Vol. 6, Issue 30
Free of Charge
Thursday, August 1, 2019
Shop Talk
Banger in the Hanger
Lambton Mall still finding new tenants amid shifting retail landscape
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BLUEWATER BOXING CLUB coach Chuck Evans gives a mid-round pep talk to Kyle McRae during an invitational boxing meet at Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport. McRae lost the fight but his twin brother Connor McRae won a unanimous decision. For more on Sarnia’s ‘Banger in the Hanger’ please see page 23. TROY SHANTZ The Journal
Residents still upset about leaf collection
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CATHY DOBSON THE JOURNAL
s Sarnia residents adjust to recent changes in garbage and leaf collection, city staff is preparing for more changes. “We anticipate provincial legislation that will mandate the city to implement a food waste diversion program in three to
four years,” says Bryan Prouse, Sarnia’s operations manager. Once food is removed from the garbage stream and sent for composting the waste trucked to landfill will be reduced drastically, he told about 50 members of the Sarnia-Lambton Golden K Club last week. Sarnia diverts only about 35% of its garbage from landfill, a number that increased only slightly after a three-bag weekly
limit was imposed on households in 2012. “The province wants that doubled,” Prouse said. “We would expect that diversion will go up significantly with a food waste program.” Some Ontario municipalities already have programs in which householders separate biodegradable kitchen scraps into containers for curbside collection, weekly or bi-weekly.
Prouse noted residents needn’t wait for a formal municipal program to begin composting food scraps in their own backyards. Leaves and other yard waste have been a hot topic in Sarnia and Point Edward since they implemented a strict new rule requiring it be placed in paper — not plastic — bags, or in open containers marked with an X. Continued on 4
CATHY DOBSON THE JOURNAL
ambton Mall is undergoing a $5.1-million redevelopment to accommodate new tenants, and more good news is coming, says Property Manager Laura Beecroft. Two-thirds of the main floor in the former Sears store (40,000-square-feet) on the mall’s south end is being reconstructed for a new HomeSense and Marshalls. Beecroft said demolition to remake the space for the two fashion and home retailers has started inside and outside. Emily Lamb, a spokesperson for TJX Canada, confirmed a lease has been signed for a Marshalls and HomeSense “combo” store scheduled to open next spring. The other third of the old Sears’ main floor remains available for lease, possibly for an entertainment use. The second floor is stripped down to a shell and also available. Meanwhile, a building permit valued at $3.5 million has been issued for work at the mall’s north end, where Tepperman’s furniture was located until spring 2018. Sarnia Police Services has leased 9,000 of the 32,000 square feet in that building for use as a training facility. Officers have been training at the mall since 2017 in space next to H&M and are moving. At the “T” inside the mall, work begins Aug. 1 to prepare another 16,000 square feet for a new fashion retailer. Continued on 4
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