HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-20-007 - Regional Maintenance Agreement - 1 Year Extension
REPORT TO: Special Council
DATE OF MEETING: August 10, 2020
SUBMITTED BY: Roslyn Lusk, Director Operations, Roads & Traffic, (519) 741-2600
x4599 and Niall Lobley, Director Parks & Cemeteries, (519) 741-2600
X4518
PREPARED BY: Roslyn Lusk, Director Operations, Roads & Traffic
(519) 741-2600 x4599
WARD (S) INVOLVED: All Wards
DATE OF REPORT: July 8, 2020
REPORT NO.: INS-20-007
SUBJECT: One- year Extension of Agreement with Region to provide summer and
winter maintenance
__________________________________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute a one-year extension, subject to the
satisfaction of the City Solicitor, with the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, for the City
of Kitchener to provide summer and winter maintenance services on selected Regional
Roads within the City of Kitchener, as outlined in the Infrastructure Services Department
report INS-20-007.
BACKGROUND:
Since the formation of the Region of Waterloo in 1973, the City of Kitchener has provided
maintenance of Regional roads within the City of Kitchener, via an agreement with the Region
through which residents benefit from more seamless and efficient service delivery. The
establishment of the agreement with the Region is consistent with practices employed by the
cities of Cambridge and Waterloo. The term of the current agreement between Kitchener and
the Region runs from January 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020; as agreed to by Council per
staff report INS-19-061 dated September 18, 2019.
REPORT:
The rationale for City forces to continue to provide cores services on Regional roads through an
agreement with the Region has been long standing. As such, staff have been working with the Region
and area municipalities to establish a new agreement to be in place beyond December 2020.
Staff have met on a number of occasions with staff from the Region and other area municipalities to
discuss the development of a new agreement. While each municipality enters into a separate agreement
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with the Region, the basis of the agreement remains virtually identical, with each individual municipality
establishing unit rates to provide specific maintenance activities on the Regional roads lying within their
respective boundaries. Maintenance activities included in the existing agreement are:
Road patrol
Summer maintenance including;
o surface asphalt maintenance,
o shoulder maintenance,
o street sweeping,
o spring cleanup (litter pick up), and
o right of way drainage including catch basin and manhole maintenance
Leaf pickup and disposal
Winter snow and ice control
Emergency response (e.g. accidents, washouts, spills, trees, debris, etc.)
Preventative maintenance agreed to by the Region.
The Region experienced significant change throughout the duration of the previous 5-year agreement
which was in effect from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2019.
Construction of the ION was commencing just as that agreement took effect; and ridership commenced
in July 2019. The ownership of the roads on which the ION travels are now Regional and form part of the
agreement. During the 2019 negotiations, city staff were not able to adequately estimate operational
costs associated with the ION as crews had yet to experience providing a full year of maintenance along
the ION route.
In addition, increased focus on providing active transportation options within the Region was made
through the duration of the agreement. Many new and different types of active transportation routes (e.g.
on-road cycling infrastructure, separated cycling infrastructure, additional sidewalks, multi use trails, etc.)
have been installed within the Region. In 2018, the Province of Ontario
maintenance regulation, O.Reg 239/02 Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways,
requiring municipalities to provide year-round maintenance of these types of facilities. The amendments
to the regulation raised the level of maintenance historically reserved for roads to active transportation
infrastructure.
In mid 2019, all parties agreed that a one-year extension of the existing agreement dated, January 1,
2014 to December 31, 2019, was the most reasonable approach forward to allow time for each of the
area municipalities to monitor the costs to maintain the new infrastructure, allowing for informed unit
rates to be established in a future multi-year agreement with the Region.
In addition, the extension was intended to allow time to explore additional opportunities of maintenance
activities that are not currently included within the maintenance agreement that could result in greater
effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery for residents. Through Staff Report INS-19-061 dated
September 18, 2019, a one-year extension to the previous five-year agreement was approved; extending
the agreement until December 31, 2020.
Negotiations for the multi-year agreement began late in 2019 and continued until March 2020 when all in
person meetings were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the onset of operational changes
related to the pandemic, municipalities across the Region turned their focus to provide critical service
maintenance using minimal staffing No capacity existed within municipalities to consider the
maintenance agreement in addition to the COVID emergency management and recovery response. Area
municipality staff have all agreed that another one-year extension of the existing agreement dated
January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 is appropriate given the inability to focus on making amendments
for a multi year agreement at this time.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The
delivery of core service.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Payment by the Region for winter and summer maintenance to the City of Kitchener is on average
$2,800,000 annually (based on past three years) and is adjusted annually by inflation and by any
additional lane kilometer in accordance with the terms and conditions identified in the agreement.
The extension of the agreement allows for maintenance costs associated with new infrastructure to be
recovered on a time and materials basis.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM
committee meeting.
PREVIOUS CONSIDERATION OF THIS MATTER:
Staff Report INS-14-019 dated September 8, 2014.
Staff Report INS-19-061 dated September 18, 2019.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Denise McGoldrick, General Manager, Infrastructure Services