A little more than $9 million in road work will begin this month in Innisifl.
Staff informed councillors of the projects successfully bid on by Georgian Paving during the Sept. 14 meeting of council.
Under the town’s corporate purchasing bylaw, staff must inform council when the value of an acquisition is greater than $1 million, but still within the level authorized by council.
The $9.07 million contract with Georgian fits that description.
Under the tender, resurfacing and safety upgrades will be made to 5th Line from Yonge Street to 10th Sideroad, 9th Line from 20th Sideroad to Yonge Street and 10th Line from Yonge Street to 10th Sideroad.
As well, resurfacing and active transportation updates will be made along Gilford Road from 20th Sideroad to Beach Road, while there will be replacement of distribution slab and patching on the 9th Line and 10th Line culvert structures and waterproofing and patching of the culvert on 5th Line.
The roadwork and structures on 9th Line and 10th Line are anticipated to be completed this fall and the work on 5th Line and Gilford Road will begin next spring, with completion anticipated in fall 2023.
Coun, Kevin Eisses indicated his concern with the timing of the projects, given the impact it could have on farmers accessing agricultural lands during the harvest.
These projects were expected to begin earlier this year, “however due to pre-qualifying contractors first and extended timelines to obtain permits from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority and Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority tendering of the construction contract was delayed to the summer,” staff reported
Bobbi-Jo Duncan, capital project manager, told councillors that at least one lane of traffic will be open at all times during the construction projects, except when an entrance culvert is being replaced.
In those cases, “detours will be in place during the structure rehabilitations on 9th Line and 10th Line with advance notice, including digital signage and notices, provided to residents and local businesses prior to detour implementation,” staff reported.
Eisses stressed timely, strong communication is needed with the area farmers to mitigate any potential impacts this fall.
Council took a bit of a detour itself before getting down to business at its Sept. 14 meeting.
A motion had to be passed to bypass the town’s procedural bylaw before the meeting could get underway. Town regulations, recently revised to allow for hybrid meetings, allow for only two members of council to participate virtually. Coun. Rob Nicol and Coun. Alex Waters had already planned to log in remotely but was joined at the last minute by Mayor Lynn Dollin.
Unfortunately, just prior to leaving her house for the meeting, Dollin tested positive for COVID-19. She told her colleagues she was surprised by the positive test as she was not suffering from any symptoms at the time and felt fine.
Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson chaired the meeting from the council chambers in Dollin’s in-person absence and wished the mayor a speedy recovery.
