Regina Construction III

[HomerSPC]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Many of these have been blown over in the last few years downtown. In a lot of cases the City has just left a rusty stump. Road salt has corroded the bases and they all need to be replaced.



http://www.620ckrm.com/2016/06/19/car-sustains-damage-after-light-standard-knocked-over/

Look at the red base on the pole in the background. I bet I could blow it over.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by HomerSPC

Look at the red base on the pole in the background. I bet I could blow it over.

More like red bases on the poles in the background.

[Treesplease]

On CBC the city was claiming it inspects the posts every year and replaces about 4%. If that post was inspected at all it didn't receive an adequate inspection. A light tap with a small hammer at the base would have revealed very soft rusted metal years ago, not just last year. No way that post rusted though sufficiently to topple over in one year.
But this isn't really surprising given the open holes in sidewalks that the city ignores despite the glaring liability issues. One of these days someone is going to light up the city's legal dept. with a suit.

[Drofmab]

Originally Posted by Treesplease

On CBC the city was claiming it inspects the posts every year and replaces about 4%. If that post was inspected at all it didn't receive an adequate inspection. A light tap with a small hammer at the base would have revealed very soft rusted metal years ago, not just last year. No way that post rusted though sufficiently to topple over in one year.
But this isn't really surprising given the open holes in sidewalks that the city ignores despite the glaring liability issues. One of these days someone is going to light up the city's legal dept. with a suit.

I laughed out loud when I heard that story... riiiiiiight, you inspect them annually, so this pole was in spectacular shape (at most) a year ago, and then *poof* it magically rusted out? And what about the rusty posts across the street in the picture? Magic too? Tinkerbell was out with her magic rusting pixie dust?

A simple, "we investigating this incident, and will be reviewing our inspection program in light of our findings... pun intended [insert reporters' laughter here]" would have been sufficient. Giving easily refutable specifics just makes the City look foolish.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^Agreed. Improve. Their response says to me they are going to do nothing more to ensure the safety of people. What if it fell on someone?

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^Agreed. Improve. Their response says to me they are going to do nothing more to ensure the safety of people. What if it fell on someone?

Like this?:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchew...-death-of-woman-struck-by-pole-1.1699801

[StealthGirl]

The city told me those are Sask Power's light poles. Pass the buck!

[Treesplease]

Originally Posted by StealthGirl

The city told me those are Sask Power's light poles. Pass the buck!

There's power at the pole that fell over but it appears to only be for lighting up xmas decorations that are hung from the pole. I'm not sure what interest SaskPower would have in xmas decorations for the city.

sounds like a "I'm late for coffee, get off the phone" response.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Treesplease

There's power at the pole that fell over but it appears to only be for lighting up xmas decorations that are hung from the pole. I'm not sure what interest SaskPower would have in xmas decorations for the city.

sounds like a "I'm late for coffee, get off the phone" response.

According to CBC the City says they "inherited" it from SaskPower.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/light-standard-rust-strong-winds-1.3644331

[Dan0myte]

The City has approved 6 "test" properties for the new Laneway suite bylaw that allows you to build a second, smaller home on your property.

The interesting one is 2990 Albert Street. The Hill Residence. The lot is so huge and treed I think they could easily build a garden suite and you wouldn't even see it from the home.



http://www.regina.ca/press/news-and-anno...ed-for-the-laneway-suites-pilot-project/

[Drofmab]

Originally Posted by Stormer

According to CBC the City says they "inherited" it from SaskPower.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/light-standard-rust-strong-winds-1.3644331

That story contains the ridiculous statement,
"We inspect our light standards every year. That was inspected last summer and showed no defects."

"Obviously it accumulated some corrosion since last summer."

No defects, eh? Enough corrosion to eat through the metal in under a year, eh?

Unless the City's using hydrocloric acid for ice control, one of her statements is demonstrably false.

Driving around downtown this morning, the black poles such as this one appear to be in visibly worse shape than most other styles.

[cityboy]

Originally Posted by Drofmab

That story contains the ridiculous statement,
"We inspect our light standards every year. That was inspected last summer and showed no defects."

"Obviously it accumulated some corrosion since last summer."

No defects, eh? Enough corrosion to eat through the metal in under a year, eh?

Unless the City's using hydrocloric acid for ice control, one of her statements is demonstrably false.

Driving around downtown this morning, the black poles such as this one appear to be in visibly worse shape than most other styles.

In my neighborhood (Arnheim) I have just noticed lately and coincidentally while walking the dog that the bottoms of the light standards appear to be painted with what looks like waterproofing. I wonder if that has become part of the city's preventative maintenance? Around my house we have the green painted light standards. I'm glad to see the city using the galvanized in most cases now. I think for a decorative application like downtown they should probably invest in the black concrete type. Does anyone know if we have of that kind anywhere in the city?

