BARRHEAD - The County of Barrhead is tentatively proceeding with three major road construction projects in 2020 worth approximately $1.303 million.
Councillors passed a motion during their Feb. 18 meeting to proceed with the three: a three-mile road construction project along Township Road 602; the replacement of a culvert along Township Road 480; and the building of two miles of road along Range Road 22 to a base standard that will allow it to be paved.
Public works manager Travis Wierenga said the county’s annual road construction program typically involves five to seven miles of roadway each year. However, councillors had not yet approved the 2020 road construction program due to ongoing budget deliberations.
He then discussed the three projects that were being considered for this year, the first being the Tiger Lily West project along Township Road 602, which was estimated to cost $519,445.
Wierenga said this was a carry-forward from 2019, as they weren’t able to complete it due to poor weather.
Next up was the McKeand Culvert project along Township Road 580, which would cost an estimated $141,154. Wierenga noted that road was close to the Pembina River and the culvert there had failed, causing a huge amount of water to build up and flood nearby farmland.
“It’s a large fill. I would say it’s pretty comparable to the Misty Ridge job we did last year, so it’s a major project,” he said. “It does have to be done before there are bigger problems there.”
Finally, there was the Dunstable South project along Range Road 22, which was the first part of a three-part project.
Wierenga said the plan was to build two miles of road this year and then another two miles of road in 2021 in preparation for a four-mile paving project to be carried out in 2023.
The first two phases of this three part-project would cost $642,635 and $680,000 respectively. Wierenga noted the costs were higher than normal because the project would require engineering, as well as some wetlands assessment and compensation.
The paving would then require somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2.7 million to complete, bringing the total cost to just over $4 million.
Wierenga noted there would be some damage to nearby crops with that project, but they would be able to work mostly within the right-of-way.
As for how the county would fund the project, Wierenga said Basic Municipal Gas Tax Funds under the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) have been approved to help subsidize the project.
While the rebuilding and paving of Range Road 22 had been on the county’s books for some time, Wierenga mentioned to council that the municipality is currently working on an Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) with Lac Ste. Anne County that will involve a discussion around future growth and development that would impact the road network in that area.
Noting they had recently acquired traffic counters that could be used to inform decisions on road construction, he suggested that county council could hold off on the Range Road 22 project until that IDP was finished.
Coun. Marvin Schatz asked what would happen if they opted not to go ahead with the rebuilding of two miles along Range Road 22 this year.
Oyarzun indicated the IDP had to be completed by April 1, 2021, and they would definitely have a good understanding of the road network by that point.
Schatz also asked if Range Road 22 would need to be oiled again if they delayed the rebuilding. Wierenga indicated they would recommend that oiling occur if that were the case.
Coun. Darrell Troock said he wouldn’t recommend oiling that road again, and indicated he was in favour of proceeding with the project, noting that there is a lot of traffic along that road.
“We’re going to have to do something with it. There’s just too many vehicles (going down it in the summertime), and the count will prove that, I’m sure,” he said.
Reeve Doug Drozd indicated he was hesitant to sign off on the project in case something happened with MSI this year, noting the county is already grappling with a revenue shortfall.
Troock acknowledged the argument but pointed out there was already money committed to the project, as it had been on the county’s radar for some time.
Coun. Walter Preugschas, who was also in favour of proceeding with the project, asked how the county would meet its target of rebuilding five to seven miles of road if this project wasn’t chosen.Wierenga in turn suggested he would have to return to council fairly quickly with a new recommendation.
However, Schatz maintained that there might be a chance of getting Lac Ste. Anne County to chip in for the Range Road 22 re-construction if they had road counts and an IDP in place.
“Once we get it started, then they’re going to say, ‘Well you’re going to do it anyway,’” he said.
Coun. Dennis Nanninga said it would be interesting to have data from the road count but he was honestly not expecting Lac Ste. Anne to help out.
He pointed out that while the county is struggling with the loss of revenue from taxes owed by energy companies, they still have to manage the road system in an appropriate way.
In the end, council voted on a motion to proceed with the Tiger Lily West projects and the Mckeand Culvert projects, but not the Dunstable South project. It was defeated 4-3.
They then voted 6-1 on a second motion to proceed with all three projects. Schatz was the only councilor to vote in opposition.
New grader
Council also voted to rescind an earlier motion to purchase a new 2020 Caterpillar 150 AWD grader at a cost of $246,906.
Administration made the recommendation to council to rescind that motion because they were made aware of a 2019 Caterpillar 140 M3 that could be purchased for $226,906.
Both units were roughly the same size and had the same specifications, as well as the same five-year warranty and buy back option. Oyarzun indicated the only major difference was that the slightly older model was about $20,000 cheaper.
Council then passed a motion to buy the 2019 grader.
Kevin Berger, TownandCountryToday.com
