Sault councillors are 'dictators,' cabinet minister is told

Sault Ste. Marie's elected City Council is a "bunch of dictators," Frank Manzo says in a recent letter sent by registered mail to Ontario Environment Minister Chris Stockwell.

The letter, dated March 19, also advises Stockwell that Chief Administrative Officer Joe Fratesi is causing him major grief by trying to develop lands near his home on Base Line.

For a complete understanding of the situation, Manzo suggests that the cabinet minister read Harvey Sims' 2001 book The Best Man for the Job: Joe Fratesi and the Politics of Sault Ste. Marie.

If Stockwell doesn't have a copy, Manzo says he'll be happy to send one down to Queen's Park.

Manzo wrote to the environment minister as a private citizen, asking him to disallow the City's bid to acquire land currently owned by Algoma Steel Inc. on Leighs Bay Road.

"City Council are a bunch of dictators," the 76-year-old Manzo (who's also a Ward 6 councillor) told Stockwell.

'It's pure loondunk'

"The land around here isn't fit for development. It's pure loondunk," Manzo wrote.

Asked by SooToday.com several weeks ago what he meant when he earlier referred to the land as "muck loon dunk," Manzo explained it was a reference to "loon shit," a term he told us is often used by engineers to describe marshy, unstable soil.

Much of Manzo's letter talks about problems with his water well that he says began in 1994, when the GP Flakeboard plant went up across the street from his home.

When construction began, 32 pieces of heavy construction equipment "shook and vibrated my home as if we were sitting on a raft," he said.

Bacteria, manganese, toilet-plugging lime

Manzo says the vibrations and noise adversely affected the health of himself and members of his family, particularly his daughter.

He can't drink water from his well because of high levels of coliform bacteria.

The construction vibrations, he claims, released large amounts of manganese that turned the water black in his bathroom sink, bath tub and toilet.

He's been able to install filters to control the manganese, but there's no way to properly filter the lime that he says on at least one occasion has plugged his toilet.

A good drink of water

"I would sure like to have my well again like we always had and it would be nice for me and my family to open the tap at sinks and have a good drink of water out of my taps again."

"Please do not make the matters worse. Please, please, please," he implores Stockwell.