MUNICIPALITY of CENTRE HASTINGS PUBLIC WORKS REPORT April. 2005 COMPLETED • P.W. staff completed removal of winter snow plow equipment from all trucks and road grader. • Repairs to Truck 8-04 – structural failure of sander box apron chain housing. • Installation of new bristle segments on John Deere power sweeper. • Truck 8-10 retro fitted with air line and switch control to accommodate a water tank and valve for use in dust control and road grading operations. • P.W. staff completed removal of old railway tie border from Lawn Bowling Centre. • P.W. crews completed removal of heavy winter sand build-up on village streets in advance of contracted power sweeper. • Two new streetlights have been installed on the right-of-way from Whytock St. to swimming pool. • P.W. crews completed installation of water and sewer services to site of new canteen to be constructed at skate board park. ONGOING • Brushing Program – road side clearing of brush for day lighting of intersections and road signs. • Pothole maintenance on both gravel (grader) and hard surfaced roads (cold patch). Warm dry weather conditions during the first half of April have allowed PW crews an opportunity to apply some maintenance gravel and complete a 2 nd full grading of a large percentage of these roads. Grader and crews will be out every day in an ongoing effort to improve and restore road conditions as road beds continue to dry. • Maintenance and repair of water meters and remote read-out units on going. • Volvo Loader – PW Supt. continuing to gather information regarding replacement costs and options for this equipment. • Contracted power vacu-sweeper has begun removal of winter sand from village streets. This will continue until completion. FUTURE • Fuller and Clearview Roads – surface treatment (tar and chip) scheduled for summer 2005. • Preparation of Slab St.E. will commence in May 2005 with surface treatment scheduled for 2006. • Finalize Health and Safety policy documents for adoption by Council. • Develop program for the replacement an upgrade of old or damaged road signs. Review current regulations with regards to addition of new signage if required. • Continue systematic mechanical brushing of rural roads as prioritized and as budget will allow. • McKenzie St. – install 5 or 6 future water and sewer services for lots east of Fredrick St. • P.W. crews to construct a walking path along the right-of-way between Whytock St. and swimming pool as directed by council. ISSUES & COMMENTS • Load restrictions for Municipal Roads have been in effect since Mar. 01/05 • Congratulations to Fred Rivers on receiving his Class 1 Water Distribution License. • P.W. Foreman Tom Piszczek attended a prep. course and wrote his Level II Water Distribution exam. (April 18-22 Belleville). • Unit 8-02 grader broke down for approx. 4 days waiting for parts. Hired contract grader for road maintenance. • Madoc Twp. resident has requested relief from fees charged for garbage pick-up in return for allowing Munc. garbage truck and recycle truck use of his driveway for turnaround. Details to be provided by Treasurer. • P.W. Supt. and Supv. will attend OGRA road School at the University of Guelph. 3 day course is for certification under the Ontario Road Superintendents Program. • P.W. Dept. would like to advise council of the potential impact that repairs of the significant frost heave damage to Lahey, Centre, and Old Marmora Rds. will have on the yet to be adopted 2005 Roads Budget. • At the request of Council a general roads tour was organized and scheduled for early April. All observations and information gathered will be used in assisting with the updating and implementation of future Municipal Roads Plans and general maintenance practices. Note: As discussed and recommended by PW Supt., several rural roads are in need of an application of crushed gravel to facilitate proper maintenance during the year. It is suggested a structured 2-3 year program by developed and implemented to bring identified roads up to standard. This plan will have to be recognized through the budgeting process. • Spring season is a very busy time for the Public Works Dept. Many projects are scheduled and staff try their utmost to prioritize each project based on urgency, availability of man power and budgetary constraints. The traveling public in asked to be cautious and patient when traveling Municipal roadways, especially during the spring season. • COMRIF Program – It appears The Municipality of Centre Hastings did not have the submitted projects accepted in the first draw. MUNICIPALITY