Woman slips near Goulais Ave. water fountain. Now, city legal staff want to cap it (updated)

Update: Monday, Oct. 24, 6:25 p.m.

City Councillors voted unanimously tonight to close and cap the Goulais Avenue water fountain, after City Solicitor Nuala Kenny advised them that they could be personally liable if someone became ill after drinking water from the well.

Kenny also said that a use-at-your-own-risk sign wouldn't protect the city in slip-and-fall accidents. "Although it might be an unpopular decision, I certainly think it's the right one," said Mayor Christian Provenzano.

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Original story: Friday, Oct. 21, 4 p.m.

Eighty-two years after Carmen Scarfone dug his well at the corner of Second Line and Goulais Avenue, Sault Ste. Marie City Council will decide Monday whether to stop people from drawing free water there.

Adam Shier, risk manager in the city's legal department, wants the popular community drinking fountain capped and closed to the public permanently, or at the very least from November 1 to May 15.

Two days before Christmas three years ago, a woman slipped on an ice buildup as she was trying to draw water from the stone structure.

She was injured by the fall and it cost $6,000 for the city and PUC to settle her claim.

PUC maintains the fountain, which is owned by the city and is on municipal property.

"The icy conditions in the winter mark the fountain as a definite hazard for individuals and a decided liability for the city," Shier says in a report to Mayor Provenzano and city councillors.

Shier also worries about the risk of the water getting cross-contaminated when residents cart it away in their own containers.

"The Safe Drinking Water Act requires owners of water systems to ensure that water meets the provincially established safety standards. In the case of the fountain, PUC does not warrant potability of the water, as evidenced by the signage on site."

Carmen Scarfone had an 80-acre farm and his well, dug in 1934, was a popular source of spring water for area residents for many years.

The fountain's stone foundation was built in 1958 by Harold and George Elliott to serve customers at their service station.

Shier says that some people believe water from the Goulais Avenue fountain is purer than city water, but the fountain has actually been connected to the city's water system since 1968.

In 2002, city workers outraged local residents when they demolished the Tridico family's water fountain, located near the former Lamming Public School on Third Line just west of Allen's Side Road.

Monday's City Council meeting will be livestreamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.