WELLINGTON NORTH – A group of residents along Concession 4 North, which is part of a haulage route for three gravel pits, are fed up with the gravel road’s condition, and say it’s high time to have it paved.
“This is about getting the road done, and I will never give up on getting this road paved, ever,” Victoria McHugh told the Advertiser after learning it didn’t make the cut for the township’s annual paving program last year.
“We’ve heard for several years now, from the residents out there that they would like to have that road paved,” councillor Sherry Burke told council earlier this year during budget deliberations.
Then-operations director Matthew Aston said staff believe it’s best left as a gravel road.
“I would suggest that the residents that live out on that road have a different feeling,” Burke countered.
During a March budget debate, councillors Burke and Steve McCabe tried to get Concession 4 North added to the township’s paving list, suggesting other projects be deferred to pay for it, but a 3-2 vote against quashed the effort.
Victoria and Brett McHugh and neighbours George and Kay Garrard live along the haulage route used for transporting aggregate from three nearby gravel pits, including one owned by the township.
The group believes the road is insufficient for the number of trucks regularly travelling along the three-kilometre stretch, leading to large potholes, safety concerns for cyclists, horses and buggies, and gravel and dust being thrown up.
Recent counts of traffic in both directions along Conesstion 4 North over a 24-hour period in May show there were: 210 vehicles counted south of Sideroad 3 East; and 256 vehicles counted between Sideroad 2 and 3 East.
A June report to council states the township was hauling gravel from its Fergusson Pit when the count was being done, representing “an upper high volume limit of traffic during a short period of gravel pit operations.”
The report contends the count does not provide an accurate representation of average daily traffic on the road, and that another count would be conducted prior to a 2023 road needs study.
“It’s not like we’re saying you’ve gotta pave every gravel road in Wellington North, but if your traffic volume is as high as [this] is … [it] should be paved,” Brett McHugh said.
He added he has installed a fence, at a cost of $10,000, to keep dust and rocks from being flung onto his property.
This year isn’t the first Concession 4 North has been a point of contention for the township.
In 2014 and 2015, public meetings were held related to a proposed 60-acre aggregate pit owned by Alette Holsteins and operated by H. Bye Construction — now in existence, along Concession 4 North between Sideroads 2 and 3 East.
In addition to opposition to the pit for environmental reasons, residents, who formed a local advocacy group known as the Citizens Coalition of Wellington North, spoke at the meetings about the negative effects heavy-haul traffic would have on their road.
Some of the concerns were at least partially shared by the township, according to a June 2015 report to council from then-CAO Mike Givens, noting that pit operations could affect maintenance costs and reduce the life of bridges.
An aggregate haul route agreement was subsequently hashed out between the township and H. Bye Construction and passed by council in December 2016.
The “strategic partnership” agreement, according to 2015 and 2016 reports from Givens, would mitigate the pit’s impact and acknowledge “concerns that have been raised by neighbouring property owners.”
But an amendment passed by council to have the haulage route paved, with H. Bye Construction covering the cost, never made it into the final agreement.
Negotiations were at least partially held during a September 2016 meeting closed to the public and reporters.
A December 2016 report to council authored by Givens notes township staff “negotiated” a revised agreement with H. Bye Construction.
Givens, who is now Perth East’s CAO, told the Advertiser in a recent email that he wasn’t comfortable commenting because he couldn’t recall specifics about the agreement.
However, Givens said generally that council may not consider the legal and financial implications of the resolutions it passes, while municipal staff are obligated to.
Responding to emailed questions from the Advertiser about what happened, Mayor Andy Lennox wrote that the pit operator wasn’t prepared to shoulder the cost of paving because a traffic study didn’t recommend it.
“Every agreement has two sides,” the mayor wrote.
“Ultimately the township arrived at an agreement with the developer that was slightly more favourable for recouping additional maintenance costs caused by the gravel haul route, than was supported by the traffic study.”
H. Bye Construction owner Randy Bye refused to answer eight specific questions from the Advertiser for this story, suggesting by email that the township could answer questions on the company’s behalf.
