Not over yet

The parking tug-of-war at the local Francophone school may not be over after all.

In a previous interview in September, Graham Letto, the former Lab. City mayor, indicated ongoing issues around parking at the school had been cleared up, but Jeff Boland, town manager, explained the Town is meeting with representatives from Conseil Scolaire Francophone - the French school board - this week to discuss concerns about parking at Centre Educatif L'Envol.

"Right now the school bus loading and unloading is taking place at the rear of the school," Boland pointed out. "They access it by a lane we prepped as a temporary measure while construction work on the sanitary sewer upgrade job was ongoing on Bristol. We're planning to meet with the Francophone school board Oct. 26 to discuss with them the idea of using that access lane at the rear permanently."

Boland explained parking at Centre Educatif L'Envol has been an ongoing file with the Town of Labrador City for a few years - residents of the area have expressed safety concerns with picking up and dropping off students on the one-way street - and he hopes the meeting this week will put it to rest for good.

He admitted the former mayor did say busses would be loading and unloading at the back of the school permanently, but since then the municipality has had some discussions with the school, and he said school officials want further clarification on why the Town wants busses parking at the rear.

"In fairness to the Francophone group, we certainly are going to meet with them," Boland stated. "They've been very diligent and proactive over issues concerning safety of their students, and we wouldn't want the impression out there that because council is asking them to change where they offload students that we think they aren't concerned about the safety of their kids. We know they are."

When it comes to snow-clearing and signage around the school, Boland said the school has gone above and beyond to ensure the children are safe, but the Town still believes dropping off and picking up kids at the rear is a better option than parking out front on Bristol Crescent.

"I went down and watched the busses unload students in the temporary arrangement and to me it looked like a perfectly safe and viable solution," he noted. "I want to make sure that there aren't any things that I'm not seeing that may be issues and we owe it to them to hear their side."

Boland said the school board has questioned why the Town wants to change the process of loading and unloading students at the school, but the manager stressed no other busses in any other school in Labrador West park on the street.

Narrow, one-way street

Bristol Crescent, he pointed out, is a very narrow one-way street, and when busses park there to pick up and drop off students, they block off driveways, and the Town believes it would be safer to have kids off the street.

"It's not a very good parking arrangement," he said. "We feel strongly the option of loading and unloading on the back is a workable solution."

Boland said the Town has approached the school about parking before - it suggested building a driveway on the lawn of the school, so busses could park there instead of on the street - but the board wasn't interested in spending money on a ramp, pavement and sidewalk related to the project, so it didn't go forward.

Since the lane (the Town is proposing the school use) behind the school is already there, Boland said all the area would require is some signage.

The town manager realizes the parking issue at Centre Educatif L'Envol has been ongoing for quite some time, but he noted it is Town policy to take the time to deal with an issue correctly, rather than expediently.

"We want to work it out, so at the end of the day, we have a solution that's a good fit for everybody," he said. "At the end of the day I'm not sure what the final outcome will be, but at least we owe it to them to be involved in a discussion."

Michel Genest, director of education with Conseil Scolaire Francophone, said the school board is looking forward to meeting with the Town to come to a solution to the parking issue as well.

Boards prefers loading/offloading on street

He said the board would prefer to continue picking up and dropping off children on Bristol Crescent, but the group is willing to hear the Town out.

"We will listen to what the City has to say and hopefully they'll listen to what our concerns are and after this we'll bring that to the board and the board will make a decision on what route they'd prefer," he said in a telephone interview with the Aurora last week.

Genest said he thinks the practice of dropping students off and picking them up on Bristol is practical and secure for children attending Centre Educatif L'Envol.

He noted parents have expressed some security concerns about using the rear of the school instead and the board will be sharing those issues with the Town of Lab. City.

"The main security is to make sure when the children get on and get off the bus that they are not in any danger in respect to traffic going on," he explained.

More traffic at rear

Parents of students at the school, Genest pointed out, believe there is less traffic on the street than there is at the rear of the school - a small roadway joins the College of the North Atlantic and Francophone school parking lots - and while he realizes Centre Educatif L'Envol is the only school in the area that parks on the street, it does happen elsewhere.

"They just get off on the sidewalk, they go straight to the school and there is supervision there," he explained the setup on Bristol Crescent. "There hasn't been any concerns there for the last 10 years - no incidents happened or anything like that - so we're perfectly alright with that."

Genest said he realizes some citizens of Bristol have voiced some issues around safety, access and snow-clearing in the area and would prefer the busses park off the street, but he thinks residents should also look at the positive points the school brings to the area.

He admitted there are pros and cons with each proposal, and the board is eager to discuss it with the Town.

"We don't want this (issue) to last at all," he stated. "My assistant director will be there (at the meeting). Having a message sent to us through the media, we don't find that appropriate. We'd rather have a face-to-face meeting and talk about the issues. We are citizens of the community of Labrador City and we want to be part of the solutions if there are any issues."