Thornbury water tower work exempted from noise bylaw rules

The Thornbury water tower rehabilitation project has received an exemption from the town’s noise bylaw to allow project work to take place on weekends if necessary.

At its committee of the whole meeting on April 25, The Blue Mountains council received a report outlining the noise bylaw exemption that had been granted for the water tower work. Under the noise bylaw, staff have authority to grant exemptions to the noise bylaw without council’s approval.

The exemption will allow work to happen at the water tower on Saturdays and Sundays from May 1 to November 1. Staff reported that if weekend work is required it is expected to be sporadic. Construction noise would be permitted at the site on weekends from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“That’s not to say that’s happening every weekend. It’s just in case the contractor needs to,” said Shawn Carey, the town's director of operations.

Work has begun at the water tower on Victoria Street. Scaffolding has gone up around the structure and Carey reported to council that the tower has been emptied of water. The town has contingencies in place to ensure continuation of water services. A shroud will also be installed around the scaffolding in the near future.

“BGL Contractors Corp. informed the town that weekend work will be required during the specialized coating application work. Weekend work will allow the coating subcontractor to continue with the coating application on a daily basis during the blasting and priming stage of the project,” Carey said in his report. “Continuous progress will prevent potential loss of production work due to the inability to protect blasted areas by applying the zinc primer. Allowing weekend work will minimize rework and potential schedule delays due to loss of production, thus minimizing the risk to the town. Furthermore, extending the working hours will reduce the total number of days the water tower is offline.”

Carey said the town had provided notification to surrounding property owners about the work and the noise bylaw exemption. He said the town had received no input or comments on the issue.

Carey also encouraged members of the public to subscribe to the water tower project’s webpage where project updates, including when weekend work would be happening, will be posted.