ANYONE who has ever been inside one of St. George’s historic buildings along York Street can attest to the fact that the floor vibrates whenever a large truck passes by.

Residents and businesses are concerned at the impact removing rubble from the soon to be demolished Club Med might have on their historic town’s infrastructure.

Premier Ewart Brown announced earlier this week that construction on the five-star St. Regis hotel at the former Club Med site would begin this year and plans were afoot to have the current buildings “levelled”.

However, residents are asking how Government plans to transport the rubble from the construction site to the airport landfill through the narrow streets of St. George’s, and what impact this will have on the roads and buildings, many dating back to the early 1700s.

York Street is the only access road in and out of St. George’s and two years ago former St. George’s Mayor E. Michael Jones suggested the rubble be removed by water with the aid of barges.

This suggestion was made again this week by Senator Kim Swan, who is convinced that Government has not given a second thought to the removal issue.

“The town of St. George’s has a fragile infrastructure with many historic buildings, with preservation orders, that could be put in jeopardy,” he warned.

Sen. Swan said anyone visiting or living in St. George’s could verify the pot-holed state of the town’s roads and warned that large trucks would only make the situation worse, not to mention the possible traffic congestion.

In the same breath, Sen. Swan questioned whether or not the current sewage system would be upgraded. He said raw sewage was currently pumped out to sea, something which residents agree could not continue in this day and age.

Sen. Swan suggested a tertiary system in which fresh water is produced after treatment - a system the Corporation of St. George’s was apparently considering two years ago.

However, he noted that the tertiary system is expensive and something that would need to be considered in the next budget.

The Corporation currently provides salt water for flushing to about 70 households and this water is returned to the sewage system to be pumped out to sea.

There is also the question of drinking water with water piped to at least half the homes in St. George’s, while others depend on water truckers.

“Each year we face a drought which makes things worse,” he said, adding that cruise ships and a future hotel would put additional strain on the town’s water needs

Sen. Swan said a three- to five-year plan was needed and suggested St. George’s be the pilot study for the rest of the island as far as infrastructure issues being addressed.

“We need to create a more modernised solution for future generations,” he said, adding that St. George’s needed the economic infusion the hotel would bring, but it was equally important to get these issues out of the way first.

St. George’s Mayor Mariea Caisey was off the island yesterday and Town Manager Louise DeSilva declined to comment on the issue.