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The Citizen, 2010-02-25, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010. PAGE 15. Classified Advertisements Tenders Tenders Tenders Tenders Tenders MUNICIPALITY OF MORRIS-TURNBERRY GRAVEL TENDERS Sealed and clearly marked tenders are now being received for the purpose of: 1. Supplying, crushing, loading, hauling and spreading approximately 27,000 metric tonnes of Granular ‘M’ Gravel for the North Half of the Morris Ward in the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry. 2. a) Suppling, crushing, loading, hauling and spreading approximately 17,500 metric tonnes of Granular ‘M’ Gravel for the South Half of the Turnberry Ward in the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry. OR b) Crushing, loading, hauling and spreading approximately 17,500 metric tonnes of Granular ‘M’ Gravel for the South Half of the Turnberry Ward in the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry. 3. Crushing and stockpiling approximately 11,000 metric tonnes of Granular ‘M’ Gravel for the stockpile at the Woolcock Pit in the Turnberry Ward of the Municipality of Morris-Turnberry. This work is to be done between May 3 and June 18, 2010 to the satisfaction of the Director of Public Works. An alternative date must be approved by the Director of Public Works. Under any of the above tenders the contractor is responsible for the weighing of the material. The contractor is to be responsible for any rules and regulations, which may be applicable under the Pits and Quarries Act on supplied material. The contractor may be required to supply 3,500 metric tonnes per day. Crushed gravel will be sampled and tested and must meet Municipality specifications. The contractor is to tender on 1, 2 and 3 separately and each will be considered as an individual tender. The contractor must supply a WSIB Clearance Certificate and a Certificate of Insurance for $2,000,000.00, prior to commencement of the project. Apply to the undersigned for contract forms. Tenders must be received at the Clerk’s Office by 12:00 pm, Friday, March 12, 2010 and be accompanied by a certified cheque for 10% of the enclosed bid. Lowest or any tender, not necessarily accepted. For further information, please contact the undersigned. Mike Thomas, Director of Public Works Municipality of Morris-Turnberry 41342 Morris Road, RR 4, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0 Telephone: 519-887-6137 Fax: 519-887-6424 Email: morristurnberryroads@scsinternet.com TOWNSHIP OF NORTH HURON GRAVEL TENDERS Sealed Tenders properly marked will be received by the undersigned until 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9, 2010. 1. Crush and Stockpile 7,000 Metric Tonnes of Granular “M” Gravel in the Westfield Pit (East Wawanosh Ward). 2. Crush and Deliver 23,000 Metric tonnes of Granular “M” Gravel to Township Roads as directed. Contractor to supply and set up weigh scales. Tenders to be submitted on Township Forms obtained at the Municipal Office. Lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. Ralph Campbell, Director of Public Works, Township of North Huron, P.O. Box 90, Wingham, Ontario N0G 2W0 Telephone: 519-357-3550 Read Rhea Hamilton Seeger’s Gardening column on the Huron Home and Garden Guide section of our website www.northhuron.on.ca Morris-Turnberry council has asked its history book committee to prepare a plan on how the book will be ready for printing by the end of the year, and at a minimum cost to taxpayers. Jodi Jerome and Jenny Versteeg, co-editors of the book which will tell the history of both Morris and Turnberry wards, attended the Feb. 16 meeting after councillors had expressed concern at their Feb. 2 meeting over the growing expense of the project and its publication date. More than $100,000 has already been spent in researching and staff costs for the project with a further $60,000 in costs projected this year. Versteeg explained that there were fewer volunteers involved in researching this book than others she had been involved with and therefore more paid labour was required. The mammoth book, to be published in two volumes totalling 1,300 pages, is likely to cost more than $300,000 by the time research, editing and printing costs are totalled up, according to figures presented at the meeting by Nancy Michie, administrator clerk- treasurer. The municipality has received grants of $61,000 but it still leaves nearly $250,000 to be raised either from the price charged for the book or from a municipal contribution. Councillors expressed concerns that with only 1,260 households in the municipality it was unrealistic to expect more than 1,000-1,500 books sold, and far fewer than that if the price was more than $100. “When you get up to $300 or even $200, sure some people would buy it, but the normal person on the street won’t. It has to be less than $100,” said deputy-mayor Jim Nelemans. He questioned whether the book needs to be as thorough. “It’s great to have all this information but will people read it?” Councillor Paul Gowing said he had six siblings who had grown up in Morris ward and they might be interested in buying the book but only if it was reasonably priced. Councillor Mark Beaven pointed out that if the book sold for $100, and 1,000 copies were sold, the municipality would be on the hook for $100,000-$200,000. “I