There’s been little change in the situation along the banks of the Humber River in Deer Lake over the past couple of weeks.
Still, Mayor Dean Ball said Tuesday that the town remains on watch, especially when there is any amount of rain in the forecast.
Ball said he spoke with the engineers the town has enlisted to find a solution for the erosion along riverbank in the area of Pine Tree Drive and Riverbank Road on Monday and their work is still in the qualifying stages.
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It could be a month before Deer Lake can begin to address erosion along banks of the Humber River
Deer Lake getting better idea of seriousness of Humber River erosion problems
“(They’re) getting the numbers put together on the costs associated in repairing Pine Tree and Riverbank.”
Ball said they are getting close, “But there’s no new news as regards to it’s going to be a week or it’s going to be 10 weeks, really.”
Erosion along the riverbank started to become an issue after a major rainstorm in mid-January.
Chunks of the sandy bank have fallen into the river taking with them large trees, other vegetation and some private property. Cracks in the soil are also close to some of the town’s underground infrastructure.
Options being looked at to prevent further erosion include depositing armour stone in the area most susceptible to the force of the river or placing steel pilings into the riverbank to deflect the flowing current.
The final decision will depend on the costs.
While the town has to wait to deal with the issue, it is moving forward with the development of an app that will enable it to inform residents of emergency situations or other events, like water outages and road closures, that may affect them.
“So, we will have direct contact with all our residents in Deer Lake that have cellphones,” said Ball.
The app is in response to the situation created by the flooding and is being created by AppAds Promotions in Bay Roberts.
Ball said council approved spending $3,500 for the app at its meeting on Monday night.
The cost includes training.
Other Deer Lake council news
The town is ready to go to tender on water, sewer and street upgrades for Fourth Avenue.
Rodney’s Contracting has been awarded a tender for just over $11,000 for cleanup of the beach. The contractor will rake the beach and cleanup any brush and debris that’s been washed up there during the storms in January and February and from the spring melt.
Upland Planning and Design Studio out of Nova Scotia has been enlisted to produce a business plan for the beach area of the town. The plan will take in the beach, Schwartz Park and area known as Joe Butt’s property that the town is in the process of purchasing. The land could be the site of a farmer’s market, a location for the town’s municipal Christmas tree and overflow parking for the beach. The plan will cost around $10,000.
