HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-05-10, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2007. PAGE 19.
Huron East council approved
$2,810,750.46 in accounts payable
at the May 1 meeting.
***
The Seaforth pumper committee
has met to finalize the specifications
for the new pumper. They have
established a deadline for the return
of all proposals by June 8.
This comes as the result of a
request by council for a specific
estimate for the new fire pumper,
which was highly debated earlier
this year.
***
Huron East passed a motion to
hike the rate of replacement blue
boxes provided by the municipality
from $6 each to $8 each.
***
As requested by the brain injury
association of London and Region
and Dale Brain Injury Services,
Huron East has proclaimed June to
be Brain Injury Awareness Month.
Both associations have several
conferences, campaigns and events
planned for June.
***
Huron East council supported an
act that would erect a memorial wall
to honour Canada’s fallen soldiers
and peacekeepers.
More information on this act is
available at www.memorialwall.ca
The engineer of a controversial
drain project met with Morris-
Turnberry council, May 1.
Andy McBride of RJ Burnside
and Associates had been invited to
the council to explain the unusually
high engineering costs of the repairs
for the Gregory Drain and Gregory,
Fischer Pringle Drain in Turnberry
ward, just north of Wingham.
The issue had come to a head at
the April 17 meeting when George
and Nelson Underwood of George
Underwood Farms, RR1, Wingham
questioned the fact administrative
costs of $91,500 (including the
engineering costs) were nearly
double the $46,000 construction
costs of the project.
McBride explained that the
original reports for the two drains
were 32 and 27 years old,
respectively, and that since he had
been requested to create a new
assessment schedule and there had
been so many changes in ownership
and severences of property, there
was a lot of additional work
involved. He noted there are a total
of 70 property owners, 1,360 acres
and 12 roads involved in the project.
Preparing the assessment schedule
made up 30 per cent of theadministrative costs, he said whiledesign and cost estimates made up
only 22 per cent.
“The assessment schedule will be
massive,” he said.
He noted that some small
properties might have land draining
into three or four of the branches of
the drains in the area and this all had
to be calculated.
McBride said he felt the design
solution, which included relocation
of an open ditch onto the former
railway line which is township
property, “is quite cost effective. I
think it will relieve flooding of the
area, though it won’t go away.”
“There is significantly more
engineering involved than normal
for a project of this size,” he said.
Because there are so many
landowners involved, the costs of
printing and distributing the final
report were also higher than normal,
he said.
But councillor Mark Beaven
argued that even leaving out the cost
for reassessment, the capital costs
were still high for the size of the
project. He said he was also
concerned that it had taken nearly
five years from the time the
landowners petitioned for the
repairs until the engineer provided
the report, as well as the fact therehad been a change in staff along theway. He wondered how these
circumstances had affected the bill.
McBride said he had charged up
much of the work of his new
assistant toward staff training costs,
rather than to the project.
Beaven said he could understand
higher administrative costs because
of the complexity of the project but
he was shocked by how much higher
it was.
McBride promised to go back and
look at the billing again. It’s
possible that since the project was
worked on a little bit at a time over
a long period instead of a lot in a
short bit of a time, time might not
have been used most efficiently. He
said he would discuss the matter
with his superiors.
George Underwood said the high
engineering costs might not have
been such a shock if McBride had
warned people at the beginning
about how complicated the situation
was.
“Maybe in the future you’re going
to have to warn people ‘this is going
to be an expensive job’,” said
Underwood, arguing that you don’t
take your car in for a minor repair
and have someone hand you a huge
bill without an estimate.
HE council briefs
Council
pays
the bills
Correction
Morris-Turnberry councilmeets drain’s engineer
They’re rockin’
Paige Bull, left, and Kyra Campbell were rocking with
‘Robin’ as Johnny Borton of Listowel entertained the
children during the recent community night May 3, at
Brussels Public School. Parents were listening to guest
speaker Gerry Wilson’s topic Building Strong Family
Relationships while the kids were entertained in the gym.
The evening was made possible through a grant from the
Ministry of Education’s parent engagement fund. The
purpose is to involve parents in their children’s school.
(Bonnie Gropp photo)
There was an error in the front
page story of Rob Morley’s win as
the Progressive Conservative
candidate, in last week’s Citizen.
It should have read that Morley
was endorsed by former Judge Jim
Donnelly, of Huron County, and
Patricia Morley, of the Bruce Grey
Catholic School Board.
Imagine you had a
sales staff calling on
2000 homes a week
That’s what you get when you advertise in The
Citizen. Every week your message, whether a tiny
classified, or a full page ad, goes to more than 2000
homes in North Huron...and unlike many
salespeople, we’re welcomed inside. What’s more,
we’re often asked to stick around for a whole week.
If you’re not taking advantage of this opportunity to
tell people about your business call today.
Put your sales staff to work for you.
Call 523-4792 or 887-9114
The Citizen
By Keith RoulstonThe Citizen