Mar 19 2015

Shannon Hunter
CAO North Kawartha

Re : Winter Road Maintenance Standards
Part #1
I assume you are aware, that I have brought to our Councillors attention my concerns regarding what I and others have observed as being an extreme amount of sand being applied to NK municipal roads as part of the ongoing winter road maintenance program. Without any factual data at this point, I suspect this amount of sand being applied has increased significantly over the past years and exceed both the required amounts and inconsistent with other area municipal jurisdiction.
Prior to the newly elected council commencing their term of office, I submitted various suggested” to do” items on Nov 29 and am hoping some or all of the suggestion would be given consideration and possibly be incorporated in either the strategic plan or reflected in budget deliberation or both. I look forward to seeing the strategic plan and budget and request a copy when available to the public.
Some of the suggestions I made offer opportunities for Council to implement cost efficiencies in the townships operations and provided tax savings without negatively impacting services to ratepayers. Little feedback has been received from individual councillors. While following the Council minutes I have not noticed any references to my suggestions or the “to do” list submission. Yes, the submission of Nov 29 was directly to Councillors elect and not through the Clerk for inclusion on a formal meeting agenda.
Item #14 of the suggested “To Do list” related to my concerns about the amount of sand being applied to municipal road and felt this was a real opportunity for Council as a whole or individual Councillor to take a leadership role in evaluating the current practices and possibly identify cost savings in the budget development. A review of best practices of adjoining townships could contribute to the review.
As I understand from communication from Mayor Woodcock, in response to by expressed concern about the application of unnecessary sand on a minor dusting of snow on Jack Lake road on Wed this week, that you are aware of a series of question I asked regarding who makes decisions on level of road maintenance……As I have not received any answers to these questions from the Councillor, I am now submitting these question to you.

So who makes these decisions on level of road maintenance?
A) Is the abnormal level of service based on a Council/Twp policy ?
B) Is this level of service determine by the road superintendent?
C) Is this level of service based on judgement of individual employees on roads department?
D) I there a shelf life for the sand in the **** motivating the department before the sand gets stale?
The final question D, I can accept may not deserve a response as I sense that sand continues to performs its intended function despite long exposure storage durations.

Part #2
In the Council agent for Mar 16, I became aware of the report for the office of the Road Supervisor related to Subject “ Winter Maintenance Policies and Procedures”. I found this report of direct relevance to my expressed concern regarding level of winter maintenance and was hoping to learn more about the Policies and procedures of the North Kawartha Roads Department.

2A—Reference is made to ‘Regulations” requiring the township to perform a road patrol once per shift through winter season which runs from Oct 15 to April 15 ..therefor we ( Twp) have to hire ..? patrolman to perform this duty to meet the regulation.
This is of great interest to me. I am anxious to learn more about this unreasonable regulation- can you pleases provide me with a copy of this regulation or simply direct me to a link in which I can obtain this as it does not appear to be reasonable. I can understand under certain climatic conditions major high volume public highways may have certain patrol requirement s..but I would assume local roads are not in the same class and such onerous patrol requirement would not be so stringently defined. The NK municipal road which I travel most often on is Jack Lake Road. Can you advise if the section from the Marina to FR 52 has a classification assigned.
2B I noticed in the report that the patrolman does the parking lots –so while I think of it does the cost of snow removal for parking lots get allocated to the operational budgets of the library and community centers?

2C Reference is also made to situation where Municipal Minimum Maintenance Standards dictate a level of service that each jurisdiction has to follow.
I find it difficult to accept that any such standard would require that NK apply the amount of sand to our roads as is the current expensive practice. Can you please provide to me with a copy of the reference Minimum Maintenance Standards
2C The final statement “ Since the year 2009, we have met or exceeded the standards in 298 consecutive winter events.
So what is a winter event?--on Wed this week was the dusting of snow on the Jack Lake Road a winter event?

If there is in fact a Minimum Maintenance Standard applicable to say Jack lake Road within jurisdiction of NK –and that standards identified that snow removal and or sanding should occur when snow accumulates to a certain depth –say three inches—yes the North Kawartha Roads Department can tabulate a further credit for exceeding the standards when they install another generous application of shelf fresh sand to a minimal dusting of snow as shown in the picture above.

I look forward to working with you and Council addressing my concerns on this matter. Receipt of the requested answers and information is a first step in both understanding and finding a resolution to what I see as an opportunity for improved efficiency in our winter road maintenance program.

Ambrose Moran
Interested Taxpayer and advocate of value for tax dollars