It has been a very eventful week in the realm of Timmins city council. Accusations of deceit, fiery shouting, and plenty of figures being pushed around regarding 'Phase 1' of the city's 10 year Connecting Link project.
The hotly debated section is from the Bruce Avenue Y, to the Tisdale Cemetery.
On Monday, Councillor Rick Dubeau said the cost per kilometre of work is skyrocketing, and that the project cannot continue in upcoming years under these conditions. It began a discussion lasting 64 minutes.
Dubeau said the original plan put forth by engineering was to reconstruct between 3 and 4 kilometres at a price of $4.5 million dollars. 3 kilometres would have cost $1.5 million per, and 4 kilometres would have cost $1.125 per.
The project has been approved. 1.4 kilometres of reconstruction, at $2.9 million per kilometre.
"It appears to me that we've more than doubled in price of the connecting link going forward," said Dubeau.
He said after a discussion with a Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) employee who questioned why the city was putting 225 millimetres of asphalt on the road. The provincial standard for most projects, including the heavily used Highway 11, was 140 millimetres.
"I don't understand why we're putting almost 40 percent more asphalt on our connecting link," and added "Instead of 1.4 kilometres, we could be doing much more than that."
AECOM project manager Ted Archuticz explained.
"We pay a premium of 30 percent, and get a 50 percent extra life. That was the rationale for the decision making there. They'll have a facility that will require very little maintenance, and should last for 30 years," said Archuticz, who later added that the premium was actually 40 percent.
He said because of the steep costs of asphalt in the Timmins area, the project came in higher than anticipated, and thus the scope of work needed to be shortened.
"No question its unique, but as I explained this pavement will be done once, and it should last for 30 years," said Archuticz.
Dubeau had some bold accusations for members of city staff relating to a council presentation on July 25, the day council voted to award the tender for Phase 1. He said that council was misled.
"Luc (Duval) talked about the extra costs for the paved shoulders, that has basically doubled in price, he talked about the extra costs for streetlights, but he never once mentioned that we went from 140 millimetres to 225 millimetres, or that we went from 2.2 kilometres to 1.4 kilometres. That was totally omitted, and I think purposely," said Dubeau.
An example from the spring of 2015 showing the state of the road currently being reconstructed.. Andrew Autio for TimminsTodayMayor Steve Black said Dubeau was 'plain out lying' and that he was making unfounded accusations. He later noted that all of council had the opportunity to call a special meeting to discuss the matter and even vote on it again, after rumblings of confusion.
"I went and met with the CAO and the Director of Public Works, and said there may be some confusion. Can you send a memo out and ask council if they want to reconsider it? Zero responses," said Black.
After more bickering between Dubeau and Black, around the 40 minute mark, other Councillors began chiming in.
"Aww lets get on with the meeting here!" shouted Councillor Mike Doody.
Councillor Noella Rinaldo strongly disagreed with Dubeau's assessment of the situation.
"I was very comfortable with the way I voted. It was in my report, and I was clear what I voted on. I would not have voted if I wasn't clear. I would have asked questions," and added "And please do not say 'it wasn't clear to council'. Speak for yourself, do not speak for me. I was clear what I was voting on," said Rinaldo.
Doody thanked Archuticz for sitting through the heated debate, and for providing what he believed to be clear explanations.
"Not all of us think that we're engineers. Not all of us are experts in how to make cement and make pavement" he said.
"To think that those of us sitting around this table want to ballyhoo somebody, that we're pulling the blind over somebody's eyes, we just want the road built so people can use it," he said, reminding everyone that the province used to pay for half of road work along the Connecting Link.
Councillor Andre Grzela said basically, council opted for 'quality over quantity' for this section of the Connecting Link.
Dubeau remained adamant that he felt on July 25, council believed they were voting for 2.2 kilometres and not 1.4 kilometres.
In the days since, both Dubeau and Black have continued to strongly express their perspectives on social media.
City council meets again on Monday.
