City administrators are putting the finishing touches on a plan to repair damage to the riverbanks in Prince Albert’s Little Red River Park.

The damaged occurred last year after the city was forced to dam the river during the summer water shortage brought on by the Husky oil spill.

Consultants have identified roughly 450 metres of riverbank in need of repair. The process is expected to take four to six weeks.

“It’s just going to be a process of trying to stabilize the Riverbank within the park, to make sure that the erosion that is visible there doesn’t continue,” said Jeff Da Silva, the city’s Engineering and Service Manager.

Work on the project will begin in mid-July, at the earliest. Parts of the park will be off-limits to guests during the summer as the repairs progress, but Da Silva doesn’t expect a complete shutdown.

For the rest of this story, please see the Feb. 8 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Troy Cooper began his remarks at the Prince Albert Masjid on Saturday with an apology.

The Prince Albert Police Chief was one of several community members invited to speak at the mosque, as community members came out to show solidarity with the city’s Muslim community.

Cooper took time to address a number of safety concerns during the event, but started by expressing sadness at the lack of communication between Muslim and non-Muslim residents.

“I’d like to begin today by offering an apology,” he said. “It shouldn’t have taken a tragedy to bring us together.”

For Cooper and others in attendance, Saturday’s event was a step in the right direction. Overall, Cooper said he’s optimistic that the community will pull together and embrace residents from different ethnic or religious backgrounds, however there are some worrying trends.

“Over the last year and a half or so, we’ve watched the international media and we’ve seen xenophobia and we’ve seen bigotry and racism in the national news,” he told attendees. “We could see the tension that must have placed on our Muslim community, and it should have been at that point that we reached out to you to tell you that you are a part of our community, and we care very deeply about you.”

For the rest of this story, please see the Feb. 8 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.

Like many Prince Albert citizens, Barry Shefernack has seen his fair share of snow.

While clearing roads and sidewalks can be a nuisance, Shefernack said he’s never noticed any problems with the city’s snow removal service. That changed this year.

As a resident in Prince Albert’s Ward 5, Shefernack said he’s concerned about how long it takes the city to remove snow from Branion Drive and Muzzy Drive, two high traffic roads in the area.

It’s an issue that has him concerned.

“I thought that was not right, when you have two schools (on Branion Drive) and all that traffic,” he said.

Shefernack wants to see the city take another look at its snow removal policy, and he isn’t the only resident in the area worried about the problem. A number of attendees at the Feb. 2 Ward 5 Neighbourhood Meeting expressed concern about everything from how long it takes to plow city roads, to the way the cities prioritize which streets get done first.

School zones in particular are suffering, say residents, who are concerned about traffic pileups in a vulnerable area.

“Everything was cleared on Branion from one end to the other, except the school,” on resident said during the meeting. “As a parent in this area … a school zone should be the first thing that gets done. That’s your priority, because kids start running, they slip, they fall, and you can’t stop.”

For the rest of this story, please see the Feb. 7 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.