In his report to local councillors recently, Wellington County councillor Mark?MacKenzie said the county is considering downloading county bridges to local municipalities.
MacKenzie noted one option would involve an 80:20 split for maintenance costs.
The other option would provide a 10 year waiting period before implementation.
As Minto reviewed the item, Mayor David Anderson said there is the possibility of the county downloading some of its bridges. The information was forwarded to the town’s Director of Public Works.
“The county hasn’t made a decision yet,” Anderson stressed.
He added the town has two bridges that border West Grey.
Anderson said one of the reasons the county took on the bridges in the first place, was the belief the bridges could be better dealt with between counties than by various municipalities.
“But it’s getting to a point where they feel if they bring up the bridges to proper repair, it’s only fair to give them back to the municipalities, so we can deal with our neighbours.”
“The idea was to hand them over once the bridges were up to spec … but what is that spec?” Anderson asked.
He said the issue is still in the discussion stage as to what will happen.
Deputy-mayor Judy Dirksen asked if the handover was being discouraged until a bridge is fixed.
“Definitely. It won’t be handed over until it is fixed,” Anderson said.
“But the thing [council] has to look at is 10, 15, 20 years down the road, when the municipality has to get funding for repairs. That’s spending more local tax dollars.”
