Wellington County council has approved a tender for construction of a roundabout on Wellington Road 109 south of Harriston.
A roads committee recommendation to award the tender to W. Schwartz Construction of Chesley for $1,234,592 plus HST was approved at the April 28 council meeting. The tender was the lowest of five received, with the highest bid coming in at about $1.99 million.
The structure will be built at the intersection of Wellington Roads 109 and 5.
A tender for reconstruction of several roads in Drayton – Main Street West, King Street, Queen Street, Wortley Street and Market Street – and rehabilitation of the Main Street (Drayton) Bridge was awarded to Moorefield Excavating Ltd., Harriston, for $3,418,785. The tender was the lowest of two received, with the higher bid coming in around $3.9 million.
Recruiting aid offered
A presentation by Wellington County French immersion parent group representative Korb Whale was received for information at the county’s economic development committee meeting on April 19. Minutes presented at the April 20 county council meeting indicate CAO Scott Wilson was asked to discuss with the director of the Upper Grand District School Board whether the board requires the county’s assistance in recruiting French immersion teachers.
Parent representatives from northern Wellington County have been lobbying against some recommendations from a school board review of its French programs that the group feels would unfairly restrict access to the program, particularly at Palmerston Public School. One recommendation would only allow students to enter French immersion in junior kindergarten (not senior kindergarten or Grade one as is currently allowed), while another would cap new enrolment in Palmerston at 25.
At the April 28 meeting, Wilson reported the director is “quite willing to accept any help that we can give her in terms of recruiting French immersion teachers.”
“We’re already trying to find doctors and engineers – it’s all part of our mandate to do talent attraction,” said Warden George Bridge.
