Timmins

legends–and,of course,plentyof fireworks. Recently,BusinessViewMagazine spokewithmem- bers of Timmins citygovernment to find out what was going on in town,andwhat projects were at the top of their department agendas. PublicWorksManager Ken Krcel talks first about the street light retrofit program that the city just complet- ed: “We converted all our incandescent street lights within the city to LED,”he reports.“We changed about 4,000 fixtures and the net project cost was about $2.2 million.We’re looking at a three to four year payback that will cover the cost of the lights.Themajor factor was cost savings for our electricbills,but it also helps the environment and savesmoneyonmaintenance- LED lights last a lot longer and use less energy.” Another major project that the cityhas undertaken is the reconstruction of 21 kilometers of themain highway that bisects the city.“Back in the early’90s, it was a provincial highway that was ‘downloaded’to the city,which took it over andworked tomaintain it,” says Krcel.“But,it’s in a verypoor state of repair.So,we worked on a ten-year plan to reconstruct this arterial, four-lane road.So far,we’ve completed two phases of it-each phase costing,roughly,$4million. Steve Kukulka,PublicUtilitiesManager reports that a $5.2millionUV treatment project for the city’s sanitary water systemhas just wrapped up.“It serves as a pri- marydisinfection and reduces the amount of chlorine in the system,”he explains.Another project just com- TIMMINS, ONTARIO pleted by the city’s engineering and publicutilities departments is an $80-million,secondary,waste- water treatment plant that significantly reduces the amounts of suspended solids going into the Mattagami River system.“It’s a great environmental project,”says Kukulka.“It helps the river to bemore sustainable.” Mark Jensen,Director of CommunityandDe- velopment Services,talks about plans for a new communityamenity: “We recentlyhired a design firm to help usmove forwardwith a detailed design to prepare construction drawings for a new multi-use recreational center,whichwould be an add-on to an existing arenawithin our community –theArchie Dillon Sportsplex,”he begins.“The cost estimate,based on conceptual design,is about $48 million.It will be a 68,000-square-foot facility to include an eight-lane,25-meter,competition pool,a leisure pool,a fairly large children’s play structure,a warm therapypool,a dry-lane training facilitywith multi-use courts,as well as squash courts and other rooms.We’re veryhopeful that we’ll be receiving estimates within the next fewweeks.This aims to be a jewel within our community; it’smeant to be a communityhub,not only to service local residents but to reinforce the fact that we are a regional center.We’d also like to attract provincial,national, and even international competitions and events at this facility.We’re really trying to create something special.” “The city is also involved in rejuvenating two key