STEPHEN RICCIO
MUNICIPALITY OF PONTIAC April 13, 2021
The Municipality of Pontiac (MoP) held its monthly council meeting on April 13, hosting it virtually on Zoom. Mayor Joanne Labadie and each of the six councillors were in attendance for the meeting.
Chemin Tremblay funding
One of the municipality’s most significant projects for 2021 is the planned rehabilitation of chemin Tremblay, and on Tuesday the council passed a resolution to submit an application to the Local Road Assistance Program (PAVL) that could see up to 75 per cent of the $1 million project be reimbursed.
Councillor Scott McDonald questioned why this was coming up since the municipality had already gone out to tender for the road work, but Labadie explained that the program hadn’t opened up to applications until the beginning of April.
“We did this for Mountain Road as well,” Labadie explained after the meeting. “The contract had already been approved and granted, the borrowing bylaw had already been approved by municipal affairs and a project opened with the Ministry of Transport for grant funding. We applied for it and we received a little [more] than $1 million in grant to cover the cost for it.”
She said that the municipality tries to maximize any grant opportunities that become available, especially given the long list of road projects that need to be caught up on in the MoP.
“Many of the roads in our municipality haven’t been touched in years,” she said. “I inherited a 40 year infrastructure deficit, and these roads need to be repaired and brought up, and of course with new developments coming, we need to bring these up to a standard and the public want it.
The number one priority in a municipality is to maintain, in my view, the road network so that people have safe roads.”
Labadie said that work on Tremblay will get underway this summer.
Public works
After sending out a call to tenders for the spreading of dust suppressant on municipal roads, the council used the meeting to pass a resolution to take the lowest offer from Multi-Routes Inc. to purchase dust suppressant for $63,600. In addition, a contract worth $10,000 was awarded to Robert Erwin Transport for the spreading of water.
The council then discussed a resolution that called for the purchase of “a used mechanical shovel, with a capacity of 20 to 25 tons, from the supplier Ferme Mond-Voie at the advertised price of $72,500,” due to view by the public works department that it would be better for operating costs to have its own excavator.
Maxsom Draper asked if the municipality would still be needing its backhoe with this purchase.
Director General Pierre Said explained that it would still be needed but that the mechanical shovel would assist with other scenarios where the backhoe would not suffice.
McDonald asked if the machine had been inspected yet, and Labadie explained that a resolution first had to be passed before public works would go to inspect it. McDonald then voted against the resolution, though it still passed by majority.
Another resolution was introduced regarding the awarding of a contract for mowing and brushing along municipal roads. After going out to tender, it was determined that a contract worth $27,966 should be given to Les Fernes Renaud for the 354 km of total road-side work.
McDonald spoke out again to critique the fact that the municipality was once again awarding a contract for work that should be done by the municipality with its own equipment, including MoP purchased tractors and a bush hog. He said it was the third year in a row that he was pointing this out.
Labadie responded by explaining that while the municipality did have its own bush hog and tractors, the hiring of two additional full-time workers to carry out the mowing and brushing work would exceed the cost of the contract being awarded.
McDonald was the sole councillor to vote against the resolution, which passed.
The council then passed a resolution to purchase culverts from Marcil Baril Ltd. for $20,000.
The tender that was offered by the company that matched the MoP’s request was for $30,044.49, but the municipality’s culvert budget had only $20,000 available. Labadie explained during the meeting that the company would therefore be applying the same price per unit while adjusting the initial quantity that was required by the municipality, meaning the MoP would receive less culverts.
Miscellaneous
The council moved a resolution regarding an amount of $11,401.64 to be paid to the MRC des Collines for the transportation and disposal of residual materials dating back to 2019.
The tonnage report wasn’t sent to the municipality until February 2021, according to the resolution.
Draper Maxsom asked that the MRC let the MoP know within a year so that it could be budgeted for and not added after the fact, as was the case in this instance. Labadie said that she had raised the issue with the MRC, and that the point was well taken. Howard agreed with Draper Maxsom that the MRC needed to get this report to the municipality sooner.
Immediately following that resolution, the council passed one that will see chemin Smith Léonard be renamed chemin Smith Léonard East and chemin Smith Léonard West, due to the road being divided into two sections by a washout.
The reason for the renaming is that one section is only accessible through Hwy. 148 while the other is only accessible through chemin Townline via chemin de la Montagne, and because the separate names will now help emergency services avoid confusion and delays.
Concerned citizens were invited to vote on the issue, and the votes received were unanimously in favour of the name change according to the resolution.
The council passed a resolution concerning the implementation of the 2021 summer day camp that is regularly held by the municipality.
Through the resolution, the recreational and community life director was authorized to allocate funds to start the program while also beginning the process of seeking out applicants for the positions of camp coordinator, camp leader, camp animators and accompanying people for disabled children.
The registration fee for the day camp is set at $125 per child, per week.
