Springwater Township council has directed staff to perform a task the township’s Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) calls a “safety hazard to the public and township staff.”
In a recorded vote at the end of a special session of council last week, Councillors Danielle Alexander, Anita Moore and Phil Fisher and Deputy Mayor George Cabral voted to direct “staff to proceed with the winter maintenance on Old Second South, beyond Sutton Heights, using a 4x4 pick up truck.”
Councillors Brad Thompson and Matt Garwood and Mayor Jennifer Coughlin voted against the direction, which included five safety conditions that must be met prior to doing work on that section of road.
The decision was not well received by the union representing the workers.
“The Local is extremely disappointed with the four members of council who voted to ignore the recommendations of the JHSC and the third-party consultant that was hired to perform this assessment,” said Mike Murphy, president of CUPE Local 2380 in an email to BarrieToday.
“It is extremely disheartening that these councillors care so little for the health and well being of their employees," he said.
“Our members are unified in their position that no job is more important than their safety and they are willing to stand up for that,” he added.
According to Murphy, if staff who are directed to perform this work feel their safety is jeopardized in any way, they will refuse.
“If staff feel that it is unsafe to maintain this road then the direction from the Local will be to refuse work once again and we shall notify the Ministry of Labour immediately,” he said.
In a report that was co-written by public works director Grant Taylor and Jane Robitaille, the township's manager of people, safety, learning and employee relations, and presented before council on Sept. 18, the township’s JHSC recommended that winter maintenance on Old Second South, beyond Sutton Heights, “be suspended due to the safety hazards to the public and township staff.”
Some Springwater councillors didn’t agree and sought out a legal opinion that supported their view.
According to Moore, that legal opinion gave her the confidence she needed to direct staff to do the work on the road.
“So, now we’re in a position where we’ve been advised that the use of a 4x4 truck with a plow, and this is our legal opinion, is that it is a medium to low risk, with mitigation measures in place,” she said. “I think that the measures outlined are very reasonable. I will support this," said Moore.
Coughlin would not.
In her opinion, the resident of Little Lake Lane, who made the original request for increased maintenance on the road back in 2022, knew where they lived and knew the road did not receive winter maintenance.
The resident said his wife needed to be to work by 8 a.m. and he wanted the township to provide the same level of service to his road as they do to all other roads in the township.
“This for me, and this is going to sound horrible, this is much like moving beside a chicken barn and complaining about the smell,” she said.
“You live on a road that does not have winter maintenance and you’re asking this township to now perform winter maintenance.”
Coughlin said this section of Old Second South hasn’t been a part of the township’s regular winter maintenance program since the township was amalgamated in 1994.
“I will not support maintaining this road any more than we have prior to last year,” she said. “We haven’t done so for the past 30, 40 or 50 years.
“Not quite sure why we’re starting now,” she added.
According to Jeff Schmidt, chief administrative officer for Springwater, the township has six road classifications, based on traffic volumes and speed.
The Old Second South, he said, is a "class six" road.
Ontario's Municipal Act, Reg. 239/02: Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways (MMS) sets out minimum standards for road and highway maintenance for all municipalities.
“Class six roads do not have any prescribed maintenance within the legislation,” Schmidt said. “If council decides to provide winter maintenance we need to discuss what the expectations are for frequency. We have a number of other Class Three, Four and Five roads that have prescribed maintenance within the legislation, this one does not.
“This won’t be the first road plowed, it would be later on, unless council directs us to give it a higher priority,” he added.
Cabral, who voted in favour of making staff do the work, said he has no expectations that the township will “race over there and plow the road” ahead of any other township roads.
“It’s Class Six,” Cabral said. “If there’s serious snowfall, we understand the priorities.
“The key here is are we in the position to provide winter maintenance and based on the report we got today, I think we are.”
Coughlin cautioned council before it made its decision, urging it to think ahead.
“The only thing that has changed is the expectation of the resident, not the level of service provided by the township,” she said.
If, while township staff are doing the work on Old Second South, a staff member gets hurt or injured, the union will be there to support them.
“If a member is injured while performing this work then all members of council, as well as management, are in a position where they may be open to a lawsuit and the Local will ensure that those responsible are held accountable,” Murphy said. “The fact of the matter is that this legislation is presumptive and speaks to there being no reprisals for refusing unsafe work.
“Both our members, as well as management, are both protected by this legislation and our hope is that they use it to stand up to this ridiculous decision by four members of council.”
