After a recent council decision to add two rural roads to its list for snow plowing, a city manager spoke out about the financial implications on Monday night at city hall.
On August 8, council passed a resolution to include Charland and Bertrand Roads, cottage roads near Kettle Lakes Provincial Park, as part of the city's winter maintenance responsibilities.
Director of Public Works and Engineering Luc Duval gave a brief opening statement.
"Through the presentation, you will see some of the constraints that exist out there" he said, turning the floor over to Public Works Manager Ken Krcel.
Krcel said he had visited the area to inspect and determine how much work will need to be done to bring the roads up to code for winter maintenance.
Some of the concerns include:
- Narrow roads
- Vertical banks close to road edge
- Lack of turn arounds
- Narrow creek crossing
- Maintenance standards
Charland Road actually has three legs to it, which Krcel said will present some challenges. Charland Road also wanders onto private property at certain points.
"That's going to be tricky, a little bit of a constraint, when plowing. We're going to have to ensure that we plow away from the driveways and make sure that we''re not trespassing, or getting too far onto private property " he said.
Bertrand Road, at points, is less than 3 metres wide, which is below minimum standards.
"It's very grown in. There's definitely going to need to be some tree removals in there. Basically the last 138 to 140 metres of roadway are very tight" said Krcel.
"It should be noted that both Charland and Bertrand are all way under the rural road 6 metre standard. There's no way that we'll ever be able to maintain these roads in their current condition."
His presentation included the estimated financial figures required to get both roads ready for winter.
The total bill was $65,000 dollars.
$20,000 of that is for 'clearing and grubbing' along Bertrand Road. Some sections of the road were dug out of the natural terrain and have vertical banks, which leave no room for a plow blade to rid itself of snow effectively.
"The snow storage is going to be one of our biggest constraints with the narrow roads" he said.
Krcel added that the city will likely have to put out a tender for a new piece of equipment to perform these duties. This would be a small pickup truck plow, or a tractor with a blower attachment.
"If we're going to plow these roads, we're going to make them slippery and icy, so I don't think we're going to have a choice. We're also going to have to sand these roads, just like our other roads" he added.
His concern for costs is compounded by the uncertain bill coming for the winter maintenance itself.
"I don't have an estimate for plowing costs at this time, as this is a unique type of plowing. We won't know until we see what the prices come in are like, if it will be closer to a parking lot type price or a road maintenance type price" he said.
"This is not to bring these roads up to the 6 metre standard. This is just the basics to make it so we can go in, go plow the roads, turn around, and come out, and make sure the roads are wide enough for regular vehicles and make the culverts safe" said Krcel.
Mayor Steve Black, noting the laborious length of Monday's council agenda, hoped to not have yet another debate on a decided issue.
This section of Bertrand Road was highlighted by Krcel as an area in need of widening."We've already debated rural roads, I can probably count a dozen times. The direction as of now, that council has voted on, is to proceed and get these roads ready for winter maintenance, and again, we won't know actual costs until the tender comes in" he said.
Instead of the city maintaining the roads, councillor Pat Bamford suggested residents in the area could receive a set dollar amount to cover their incurred costs for plowing.
"It would eliminate liability. It would eliminate all the administrative costs of getting a contract. It would eliminate the costs of upgrading the road" he said.
Black then reminded Bamford that council had already decided 5-4 in favour of moving ahead.
Bamford said that if one of the Councillors who voted in favour of it, wished to flip-flop, and put forth a notice of motion, the decision could potentially be reversed. Black granted his wish, and asked council if anyone wished to do so. Zero hands went up.
"Well, we'll live with the consequences then I guess" uttered Bamford.
Councillor Walter Wawrzaszek, a retired Public Works employee, had many rebuttals for Krcel. He felt like the work required to maintain the roads was 'no big deal'. He pointed out a few talking points, and actually cut himself off.
"I don't want to go on all night there, so I'll stop" he said.
Councillor Rick Dubeau didn't want to comment on the report itself, but rather the purpose of the discussion in the first place.
"I just want to ask why this has even come to council. We've got this huge agenda as it is, and this has already been decided on. I don't understand why this is even brought back here" he said.
Black said that city staff likely wanted direction to proceed with a tender for the work, as they felt it wasn't currently feasible, considering the current conditions of Charland and Bertrand Roads.
"It never should have been brought back here. Its just another 45 minutes we're talking on this" replied Dubeau.
"It's an informational piece for an item that wasn't in budget, that they're identifying what the costs will be before they proceed with the time, effort, and hours required to proceed with the tender" said Black.
Black told Krcel to proceed. Council will vote on the item at a meeting in the near future.
