Logan Atkinson

Logan Atkinson, past president of Tantramar Heritage Trust, has called on the newly elected town council to help save the Wheaton Covered Bridge that has been closed for two years for safety reasons.

During council’s first regular meeting on Tuesday, Atkinson pointed to a resolution the previous council passed in January supporting the creation of a citizens’ committee to identify potential funding sources and to work on restoring the bridge so that it could be integrated into municipal trails and transportation routes.

“So far as I’m aware, no formal action has been taken to implement this resolution, so I’m asking council to direct staff to implement this resolution on an urgent basis,” he said during a five-minute presentation.

Atkinson noted that the provincial department of transportation and infrastructure (DTI) had been planning to build a new bridge nearby that could carry heavy farm equipment and emergency vehicles while preserving the existing 110-year-old covered bridge for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

He added, however, that the province has so far, not been able to acquire the necessary land and that soil testing at the preferred location appears to show that the ground is not up to the standards needed to support a new bridge.

Easy to knock bridge down

“So, they’re in a little bit of spot,” he said, adding it would be easy for DTI to knock the old bridge down and put a new one in its place.

“That would avoid any kind of environmental studies they’d have to do. They already own the ground. They know it would support the structure. And it’s a quick fix,” Atkinson said.

“I know that the farmers need that route and emergency services need it. So if I’m DTI, that’s what I’m looking at. And that’s why I’m really worried about it because we have to act right away if we’re going to save the old bridge,” he said.

Atkinson also told council that in the past, DTI has offered financial support to a community group equal to what it would cost to demolish an old bridge as a way of getting a renovation project started.

He said the community group would then raise the balance of the funds that would be needed.

“We have a casual estimate on the Wheaton Covered Bridge. not a formal estimate in writing, but a casual estimate from somebody who does know what they’re doing,” he said.

“They said that they think it would take probably a million dollars to bring it to a state where it could be used for recreational purposes. That’s a lot of money for this community, for anything. But I’m confident that if we put the right people in place, we could get it done.”

Hopeful signs

Town engineer Jon Eppell

Town engineer Jon Eppell said after Atkinson’s presentation that he has been discussing the bridge with DTI over the last several months.

“They are in fact working on a design for an alternate bridge structure,” he said.

Eppell added that he has been collecting information on the Wheaton Bridge including a structural assessment from 2017 and a report from 2024, just before it was closed.

“I am in discussions with a couple of consultants trying to collect information in order to bring an information report to Council hopefully later this month,” he said.

“It won’t have all the answers in it,” he added, but will hopefully give us a sense “of where we go with this.”

Deputy Mayor

At Tuesday’s meeting, council elected Josh Goguen as deputy mayor. He received six votes out of the nine votes cast: Councillors Greene, LeBlanc, Wells, Goguen, Hicks and Mayor Wiggins-Colwell.

Councillor Allison Butcher received two votes: Councillors Robertson and Butcher.

Councillor Tori Weldon received one vote: Councillor Weldon.