County puts off off-road vehicle decision
Decision on limited use of county roads by ATVs delayed to September
Peterborough County councillors deferred a motion that would allow off-road vehicle riders on specific sections of county roads to get from trail to trail until this fall so staff can review issues with an insurer and report their findings.
The deferral to the second week of September followed a delegation on Wednesday by Peterborough County Trails ATV Club president Weity Hamersma, who voiced his disagreement with public works director Chris Bradley’s earlier findings on the matter.
The motion, if approved, would grant all club requests for a oneyear trial period. After that, county staff would report back to council with any complaints, information on collisions and overall general feedback
In April, Hamersma requested links on County Roads 48, 46, 52 and 504 that would connect trails between the Ottawa Valley and areas to the north.
In May, Bradley recommended the bylaw be amended to include one route – the north side of County Road 42 from County Road 30 to Belmont Concession 10. Several of the other links fell short of meeting criteria established by council years ago, he said.
Councillors then discussed the possibility of trying all the routes for a one-year trial period, but that prompted concerns about risk and liability.
Hamersma disagreed with Bradley’s professional opinion – specifically him saying he was not sure how other places had addressed the issue.
There are 46 other municipalities with ATV-positive bylaws, he said, pointing out that riders can go to downtown Campbellford for being able to go on certain paved shoulders.
Bradley also said earlier this year that manuals for off-road vehicles state that they shouldn’t be driven on asphalt or paved surfaces.
“That is to take the onus off the manufacturer,” Hamersma said.
The director wasn’t at Wednesday’s meeting, but engineering and design manager Peter Nielsen said he believes Bradley is concerned about issues related to the introduction of off-road vehicles to mixed-use shoulders.
The review will provide council with more information, he noted.
The Municipal Act states there is no liability to a municipality for using discretion in making policy decision, provided they are made in good faith, CAO Troy Speck said.
Approving all requests for one year may ignore the well-thought out county, he said, noting that only two or three of the links the club requested meet those standards.
Staff aren’t saying not to allow ATVs on roads but to slow down and complete due diligence to ensure the county is covered, Speck said.
Parking restrictions
County councillors also approved parking restrictions on County Road 21 (King Street) and County Road 10 (Tupper Street) in downtown Millbrook on Wednesday.
Parking will not be allowed on both sides of King, from Duke to Huston streets, from 3 to 7 a.m., as well as the east side of Tupper from King to 60 metres north.
Cavan Monaghan Township requested the change to address traffic concerns sparked by onstreet parking, Nielsen wrote .
Bridge given away
A bridge over the Trent-Severn Waterway was officially removed from the county’s inventory Wednesday after a review of correspondence from 1984 determined the span is actually owned by Parks Canada.
Ownership of the Trent Severn Bridge – structure number 099076 – was realized after staff retrieved old files from a DouroDummer Township public works facility storage room as part of a routine destruction or retention of corporate records.
Shortfall projected
Savings from favourable tender results for other projects will be used to cover an anticipated budget shortfall for the urbanization and resurfacing of County Road 45 north of the village of Hastings.
Increased unit prices and additional work, such as a 230-metre extension of the project, pavement widening and unanticipated storm sewer repairs, significantly increased the budget from $485,000 to an estimated $850,000, Nielsen said.
Council approved the staff recommendation to utilize surpluses to fund the shortfall.
Tender awarded
Young’s Construction Ltd. will replace the Old Norwood Bridge after councillors approved awarded a $561,741,76 tender for the work Wednesday.
The bid was the lowest of four bids received, Nielsen said.
Speed limit reduced
Traffic will move a bit slower just northwest of the city after speed reductions on County Road 27 (Ackison Road) and County Road 12 (Fife’s Bay Road) were approved by county councillors on Wednesday.
The existing 80 km/h speed limits on the roads north (Fife’s) and south (Ackison) of Lilly Lake Road will be reduced to 60 km/h. The changes will affect the stretch about 400 metres south of the intersection and 500 metres north.
The city will also be reducing the speed limit to 60 km/h on its stretch of the road north of Parkhill Road, engineering and design assistant manager Doug Saccoccia said.
Investigator cancelled
Peterborough County will give 90 days notice to its independent municipal investigator, Local Authority Services, after councillors approved a recommendation to appoint the Ontario Ombudsman for such services, starting Jan. 1.
The move will save the county an annual retainer fee and is in line with what other municipalities are doing, corporate projects and services director Sheridan Graham said.
Budget meetings added
Based on feedback from this year’s process, Peterborough County added three special budget meetings to its 2019 schedule Wednesday at a cost of $9,000.
Doing so will afford council and staff with time dedicated solely to budget review, as opposed to budget review and approval being done in a number of shorter periods during regular council meetings, DeBruijn wrote in a report.
Councillors will get 2019 budget documents two weeks before the budget presentation on Jan. 30, 2019 to give them plenty of time to review them, she said. Budget deliberation is then scheduled to wrap up at the end of February.