CENTRE WELLINGTON – What’s holding up the roof? Well, township council for one.
At its Aug. 24 meeting, council found itself down a councillor, and that meant no one to break a tie vote.
Township staff had presented a report on the roof of the secondary digester at the Fergus Wastewater Treatment Plant with a recommendation to replace the floating roof.
Stephanie Rossi, asset management and capital project manager, told council the secondary digester was built in 1991 and in 2016 it was drained, and the interior coated in an effort to resolve leaking.
“Unfortunately, that didn’t resolve the problem. Gas pressure was escaping,” she said.
The township hired the engineering firm Jacobs to conduct a comprehensive review and recommend options to replace the roof.
Jacobs recommended Glover-Hill Inc., whose tender came in at $1.9 million.
Colin Baker, managing director of infrastructure services, said while the cost to replace the roof is high, the ongoing maintenance costs are low, making replacement a sound option.
“Lifecycle costs are a big thing,” Baker said.
Councillor Bob Foster felt the consultant’s report did not seriously explore a fixed-roof option – an option he said employees at the plant would prefer – and did not include the pros and cons of a fixed roof versus a floating roof or detailed costing.
He introduced a motion to defer the report back to staff to include these details. The motion failed in a 3-3 vote.
Upon questioning by Mayor Kelly Linton, Baker said with further delays, the township is at risk of non-compliance “and could receive a work order and be charged.”
“I’m disturbed by this conversation,” said councillor Stephan Kitras.
“All we’re asking for is more information… We need to defer this to get more information.”
Councillor Steven Van Leeuwen countered, “If we don’t trust staff and consultants, then we have a bigger question.”
Linton reminded Kitras that council had just voted against deferring the decision and couldn’t do so again.
In the end, council was left with a stalemate and the original motion to award the contract was defeated, with Kitras, Foster and councillor Kirk McElwain opposed, and Linton, Van Leeuwen and councillor Neil Dunsmore in favour.
Councillor Ian MacRae was absent.
