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SDG approved a tender on Monday to Rush Truck Centres of Canada Ltd. for a cab and chassis at the price of $213,446 plus HST. Council also approved purchasing an associated plow and spreader equipment from Gin-Cor Industries for $234,820 plus HST.
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Included with the approval was direction to include this $457,000 in the 2025 budget; the equipment has to be purchased and ordered now so it could be delivered next year. The plow’s design meets SDG’s green living strategic priority as the unit will be equipped with technology required to reduce the amount of salt used during winter operations.
Coun. Frank Landry said the overall price tag appeared higher than in past tenders for similar equipment and asked for a comparison.
“I don’t have the exact numbers from the previous tenders available to me but I did do an analysis when this tender came in. We’re looking at about a five per cent increase on the cab and chassis, and about an eight per cent increase on our equipment, from the past tender,” said SDG manager of operations Trevor Baker.
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In the report to council, staff members said they were satisfied with the price considering the rising costs of goods.
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Council also approved a tender to Cornwall Gravel Company Ltd. for the replacement of the Crooks-McLeod culvert at the price of $749,240 plus HST. Coun. Theresa Bergeron asked for a clarification of the price and SDG manager of infrastructure Mike Jans said the overall replacement cost would land around $1 million.
“We pre-purchased this box and it was in the order of about $250,000 for this piece of culvert. The total culvert pre-purchase was a little over $400,000, I believe, with the combination of this box and the Wert Municipal Drain culvert replacement…” said Jans.
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At the outset of Monday’s meeting, council voiced its support of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) call for the province to invest more in infrastructure.
“Eastern Ontario’s small rural municipalities face insurmountable challenges to fund both new growth-related infrastructure and ongoing maintenance of their capital assets including local roads and bridges, clean water, wastewater, waste facilities, and municipally owned buildings including recreational facilities and libraries,” reads part of the report.
CAO Maureen Adams said the EOWC has identified infrastructure as one of its top-three advocacy priorities.
“We don’t necessarily have the same population to support the vast road networks that we have, similar with water and wastewater facilities. The EOWC would also like to advocate for predictable, sustainable funding. So, get away from application-based funding and have funding that… will help municipalities properly plan… and to also try to look for innovative solutions to be able to deal with some of the challenges that rural municipalities that are having,” said Adams.
Coun. Bryan McGillis said he thinks municipalities in Eastern Ontario have been neglected a little bit when looking at infrastructure funding support and wholeheartedly approved supporting the EOWCs’ advocacy efforts.
According to the report, the EOWC region’s capital infrastructure deficit has increased by 58 per cent since 2011 and is now at $6 billion, and growing.
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