By Chad Ingram
Published Dec. 7 2017
The following are brief reports of itemsdiscussed during a Nov. 30 meeting of Minden Hills council.
Council awarded the contract for consultingand engineering services for the reconstruction of IGA Road to TullochEngineering for approximately $48600 plus HST. IGA Road connects BobcaygeonRoad to Dollo’s Foodland. The plan is for the survey work to be completedbefore snowfall and buildup interfere. The project will include the addition ofa sidewalk along IGA Road.
Highway water main
The township will hire C.C. Underground toinstall a new water main along Highway 35 between the Haliburton Highlands OPPdetachment and the Valumart grocery store.
As a report from property and environmentaloperations manager Ivan Ingram explained “Several years ago staff applied tothe Ministry of Transportation for a permit to replace the waterline at theValumart on Highway 35. The permit was received on Oct. 23 2017 to allow thework to begin.While staff was waiting for the permit to be issued the MindenMotel began having issues with the water service. Staff determined that theline to the motel had been crushed and required replacement. Valumart andMinden Motel are both having the same issues with water service and staffrecommended a new two-inch service line from the six-inch water main at the OPPoffice on the south side of the highway in order to avoid the expense of boringunder the highway to repair the crushed lines and avoid any future issues.”
C.C. Underground was the only company toattend a mandatory site visit that was part of the request for proposalsprocess and as a result it was recommended the project be sole-sourced to thecompany for a total of approximately $62300 including taxes.
UV system
The township will purchase an ultra-violettreatment system to be installed at the Minden Hills wastewater treatmentplant.
The municipality successfully applied forsome funding through the federal government’s Clean Water and Wastewater Fundand the federal government will cover $50000 of the $112500 cost for purchaseand installation the provincial government $25000. The township’s share theremaining $37500 will come from the wastewater reserve pending a departmentalsurplus.
The township will sole-source the purchaseof the equipment.
“On behalf of the township Ontario CleanWater Agency (OCWA) completed a design plan for the purchase and installationof a UV system in the filter room at the
Wastewater treatment plant” reads a reportfrom property and environmental operations manager Ivan Ingram. “OCWA recommends the purchase of aTrojan unit which are currently being utilized by
OCWA in many other plants in the Mindenarea (the City of Kawartha Lakes as an
example) and have proven to be veryeffective and easy to maintain. OCWA maintains
a current inventory of spare parts includesensors bulbs and sleeves and arereadily available
should the need arise.”
According to the report H2Flow is the onlysupplier of Trojan units in Ontario.
Additional fire hall costs approved
Council approved $115000 in additionalexpenses for the new fire hall under construction along Highway 35. More than$40000 was spent on the excavation of soil and the hauling in of engineeredsoil during the construction of the building’s foundation after it wasdiscovered the soil on-site was not suitably load-bearing
Other costs include $5000 for a washer anddryer for bunker gear; $13000 for IT infrastructure including a wall-mounted75-inch television to be used for training purposes; $23000 for furnitureincluding desks and chairs for the building’s conference room and offices;$30000 for an electronic sign outside the fire hall; and $20000 incontingency funds.
Financing of the unbudgeted expenses willbe deferred to council’s 2018 budget deliberations.