of CENTRE HASTINGS PUBLIC WORKS REPORT Mar. 2005 COMPLETED • P.W. staff remained busy responding to several winter weather events. In order to extent winter sand inventories, PW Supt. made arrangements to borrow 15 loads of sand from Twp. of Stirling Rawdon rather than incur high trucking costs due to spring load restrictions from contractor source. • Repair and service to all snow fighting equipment after each snow/freezing rain event. • Advertisement and interviews for full time temporary operator position has now been completed. See comments below. • PW Supt. arranged with representatives from The Municipal Health and Safety Association to hold a joint meeting with the Health and Safety Committees from Centre Hastings and Stirling Rawdon to discuss duties and responsibilities and inspections and reporting. • P.W. Staff participated in a general health and safety meeting Mar.24/05. • Municipal Water and Sewer System: - see Water Distribution Report attached. ONGOING • Seasonal inspection and clearing of road drainage and cross culvert blockages due to freeze up. • Brushing Program – road side clearing of brush for day lighting of intersections and road signs. • Pothole maintenance on both gravel (grader) and hard surfaced roads (cold patch). Mild temperatures for the last part of March have thawed the surface of most gravel roads, allowing PW crews an opportunity to apply gravel and fully grade a large percentage of these roads. Grader and crews will be out every day in an ongoing effort to improve and restore road conditions. Note: - extreme weather variances of wet mild temperatures cycled with cold freezing temperatures, have contributed to severe degradation of many Municipal road surfaces, resulting in high maintenance costs. • Maintenance and repair of water meters and remote read-out units on going. • Volvo Loader – PW Supt. continuing to gather information regarding replacement costs and options for this equipment. FUTURE • Fuller and Clearview Roads – surface treatment (tar and chip) scheduled for summer 2005. • Preparation of Slab Rd.E. to commence in May 2005 with surface treatment scheduled for 2006. • Development of Salt Management Plan for submission to OGRA and appropriate Ministries. Draft plan almost completed. Ministry to be advised of same by PW Supt. • Finalize Health and Safety policy documents for adoption by Council. • Develop program for the replacement an upgrade of old or damaged road signs. Review current regulations with regards to addition of new signage if required. • Continue systematic mechanical brushing of rural roads as prioritized and as budget will allow. ISSUES & COMMENTS • PW Supt. has entered into ongoing discussions with waste management and collection contractors, with a focus on developing cost savings in this area. • Load restrictions for Municipal Roads have been in effect since Mar. 01/05 • Advertising for a temporary full time operator for Public Works Dept. closed on Feb. 18/05 with 12 applications received. All applications were reviewed by administrative staff and short listed to five applicants. Interviews of the five were scheduled for Mar.22/05, with four applicants attending and one no-show. As a result of the interview and selection process, Tony Broek will be offered the operator position, with a start date of Apr.04/05. • Unit 8-04 – due to a failure in the support structure of dump box, this unit will need to be taken out of service as soon as time will allow for repairs. Hopefully this can be done locally with out sending unit to Kingston. • As mentioned above, the unusual frequency of freezing rain events this winter season has had a significant impact on winter control budget. • At the request of Council a general roads tour will be organized and scheduled for early April. All observations and information gathered will be used in assisting with the updating and implementation of future Municipal Roads Plans and general maintenance practices. Note: As discussed and recommended by PW Supt., several rural roads are in need of an application of crushed gravel to facilitate proper maintenance during the year. It is suggested a structured 2-3 year program by developed and implemented to bring identified roads up to standard. This plan will have to be recognized through the budgeting process. • Once again Public Works would like to ask the traveling public to be cautious and patient when traveling Municipal roadways, especially during spring season as roads become uneven and rough due to thawing. • COMRIF Program – Currently nothing new to report.
