Tensions Roil Beneath the Microsurface In Central Frontenac

Craig Bakay | Feb 08, 2023

Third time was not the charm when it comes to special budget meetings for Central Frontenac as the Feb. 6 meeting only sent staff back to the drawing board. Council will reconvene at 2 p.m. Feb. 14 (before the regular Council meeting) to take another stab at finalizing the 2023 budget.

“This is the toughest budget year I’ve ever gone through,” said Mayor Frances Smith. “I don’t think that we’ve really finished anything off and I don’t know where we go from here.”

Council came into this session looking at a 2.6 per cent levy increase but there seemed to be some consensus that that could rise to 3.6 per cent under the right circumstances. However, those circumstances didn’t seem to materialize.

What did materialize was a willingness to trade preserving Road 38 for work on Arden Road, which came about primarily through the complaints of Ward 1 Coun. Cindy Kelsey.

“So, all the money flows from our taxpayers and we’re not getting anything for it,” Kelsey said.

“Look at the sheets, you’re getting the same as everybody else is getting,” said Smith.

Road 38 was a provincial highway until it was downloaded to the Townships during amalgamation in 1999. Since then, predictions of mega-cost have been foretold (in the range of $1 million per kilometre or more) should the road fail and need to be rebuilt.

Central Frontenac managed to secure a multi-million dollar grant to fix the worst spots and ever since has begun a pavement preservation program to ensure the worst doesn’t happen. Much of the road has been preserved but there is still the section from south of Parham to Sharbot Lake yet to do. This year, 9.6 kilometres from Evergreen Road to Parham was scheduled. Road 38 spans 36 kilometres in Central Frontenac.

Public Works Manager Tyson Myers estimates that section can be done in three one-year chunks of about 10 kilometres each and to that effect had about $655,000 in his budget to do one chunk this year.

That’s for microsurfacing, crack sealing will still have to be done regardless.

Kelsey noticed that the estimated cost of resurfacing Arden Road from Hwy 7 to the hamlet would be about $519,000 plus a 10 per cent contingency cost.

Various schemes circulated around the table, including Coun. Bill Everett’s suggestion that the road be pulverized and gravelled much like Zealand Road and Price Road.

“Reducing levels of service is something municipalities are going to have to take a look at,” said Myers.

Several councillors speculated about doing smaller chunks of microsurfacing on more roads but Myers shot that down pretty quickly.

“I would rather take a year off from microsurfacing than doing little chunks which would lead to higher mobilization costs,” Myers said.

Myers explained that paving companies charge mobilization costs when they have to move equipment and set up a new base of operations in another location (trailers, generators, parking, etc). That tends to be more expensive with microsurfacing equipment, which Myers estimated would be in the $20,000 range for each move.

There was some brief discussion of simply adding the Arden Road to this year’s budget but that would require a levy increase of 8.2 per cent).

Smith noted that they had already cut a number of capital projects to free up some money for more operational work such as brushing and ditching.

Other things such as moveable bleachers for the Parham Fairgrounds and a recreational needs study were moved to 2024.

Westport Road was left in the budget and is slated for reconstruction and double surface treatment (which is not repaving).

However, Smith was still concerned about Road 38 saying “If 38 goes, it could break this municipality.”

That’s when Kelsey first brought up Arden Road.

“There’s mega, mega roads we could spend money on but we don’t have that money,” said Smith.

The motion to revisit the microsurfacing of Road 38 passed by a 5-4 vote.