There have been a lot of questions about why money is going into welcome and street signs, and not the roads. Just under $200, 000 is beingĀ ear-marked for the new signs, but the city is only paying a portion of that. Mayor Steve Black says he understands the frustration about the roads, and says whenever money is spent elsewhere, the questions always come back to fixing the major streets.
“I think the residents of Timmins expect a lot more in a city than just repaving roads,” says Black. “At the end of the day we have to wait for the asphalt plants to come online, and they don’t come online until the weather gets warmer.”
The funding for the newĀ signs in Timmins is being split up between FedNor, the Chamber, and tax dollars. $88, 000 went into the first phase of the re-branding project, of which FedNor paid for half, and the city paid for the other half.
“The second phase included the implementation, all the signs, and all the other various marketing materials for the branding project. It was about $380, 000 and the city kicked in just over $150, 000 for that. $100K is used for the welcome signs, the service group signs, and all the downtown street signs.”
“There’s quite a few people that are very upset with the roads, and rightfully so” says Black.
“But in reality, we have a $7 million roads budget this year, and we’re just waiting for the asphalt plant to come online before we get some of the major repairs done.”