Wellington County will pay more to the town for handling winter maintenance on a section of Wellington Roads 2 and 3 and will also top up compensation for last year’s difficult winter.
At the Jan. 6 council meeting, Minto public works director Brian Hansen recommended council accept the county’s proposal to pay the town’s $6,400 per kilometre to look after 14.4 kilometres of road.
“This contract will cover the actual cost of maintenance. The 2014 budgeted revenue from the county of $83,520 in 2014 can be increased to $92,160 based on $6,400/km for the 2015 budget,” stated Hansen in his report, adding that to compensate for extra work during last year’s storm season, the county has offered to pay 30 per cent of last year’s rate which works out to $1,750, or an additional $25,200.
In a letter to town officials, county operations manager John Johnson advised the county would cover extra costs if the 2014-15 season also exceeds the proposed compensation.
Councillor Ron Elliott asked Hansen if the town could anticipate savings on it’s winter control budget due to lower gas prices and wondered if the budget could be lowered for that area of municipal operations.
Hanson noted savings could be anticipated, however Mayor George Bridge cautioned against betting on lower costs given the unpredictable nature of recent winters.
“So I think we wait and see. I wouldn’t want to start adjusting for gas costs yet,” said Bridge.
Council agreed with the recommendation to accept the county’s proposal.
