Dysart et al has extended its road resurfacing contract with Miller Paving Ltd. for another year, with public works director Rob Camelon saying the deal represents good value in 2022. Miller committed to completing work next year for the same rate it charged in 2021.
All in, the municipality has budgeted just over $1.5 million for road resurfacing projects in 2022. “I do think it’s a good idea to extend on our side, just given what costs are doing as of late.
If we do back out, I’m pretty confident we will see increased costs on this,” Camelon told council.
He said there were some issues with work Miller completed last year, mostly surrounding how long the company took to resurface roads once they’d been pulverized. Part of the new agreement includes defined timelines outlining how long each specific road project should take to complete.
There are 40 roads set to be treated in 2022, with the most notable being a 2.4 kilometre stretch of Watts Road, which will be getting ditching and base improvements, pulverizing and double surface treatment; a 1.4 km piece of Boomerang Road and 1.1 km of Fred Jones Road, which will both receive the same scope of work. In terms of re-graveling, Moose Lake Road (2.4 km), Cranberry Lake Road (2.1 km), Precipice Road (1.5 km), Pine Point Road (1.4 km), and Klondike Road (1km) will all see attention in 2022. Paradise Cove (0.8 km), Packard Road (0.5 km), Ella Court (0.4 km) and Outlet Bay Road (0.3 km) will receive double surface treatment overlay.
Camelon noted almost all of the projects included on this year’s list were identified through the new DOT software the municipality started using in 2020. “The only ones we had to identify ourselves were Boomerang, Winkler, and Eastview [roads].
Those projects were all postponed last year, so we brought them back,” Camelon said. “The software came up with the rest. It’s working quite well.” Municipal action Ward 4 Coun. John Smith called on council to take action against a private landowner that has built a dirt bike track on public land near Kennisis Lake.
The land, referred to as the Soap Pond lands, is in the process of being transferred to the Kennisis Lake Cottage Owners’ Association. Prior to that transfer, the group requested that Dysart investigate what they believe to be a violation of the municipality’s encroachment bylaw. “I have walked these lands myself.
A bulldozer has been in there and created a trail that’s probably eight feet wide and hundreds of metres long. This is a property that is still owned by Dysart. It seems like a violation,” Smith said. The land transfer has been on the table since February, with township staff seemingly eager to close the file.
CAO Tamara Wilbee suggested council could sign off on the agreement and leave the lake association to deal with the trespassing. Smith felt that would be a cop-out. “I don’t think the municipality has a role when a dispute occurs between two private landowners,” he said.
“Once the transfer takes place, it will be up to the lake association to police activities on the land … Would it not be appropriate given our encroachment bylaw, to actually have a penalty or demand some restoration for the damage that has taken place?”
Mayor Andrea Roberts said she didn’t see any harm in having the municipality’s bylaw officer investigate in the new year. Council signed off on the land transfer, with the proviso that township staff follow up on the file and take appropriate action against the offender.
