People who have concerns about the construction in downtown Petrolia can voice them directly to the decision makers.

Petrolia’s CAO, Manny Baron, Mayor John McCharles and town staff will be holding a coffee hour at town hall Tuesday morning’s starting at 8:30 am during the construction project.  There have been some complaints as businesses in the construction zone were left without water for three days at the beginning of the project. Crews are putting a temporary water line in to avoid the number of breaks and water shutdowns which occurred last year in the first phase.

“We’ve had sporadic calls, emails, Facebook messages so far,” says Baron. He says with an open house at town hall each week, people can come and talk to people face-to-face.

Baron says people can voice concerns and also give suggestions. One person asked the town to open up parking on Wingfield Street reasoning that since the street was closed off, parking along it would not cause a problem. Staff has agreed and has opened up the area for parking.

And he says it is always to talk face-to-face. “If you are asking one question, he may have the same question,” he says adding that may spark a creative way to solve the issue.

McCharles likes the approach but is hopeful the number of concerns will be reduced as soon as the temporary water line is up and running. It was slated to be complete Tuesday.