Mayor Charlie Clark heard concerns about Dundonald pond as councillor but can't confirm they related to safety

Saskatoon mayor Charlie Clark heard concerns about the Dundonald storm pond as a city councillor over the past decade, but can't confirm they focused on safety.

"What isn't clear is that there were specific concerns about safety, at least in theofficial levels that have come forward," he said.

He remembers comments on the unsightliness of the pond and stagnation.

Since the death of five-year-old kindgergarten student at the pond Sept 11, safety has been the focus of discussion around the Dundonaldpond.

Residents of the area have since come forward to raise concerns over sightlines and the pond's proximity to the school.

According to them, those concerns were voiced in 2005, when the city turned the existing drainage channel into a storm drainage pond.

Calls for fencing

More than 800 community members have signed a petition to have the Dundonald pond fenced.

"I am taking the advice of the officials looking into this," said Clark.

"If it's advised from the school board that's the group that I think we're talking with most or by our officials, then that's advice I'llcertainly take."

Clark was unable to say if or when the city would build a fence around the drainage pond, which is on city property, down the hill from theDundonaldSchool playground.

Some residents of the area, and the school's former principal, have further concerns about the tall weeds surrounding the pond, skewing sight lines and obscuring the edges of the pond from sight, especially from the Dundonaldplayground.

3 investigations underway

The city is looking forward, according to Clark, and working closely with the school board to complete an investigation of the events leading up to little boy's death Sept. 11.

Saskatoon city staff are also reviewing storm ponds, their safety, and proximity to schools in the schools in the city, in cooperation with Saskatoon Public Schools.

"We have schools that exist on city parks, so there's city park land, and there's a school adjacent to it. It's a joint site, so I think our responsibility is the safety of the community," said Clark.

The Chief Coroner's Office and Sskatchewan's Advocate for Children and Youth are also investigatingfive-year-old Ahmedsadiq Elmmi's death.