council group pictureThe price of winter maintenance contracts will be touched upon tonight during city council.

Tipping fees for contaminated soil will also be discussed.

Follow our live blog for all the details, starting at 6:00pm.

(Keep refreshing the page as the night goes along for updates!)

Rinaldo is sitting in as Deputy Mayor with Black not present.  Also not present is Grzela.

After going through some technical stuff with adding a report on new hires to the city, we start with a temporary use agreement.

This is for a property on Laforest Road, just off Highway 655.

The owners would like to add an additional residence on the property to house immediate family members (Claude and Paulette Gauthier).

The story goes back to a previous council meeting, where council addressed issues of wells on the property.

Wells are regulated by the Health Unit.

This will come back later this month.

———————-

Luc Duval now up in response to last week’s presentation with JP Legault on contaminated waste.

Duval says he agrees there are opportunities in Sudbury to dispose waste at a cheaper rate, but it’s to a private property, not a municipal-owned property.

He adds there is a privately owned facility in Timmins, which is mainly used by construction companies.

The current rate is $75/tonne at the Deloro Landfill, and Duval recommends keeping the price the same.

He says this rate is for all waste, contaminated or not.

North Bay sits at $20/tonne, but Duval points out their city council is looking at that rate.

——————–

We move on to the winter maintenance contracts.

The issue at hand is that there is a high cost increase by Miller Paving Inc, which would put the cost to do maintenance in the east end at $267/hr, which is about 59% more than last year.

Duval says he’s had meetings with Miller recently, and points out the cost is from 13 different entries including wages, equipment, fuel, backup, etc.

Read the whole breakdown HERE.

Duval recommends the rate, but suggests coming back to council this time next year to address the second year of the contract.

This is all to cover around 90km of road in the Municipal Road area, as well as Frederickhouse Lake Road and cottage roads.

Wawrzaszek isn’t a fan of the proposed contract.

“If my father in law were here, he’d say nobody is worth $267 an hour,” he said.

Council also bringing up the core services review, where winter maintenance costs was at the top of the list to review.

Campbell is hoping this doesn’t happen again, suggesting the city should find a way to do the work themselves instead of outsourcing the work to companies.

Bamford says with how late it is, the city may have to bite the bullet, and learn from this situation.

Marks says he’s very disappointed, asking where this goes if the contract is voting down.

Duval says the work will get done nonetheless, but the cost is unpredictable at this time as the burden will fall on city workers.

Duval says he doesn’t know what else to say, as only one bidder came about after putting this contract out last February.

Campbell raising questions of why other options weren’t explored if Duval knew bids weren’t coming in.

Plenty of frustration around the council table overall.

This will come back in the by-laws.

———————-

Before the by-laws, we go to Duval with the purchase of a heavy duty truck for Public Works.

It’s coming from a dealership in Barrie, at a cost of $54,577 + HST.

Local bids came from Guay’s Garage ($56,358 +HST) and Jack Findlay Motors ($81,909 +HST).

——————-

BY-LAW TIME!

Deeming by-law for Rainville Health is approved.

To the Debenture agreement with Infrastructure Ontario.  Bamford asks if they can go from a 25-year contract to a 20-year contract.

It is approved, with Wawrzaszek voting against it.

Now to the vote for the agreement with Miller Paving for the winter maintenance contract.

Doody, Dubeau, Bamford and Marks vote in favour, while Campbell and Wawrzaszek votes against it.

It is passed.

Sale of public land at 84 Dunn Avenue is passed.

Sale of public land at Bristol Road is passed.

Stop up, close and sell a laneway at 331 Belleview is passed.

Amending traffic by-laws is next.

Bamford says passing this by-law is necessary for legal reasons, so the city can have their ducks in a row when someone fights a parking ticket.

It’s passed.

Agreement with Barrie Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Ltd to purchase a heavy duty truck for Public Works is passed.

———————-

To other matters, and Dubeau is up on rural roads.

He asks or Duval to come forward.

Dubeau says he and Wawrzaszek travelled the roads in question in May, so Dubeau could get more educated on the subject.

This has to do with the level of service being provided on the roads, more so Charland and Bertrand Road, an issue that was brought up in February.

Duval says he’s been working on an internal memo to council, which is in draft form at the moment.

He says the city has not accepted new rural roads for the purpose of accepting winter maintenance in the time he’s been with the city.

Duval says if classified by the city, they would be Class 6 roads, where less than 50 trips are made on it per day.

The roads in question are privately owned.

After a couple more questions, Torlone steps in and says the line of questioning is inappropriate.

He says this report should be part of the budget process, on the winter maintenance.

Dubeau says this report is long overdue, adding he’s sent many emails on the subject but never got a reply.

Rinaldo asks if this could be voted on during the next Committee of the Whole meeting.

Plenty of discussion around the table on this issue.

———————-

Dubeau is on for the second matter, which is on hiring policies.

He chooses to defer it.

and COUNCIL IS ADJOURNED!