Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Serving the communities of Elgin County
Volume 2: Issue 10
Life saving commendation
Melissa Schneider photo Malahide Firefighter Rob DeSutter (centre), was recognized for saving the life of fellow Central Elgin firefighter Dave Olver, who experienced a medical emergency at the East Elgin Community Complex in October of last year. Also pictured are Dave’s daughters Rayne and Pyper, his wife Kim, Andrea Loughlean, Elgin County Medic and Life Support Services/Rescue 7 instructor (who presented the plaque), and Central Elgin Mayor Sally Martyn. DeSutter, who coaches the Tyke Team, was assisting his team at the time when Olver collapsed and his quick actions with the AED saved Olver’s life.
CE steps into waste collection business, buys two trucks Melissa Schneider: The Echo
Of the three options looked at for Central Elgin to manage its own waste collection, council has decided to go with the option of buying two dual stream side-load waste collection vehicles. The two new trucks, that each come with a $412,000 price tag (without tax), will provide versatility to the municipality as they can be utilized to provide either garbage or recycling pick up, depending on need. Additionally, if council decides in future to move away from bag tags to a garbage cart system the trucks are already equipped to provide that service. If council decides at the end of two years not to continue providing its own waste collection services, Physical Services Director Lloyd Perrin said the two vehicles would retain an excellent resale market value – around $340,000 of the original price. “These trucks are not easy to find,” Perrin said. “There’s lots of demand for these trucks new or used.” The two vehicles will be purchased from Joe Jonson Equipment and money will come from the Equipment Replacement Reserve fund, which municipal staff forecasted to have a balance of about $1.5 million after funding 2019 purchases. The idea is that the money would come from savings on the existing contract with Emterra and would amount to approximately $71,000 per year, replacing the money spent on trucks in about five years time. With their contract set to expire in May, Central Elgin had asked Emterra
Contributed photo A truck in the Emterra fleet. to extend its contract until October but they declined, forcing Central Elgin to find a fast way to operate its own collection services starting in June. Originally Emterra had agreed to carry on for a few more months, but said they couldn’t continue because of issues with old equipment. The two other options – Renting the trucks or renting to own, were more expensive in the long-term, but Mayor Sally Martyn said she would have preferred the municipality rent for a year to test the service before purchasing the trucks outright. She noted that during the last garbage collection in Sparta she saw that Emterra was using a brand new truck. The purchase of the trucks will go hand in hand with hiring four additional municipal employees to staff them.
No buried lines in Sparta Melissa Schneider: The Echo
The quest for underground hydro in Sparta has been buried. Central Elgin councillors at their meeting Monday, May 13 voted against a request from village business owners to bury hydro lines during the major road construction set to take place this summer. The recorded vote was 4-3 in favour of not proceeding with relocating the hydro lines underground, primarily due to the project’s estimated cost. Councillors had to make a decision that night because, as Director of Physical Services Lloyd Perrin pointed out in his report, the relocation of hydro lines would have pushed back Elgin County’s road reconstruction project by a year. The project would have eliminated 160 meters of overhead power lines on Sparta Line and three hydro poles on the North side of the road. Total cost was estimated at $257,195 to relocate the existing primary conductor as well as burying the secondary conductor. There was also an unknown cost to bury infrastructure used by Bell and Rogers. Councillor Fiona Roberts was a vocal opponent of the project, stating that her position had not changed even though the price had come down from the $400,000 range. “We always tell those that tie into our sewer that they have a cost they have to pay and that’s for work that has to be done,” she said. “For a project like this that benefits eight properties. That we would cover that cost, I’m not comfortable with that at all.”
Consultation shows need for physical libraries
She added that while she sympathizes with the situation, based on advice from former Director of Finance Karen Harris with respect to reserves, she didn’t feel it was the best use of the municipality’s money. Mayor Sally Martyn argued the project benefited the village as a whole, not just eight properties, and said that of the $1.4 million in reserves, more than $1 million would still remain after the project was complete. Councillor Karen Cook said that when she looked at council considerations from CAO Don Leitch and Perrin it would be a first for the municipality to fund this kind of project, and that the poles and hydro in question are located on an Elgin County road. “It’s a lot of work for a small stretch,” she said. “Business owners knew they had to pay a fee for this but when they came to council they said they didn’t have the money so I think it’s a cost and I don’t think it’s something we should be doing.” Councillor Colleen Row asked council if village business owners could get creative and perhaps paint the existing poles, or add hanging baskets, to which Martyn replied doing anything with a hydro pole is prohibited. Deputy Mayor Tom Marks said he spent a lot of time wrestling with the project. Speaking to another presentation Elgin County CAO Julie Gonyou gave earlier in the evening on the difference between wants and must haves he said “It’s certainly more of a want
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