Why is the Sturgeon River open and not frozen just behind the trestle bridge near Lions Park?
I’ve never seen our river open at that location. During winter carnival time we used to have dog sled races on the river from Lions Park and across Big Lake. We used to have sled rides pulled by huge, heavy Belgian horses. Every year we used to have the snow cleared off the river for public skating between Perron Street and the trestle bridge.
Nobody ever thought of falling through the ice on the river, and now it does not even freeze up during the coldest days of winter. What is the city doing to the river? Stop the run-off into the river! We’ve asked you to do that for decades! If it is salt entering the river at that spot from the old St. Albert public works yard then do something about it! Why did that not occur all those decades before now? What has been done to prevent salt from entering the river? Even during that extremely cold spell that we just had — and that high snow cover we also received — the river stays open there and it smells very bad.
What is the City of St. Albert doing to improve the situation of our river? I have only watched it getting worse and worse, year after year. Everybody is speaking an awful lot of shallow words — saying exactly nothing — and meaning them even less. There is no commitment from any side!
You should be wondering what made all those dedicated people who had joined the Sturgeon watershed group quit and walk out.
Lilo Engler, St. Albert