Bye hung up after a reporter identified himself by phone on Sept. 22.
What did make it into the final agreement between the township and the company was a $10,000 lump-sum payment (reduced from $25,000 originally proposed by Bye in 2015) for the township to maintain the haul route, as well as a contribution of six cents per extracted tonne into a “Ghent Trust Account” maintained by the township.
With a maximum of 75,000 tonnes of aggregate extracted per year, that means the township could receive up to $150,000 over the pit’s 2.5-million-tonne lifetime, which could go toward maintaining the road.
A similar haulage agreement between the township and Laverne and Erma Weber was also inked in 2016 for the “Weber” or “Stack” pit, located on Sideroad 2 East, and using Concession 4 North as a haul route.
A sign cautioning north-bound drivers of a truck entrance to a road is seen along Concession 4 North. Local residents are calling for the gravel road, used as an aggregate haul route, to be paved. Photo by Jordan Snobelen
Township CAO Brooke Lambert was unable to provide the Advertiser with a dollar figure for how much the township has received to date as part of the agreement, or how much the township spends annually on maintaining Concession 4 North.
“I do not have the full background on the file,” she stated in an email.
Lambert did however say “additional maintenance” is performed “to maintain the road at a higher standard” with an extra application of calcium as a dust suppressant, at a cost of around $8,000 each year.
“Staff also do one extra grading per year, when needed and conditions allow, and adds gravel on a regular schedule,” Lambert wrote, adding a gravel application is scheduled next month.
It’s unknown what the cost would have been to pave the road at the time of the agreement, because an estimate was never prepared.
“Studies done at the time indicated that changes were not required,” Lambert stated in her email, referring to a 2015 traffic impact study.
Whatever the cost may have been been eight years ago, the price tag is certainly higher now with roads and infrastructure projects routinely exceeding budget in Wellington North and other municipalities.
Brett McHugh criticized the decisions made during negotiations for the haul route agreement, saying the township and council had an opportunity to take the burden of paving the road off taxpayers.
Now residents will be left holding the bag for private corporations benefiting from the public road, he said.
In his email, Lennox wrote “the amount (of money) collected through all channels from the pits along Concesstion 4 [North] would not come close to covering the cost of paving the road.”
The mayor noted that getting aggregate operations to contribute fairly “is an ongoing challenge.”
“We try very hard to ensure that upgrades … for individual road segments are backed up by objective criteria,” Lennox added.
“It would be unfair to other residents to make those kind[s] of decisions arbitrarily without the support of objective measures.”
Councillor McCabe said in an email the road has “always needed attention” as a haul route, but said it comes down to a question about the cost to pave it, versus time and resources for maintenance.
McCabe did not say whether or not he favoured paving the road, but said the township has always maintained the road, despite it being “beat to hell” by truck traffic.
Councillor Lisa Hern, who stated during March budget deliberations she was not in support of spending money to pave the road, reiterated her position in an email.
“Without a study indicating that the road should be paved, I cannot support paving a concession road over another road in the township,” Hern wrote.
The cost, she stated, would be over a million dollars.
“I just want to be fair to all taxpayers in Wellington North and require an analysis of all roads, plus the cost of completion,” she added.
Councillor Sherry Burke did not respond to request for comment.
According to the township’s CAO, Wellington North conducts studies and traffic counts “to review the status of the road on an ongoing basis.”
None of the studies, she wrote, “have indicated that the road is currently inadequate or insufficient.”
“Most recently, based on the discussion during our 2023 budget process, we have undertaken a further series of studies [and] counts to review the status of the road,” Lambert added.
Township staff are expected to discuss the road in a closed meeting on Sept. 25.
A recommendation on paving the road will be provided to council in the fall, in advance of the 2024 budget process, according to Lambert.
“Any next steps will be up to council with respect to the agreement, the status of the road, and any associated costs or further maintenance,” she wrote.
The McHughs contend the effects of hauling aggregate on municipal roads is an issue that will continue to come up as long as gravel pits exist.
“I would like to see a plan … with some kind of future direction,” Brett said.
“I will never stop fighting for this road being paved,” Victoria added.
