Letter to the editor: June 11th, 2020

Dear Editor

Once again, residents along Riverview Drive and Simcoe Street are feeling the effects of construction. Last fall, when the job by Blackstone paving wasn’t completed, our area was left a mess of construction traffic signs and litter, including cigarette butts everywhere. Now, that the job is almost complete, we have construction on the old Canterbury golf course. It’s effects are spilling over into my neighbourhood on Riverview Drive. Aside from the noise, which is bound to happen, we have construction vehicles of all kinds parking on our street. One of which is a road washer that spills more oil than water and simply makes a dusty mess. Why? We have nothing to do with this project. I also asked a worker today about a project they were working on and he stated “the project at Simcoe and Reach”. So now we have two projects concurrently occurring and we are one of the casualties. As a resident in a fully developed neighbourhood watching these events, I ask, why has the Township not put stricter rules on these developers to prevent unnecessary problems and issues for current residents?

I propose a few things- 1, There should be no parking of any contractor or associated vehicles on a side street, such as Riverview. Keep your vehicles on Simcoe or in the development area. We don’t need another “no parking” sign either- this town has enough signs. A blanket policy to all contractors should be made clear when these people are awarded contracts. 2, More communication with residents about events coming up. We knew there would be development, but the overflow into our neighbourhood was not expected. 3, Have the contractor/developer pay to have everyone’s homes and windows professionally washed in the affected area. Our house and our neighbours are now filthy. 4, Start time should be enforced at 7 a.m. This group has been starting at 6:30 a.m. 5, Have the company pickup all the litter in the area of construction during and after job completion. The quantity of cigarette butts, all over our lawn and roadway, has gone up dramatically.

Greg Worona, Port Perry

P.S. I am certainly not the only resident to feel this way.