MUNICIPALITY of CENTRE HASTINGS PUBLIC WORKS REPORT Jan. 2005 COMPLETED
ONGOING
FUTURE
ISSUES & COMMENTS
1. Springbrook Rd., Moira Rd., and Crookston Rd. gravel shoulder maintenance (grading) completed in preparation for winter season. 2. Fuller Rd. Reconstruction project. – completed ditching, excavation cuts on hills to improve site lines, driving surface rock removal, installation of new and replacement of damaged culverts, and spreading of 3” minus crushed limestone material on grade raise areas. Note: Municipal P.W. staff and equipment used extensively on this project to control costs. 3. Centre Road – repairs to sink hole in center of road as a result of cross culvert failure. 4. P.W. crews installed several entrance culverts during the month. 5. Winter Sand – the Ivanhoe dome has been filled with approx. 3600 t of winter sand mix. 6. Training - Public Works Supt. and Foreman attended a 2 day Snow and Ice seminar sponsored by OGRA. Hot Topics – development of Salt Management Plans, increased usage of pre-wet and anti-icing technologies by large and small Municipalities, and large display of new snow and ice fighting equipment and technologies. Oct 21 & 22 /04 7. Training - Public Works Supt. and Supv. along with Fred Rivers and Fabian Cooney attended the fall EOWWA (Eastern Ontario Water and Wastewater Assoc.) Conference in Ottawa. Oct. 20/04 8. Installation of a new 6” isolation valve on the Russell St. Water line. 9. Disability Access Program – curb cutting and sidewalk sloping at corners on St.Peters, Rollins, Prince Albert, and Madawaska Sts. (8 corners) has now been completed. 10. Repaired residential sewer blockage at 159 St. Lawrence St. Replaced 14’ of sanitary pipe. 11. Water testing – organic and inorganic testing completed on water supplies for Madoc Arena and Moira Hall.
ONGOING
1. Guard Rail Post – removal and replacement of old or damaged posts will be ongoing thought the fall season. 2. Seasonal inspection and clearing of road drainage cross culvert blockages due to beaver activity. 3. Brushing Program – road side clearing of brush for day lighting of intersections and road signs. 4. Pothole maintenance on both gravel (grader) and hard surfaced roads (cold patch). 5. Fuller Rd. and Clearview Rd. – upgrade and prepare for surface treatment in 2005, started in May. Clearview Rd. to be prepared in conjunction with City of Belleville – now COMPLETED. - Fuller Rd. brushing to be completed in Aug. with excavation work to commence Aug. 30th. The intent would be to use P.W. staff and equipment as much as possible to help control construction costs. This effort may delay some lower priority projects. See item #2 above for update. 6. Flushing of selected hydrants in the Urban Centre will continue through Nov. 7. Maintenance and repair of water meters and remote read-out units on going. 8. Construction of the Market Square Project nearing the fall completion date. 9. P.W. Staff assisting when needed with the development of new Skate Board Park.
FUTURE
1. Bridge and culvert inspections have begun by Engineering Consultants Greer Galloway of Belleville. Reports expected by mid Nov. 2. Completion of Fuller road reconstruction project with application, grading, and compaction of Gran “A” material by mid Nov. 3. Urban Paving – Hot mix pavement repairs in Urban Centre to start 1st week in Nov. Completion will take about 1 week. 4. Service program for all equipment and plow trucks in the 1st half of Nov. in preparation for the on set of winter. 5. Seek estimates to re-commission well and controls at Kiwanis Centre Fire Hydrant on St.Lawrence St. E. (Fire Dept. use only)
ISSUES & COMMENTS
1. Volvo Loader – once again our aging loader has developed cooling system problems. Every effort will be made to reduce unnecessary use of this machine in order to assure availability for loading of winter sand over winter season. 2. Sill’s Road Truck Traffic Issue – at the request of Council and the Transportation Committee, P.W. Staff have continued to monitor truck traffic and pit activity on Sill’s road as related to the gravel pits on this road. The only activity noted has been the very recent loading and hauling of the crushed gravel material from one of these locations. This activity has been light and sporadic. The Ministry of Natural Resources office in Peterborough was contacted and it was confirmed that all pits were licensed under the Pits and Quarries Act and that there were no Lic. Conditions that restricted hours of operation or days of operation. Based on the forgoing observations and information and the fact that there has not been any further complaints to the Public Works Dept. regarding this issue, there appears to be no reason to establish a reduced speed zone or truck traffic restrictions for the eastern portion of Sill’s road. 3. Ambulance/Fire hall – P.W. Supt. was able negotiate a shared cost solution to correct the water leakage problem at this facility. Under the agreement the original General Contractor will supply all the labour required to install metal siding on the upper portion of the west block wall, and the Municipality will pay for the materials. This project to be completed by mid Nov. 4. Public Library – in order to correct water seepage and back up problems at the Madoc Library, P.W. Staff replaced the existing sump pump that appeared to be intermittent and again negotiated a shared cost plan with the original General Contractor to correct the outside perimeter drainage and control of rain water run off. This project to be completed by mid Nov. |
