Fix river now: Moncton council

Moncton city council is asking provincial and federal politicians to move ahead fixing problems on the environmentally troubled Petitcodiac River.

Council passed a motion Monday night urging politicians to act on the recommendations of a federal-provincial Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) final report, which lists options for restoring the river.

The options include everything from fixing the fishway to building a bridge further upstream. Projected costs for the different options range from $34 million to $107 million.

• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT: Petitcodiac EIA executive summary

Coun. Stephen Boyce introduced the motion, saying action needs to be taken and soon.

However, Coun. Doug Robertson disagreed, saying people who live along the river have questions.

"What's going to happen to their lives, their property, their property values?" he asked. "There's a very major unresolved question as to who's going to pay for the restoration of the river and the river bed."

After a lengthy and at times heated debate about what should happen next, the motion passed by a vote of six to four. Petitcodiac Riverkeeper Daniel LeBlanc said council made the right decision.

"The city has come to reiterate what the citizens of Moncton want," said LeBlanc, executive director of the environmental group. "Basically, you know, let's move forward with the river. So I'm very proud of the way council dealt with this."

The EIA is still gathering public opinion on the Petitcodiac's future. That portion of the process is expected to wrap up later this month.