cannot continue spending,” he said. “If that means we have to pull the plug now, so be it. This is ridiculous to keep continuing down this road. This is a white elephant waiting to explode.” It became obvious that councillors had various ideas on whether taxpayer money would help pay for the production of the history. While Beaven seemed to expect sales of the book to pay for the costs, some councillors said they’d expected all along that the municipality would be paying part of the costs. “I had figured the township would come up with $100,000,” said mayor Dorothy Kelly. Kelly was concerned about the timing of publication, saying she had understood the book would be ready for sale this coming Christmas. “We thought we were preparing a book for 2011” said Versteeg. Jerome explained that the committee and editors had been working toward an April 2011 launch, with promotion in time for people to pre-buy the book this Christmas, raising money to help with printing costs. “We can knock off a book by Christmas but it would look like the old Morris (history) book,” she said. Nelemans explained that councillors had wanted the project completed during their term of office which ends this fall, because they didn’t want to saddle a new council with the costs. Committee member Donna Nicholson defended the project. “We took our instructions from what you wanted,” she said. Council had taken the West Wawanosh history book as a model, with histories of every lot, but that took eight years to complete and it only involved one township. The Morris- Turnberry book would include two former townships. “I don’t think it’s ever been done,” she said. “You guys should have known the time we were given wasn’t enough.” As well, she said, the committee didn’t have as much volunteer help as other projects, particularly from Morris ward. Nicholson said she was fed up with the criticism. “In some ways you guys had better take some responsibility,” she said. Councillor Lynn Hoy agreed. “I think the council has asked for something and we’ve go it,” he said. “I think it’s a slap in the face to these people to shut it down now.” Councillor Bill Thompson agreed that the project can’t be stopped now but that the costs had to be controlled somehow. In the end, council passed a motion to ask the committee, which is to meet in early March, to come up with a plan to sell the book at $100 and find ways to reduce the cost. Council agreed with a proposal of the committee to request proposals from various printers for the actual printing of the book, but at the urging of Beaven, agreed to cast as wide a net as possible in seeking competitive bids. Morris-Turnberry concerned over history book costs, timing Belgrave water issues debated Who should pay for the additional interest costs for financing of the Belgrave water system was debated at the Feb. 16 meeting, Morris- Turnberry council. At a public meeting in Belgrave in June, 2008, council had told residents it would cover the cost of financing the project until the grants were received. But in 2008 North Huron asked for arbitration on the issue of what proportion the costs of the water treatment system each municipality should pay. The original agreement split costs one- third to North Huron and two-thirds to Morris-Turnberry, but North Huron’s lawyer argued that the number of households served in Morris-Turnberry had increased since the original calculation. Continued delays in the arbitration process have meant that Morris- Turnberry has not been able to send out bills to homeowners for the work and still owes $500,000 to the CIBC which has said it either wants to be repaid or have a repayment plan set up. Additional interest costs up to January 2009 were $27,110. Councillors were split on the point of who should pay for the additional financing charges. “We led the people to believe it (financing costs) would be picked up,” said mayor Dorothy Kelly. “We didn’t know it was going to take this long,” said councillor Bill Thompson. Councillor Paul Gowing pointed out that the homeowners in Belgrave have used the system for more than a year without paying for it and have been getting value for any extra money they may have to pay if they are charged the extra financing costs. Thompson agreed, saying people have had the use of their money while they have been receiving service from the water system. Councillor Mark Beaven’s position has been that the water system should be user-pay and that the taxpayers in the rest of the municipality should not have to pick up the tab for any costs. With the hope that the arbitration hearing would soon be held, (Morris-Turnberry has written to North Huron to ask that the matter be cleared up by the end of March) council came to no decision on the financing issue. Meanwhile Laurie Cox and Don Scott from Veolia Water Canada, which operates the Belgrave water treatment plant, gave a presentation as part of the Drinking Water Quality Management System operation plan for the plant. Cox explains that under the plan, 21 quality control elements are monitored with an audit to verify that all elements are covered. Councillors were concerned that operators were not always notified by the Ministry of Environment about changes to regulations so that Cox could only declare that he had met government requirements to the best of his knowledge.