Today as the street cleaner made its way up and down our residential street, I was again reminded of how well-run Napanee has been. As new residents we were first struck by this pleasant aspect of our new home in the winter with not just the clearing of the sidewalks on Dundas Street, but also the actual removal of large piles of snow from the ends of driveways to prevent excessive spring runoff into the Napanee River and possible flooding of homes down the hill.
Now I am forced to wonder what will happen to the street cleaning once Tomlinson begins operation of their proposed hot asphalt plant at the quarry on the east edge of downtown Napanee. Will our personal property taxes go up to compensate for the increased cleaning costs if soot and other toxins precipitate daily on our yards and streets? Will decreased property values on the east side of town resulting in a diminished tax revenue stream mean that we have to pay more than our share here on the west side? Or, will idyllic little Napanee give up even trying to keep the streets clean?
And, what of the spring and storm runoff from the proposed Tomlinson hot asphalt plant that could drain directly into the Napanee River? How will the town clean the river, if it can no longer clean the streets? Will our drinking water drawn from the river downstream from Tomlinson become tainted? How will we purify it?
We relocated to Napanee in large part due to the clever town planning that put heavy industrial operations out by Hwy 401 and kept the quaint, historic downtown intact. Why would the town planners now allow a hot asphalt plant as a blight on the landscape of that same downtown?
It’s not too late. Get involved and say, “No! We won’t allow a hot asphalt plant that close to residences, schools, parks, downtown and the Napanee River.”
Carolyn Archibald