May 15 to 21 marks the 62nd annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the Canadian Public Works Association. The City of Melfort has joined them in celebrating this year, with the theme of ‘Ready and Resilient’.
The goal of this year’s campaign is to recognize public works professionals’ focus on infrastructure, facilities and services which are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to public health, as well as the high quality of life and well-being of general society.
When asked about the decision to join the proclamation, Mayor Glenn George said he had very similar ideas in mind that he wanted to make sure the citizens of Melfort knew.
“Public Works is roads and sewer and water and all that kind of stuff and we work on that all the time. Infrastructure is a big problem that most towns and villages and cities in Canada have. It’s stuff that taxpayers can’t see and don’t really think about until your toilet doesn’t flush. We’re just trying to make people aware, that infrastructure is a big part of what we do.”
George also mentioned how there is more than meets the eye when dealing with issues and the focus and the light he felt needed to be shared.
“With regard to public works, is people complain about our streets and that’s fair, but if you don’t fix the crumbling infrastructure underneath the street, there’s no use paving it, because you pave it and then you have to dig it up right away,” he said. “Of course, it’s all money too and it all costs so much money and we budget for it every year and we do it as much as we can and hopefully we get there someday, but it’ll be a long way in the future before we ever catch up.”
Public Works Week is also meant to celebrate and pay tribute to public works professionals, such as engineers, city managers and employees and everyone else whose sustainable contributions protect both national and local, health, safety and quality of life, while dealing with many challenges, such as budgetary and environmental.
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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter @BenTompkins_8
