council Meeting, councillors will hear staff recommendations based on the arborist’s findings, as well as make a decision on tree removal and staff’s recommendations for the final site plan for the washroom; with an option to consider new landscape work featuring Indigenous Peoples traditional medicines: cedar and sweetgrass, planting additional trees and species appropriate for the location. The recommendation also speaks to clearing a walking trail from West Street North – between Susan Street East and Caroline Street East – into River Mill Park, ending at the new washroom facility area.
You can find the report to council, HERE
Watch the January 11 Special Council meeting live online It is scheduled to begin at 9 am
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Please do the right thing and ensure that at least two trees are planted for every tree removed. Ensuring that the canopy is well maintained and has an opportunity to flourish should be a key priority as well. And just for clarification for all of those who want to believe Toronto is a concrete wasteland…do some research before you establish an ill informed opinion…Toronto has strict bylaws re the replacement of trees on public lands AND private property. Our town, not so much!
This recommendation is a continuation of our council destroying our environment. At the Summit and at other developments council has allowed excessive removal of our trees. This needs to stop.
Moving trees is fine if the plan is to have a safe sight but please when replacing trees replace them with real good size trees and not the small twiggs that have been put in or main street park that help to make it look like a concrete waste land found in Toronto. Let’s see if council does it right or gets another failing g grade 🤔