[Dan0myte]

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

The City has approved 6 "test" properties for the new Laneway suite bylaw that allows you to build a second, smaller home on your property.

The interesting one is 2990 Albert Street. The Hill Residence. The lot is so huge and treed I think they could easily build a garden suite and you wouldn't even see it from the home.

I should have included in my post the link to all the plans as well:

http://www.designregina.ca/currentprojects/laneway-and-garden-suites/

The renovation of the carriage house at 2990 Albert looks amazing. I'd live in that!

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

I should have included in my post the link to all the plans as well:

http://www.designregina.ca/currentprojects/laneway-and-garden-suites/

The renovation of the carriage house at 2990 Albert looks amazing. I'd live in that!

For the new builds, I wonder how many mature trees will be cut down?

I would not want to be looking at a 2 storey garage in my neighbours yard instead of trees.

[Dan0myte]

Originally Posted by Stormer

For the new builds, I wonder how many mature trees will be cut down?

I would not want to be looking at a 2 storey garage in my neighbours yard instead of trees.

One good point I read though was that it will bring life back to back alleys. With people living adjacent to the alleyway there will be more people in them, more lights on them and more eyes on them, reducing the likelihood of crime or graffiti. Right now people think they can get away with it because it's usually quite dark and no one can see them back there.

That was always one of the pros to Albert Park's design for me. No back alleys = Less chance for mischief. Whitmore Park went 90% of the way there by only using grassy service corridors but I found that there was still some characters who would roam those at night and you had to keep an eye out.

Interesting though that they expected 10-20 applications for the pilot project and only 6 people applied. Hard to say at this point whether it's because no one wants to do it or it's just that no one has heard about it yet.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Dan0myte

One good point I read though was that it will bring life back to back alleys. With people living adjacent to the alleyway there will be more people in them, more lights on them and more eyes on them, reducing the likelihood of crime or graffiti. Right now people think they can get away with it because it's usually quite dark and no one can see them back there.

That was always one of the pros to Albert Park's design for me. No back alleys = Less chance for mischief. Whitmore Park went 90% of the way there by only using grassy service corridors but I found that there was still some characters who would roam those at night and you had to keep an eye out.

Interesting though that they expected 10-20 applications for the pilot project and only 6 people applied. Hard to say at this point whether it's because no one wants to do it or it's just that no one has heard about it yet.

This reminds me of years ago I was at a small backyard gathering in Whitmore Park sitting around a fire pit. 3 guys and 3 girls, if I remember correctly. The yard had one of those grassy alleys. Suddenly 3 thugs jumped the fence and started threatening us. I am not sure what their plan was, probably wanted to steal our beer, but they were clearly roaming the alleys looking for trouble. They definitely were not from the neighbourhood. When we challenged them and told them to leave, one guy pulled a huge hunting knife out. One of my friends was a big guy with a temper. He picked up the fire poker and headed straight for the guy with the knife. They quickly back over the fence and that was that. Scary though.

[Dan0myte]

This is getting off topic but speaking of WP's back alleys I found a story in an old Leader Post where a little girl was walking home from St. Matthews school and went through one of those grassy back alleys as a shortcut to get home and a teenager was back there with a gun and shot her in the head. Horrible story. The teenager was some mentally unstable neighbour who was caught the next day.

It almost seems better to have paved back alleys where cars can travel so that at least people think twice about doing something because someone might drive by and see them.

Back on topic. My stance is more activity in existing alleys & construction around alleys is a positive change for Regina.

[Drofmab]

The Laneway notices provide a really good example (IMHO) of what zoning signs should look like. Provide some detail on the sign itself - including a diagram, if applicable. Make it visually appealing. Provide contact info for more information.


I'm certain these cost more than the existing zoning signs (due in part to the fact the existing signs are re-usable), but the existing signs provide the bare minimum amount of information.... no more, no less. Even for people who are interested/affected, the current signs offer very little info, and make accessing more info cumbersome.

Other cities have used more visually appealing/informative zoning signs for a number of years. It's time for Regina to step up its game.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Drofmab

The Laneway notices provide a really good example (IMHO) of what zoning signs should look like. Provide some detail on the sign itself - including a diagram, if applicable. Make it visually appealing. Provide contact info for more information.


I'm certain these cost more than the existing zoning signs (due in part to the fact the existing signs are re-usable), but the existing signs provide the bare minimum amount of information.... no more, no less. Even for people who are interested/affected, the current signs offer very little info, and make accessing more info cumbersome.

Other cities have used more visually appealing/informative zoning signs for a number of years. It's time for Regina to step up its game.

Totally agree, but how about actually posting the info online and I don't mean 3 days before the decision is made like they do now.

[Stormer]

Cyro posted a Winnipeg Freep article on another thread suggesting there is talk in Regina about a drive-in movie four-plex being developed. Has anyone heard anything?