Charles Armstrong, a Russell resident who’s been in the municipality since 1991, has tossed his name for the upcoming Township of Russell 2024 municipal by-election.
Having worked for the Armed Forces for 37 years and retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2011, Armstrong believes his military career as an engineer as well as his project management experience will be what it takes to make him a good candidate for councillor of Russell.
“I have been following Council quite a bit since I retired (…) So I’m quite knowledgeable about township affairs, the business of Council, and also in the administration of the municipality, of how things have been going on the municipality. I’ve been wondering mostly about more technical issues, but everything revolves around the Official Plan.”
Armstrong believes that the key element to his candidacy.
“I think that the current councillors came in with ‘let’s get the Recreation Complex done’. They’ve signed the contract. It’s being built. There’s construction going on there today on the site. So that’s done. But there was very little else beyond that. This is where we have to look at now,” he said.
Armstrong acknowledges that although it’s a midterm, he wants to revise the Official Plan.
“That’s a legally mandated process in the Planning Act, and that we cannot delay. That’s going to be done in the very short term. So, it’s now time to influence the old Council.”
If elected as councillor, Armstrong’s priorities are to help with affordable housing, with the issue of water and sewer capacity, and the transportation system – in other words, trucks travelling through Embrun and Russell.
Armstrong acknowledges that affordable housing is not the municipality’s priority as it is under the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR).
“But that doesn’t mean we don’t have anything that we can’t do. We can influence things, because, of course, our council talks to Mayor Tarnowski, which is our council representative on the County’s council,” he adds.
Concerning the issue of the water and sewer capacity, Armstrong said its probably the biggest and most expensive issue he’s looking to tackle. He refers to the Water & Wastewater Master Plan Update published May 8, 2024, as the cost about $19 million for the two sewage lagoons for the next less than 10 years.
The last priority, but the one which worries Armstrong the most, is the trucks travelling through the villages.
“It’s unfortunate right now, but you’ll notice, especially in Russell, all of the available truck routes travel through the village of Russell. That means that we’ve got the five schools that have all of these students mixed with heavy trucks making those turns through the village of Russell,” said Armstrong.
It’s something he plans to look at carefully as he feels the village must do more to ensure the safety of students and other.
Election Day is Sept. 30. Voters can vote online or by phone anytime starting Sept. 26 at 9 a.m. until Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. All election information can be found on the Russell Township website.
