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Mono gears up for street spring cleaning

March 7, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

Sometimes second place turns into a win.

At least it has for one contractor that unsuccessfully bid on a Mono road maintenance contract last year. They’re getting the work for this year and possibly next year.

Mono’s Public Works called for bids for street sweeping in 2023. The contract was awarded to Green Maples Environmental Inc. Unfortunately, the contract obligations were not being met and there was a joint agreement to cancel the contract.

Following the cancellation of the contract, Fairfield Seaborn Contractors Inc. of Caledon, who ranked second in the bidding process, was contracted to complete the required work.

“They came in and helped us on fairly short notice and we offered that option this year, to extend that,” Matt Doner, the town’s public works director, said of Fairfield Seaborn Contractors. “It was the first relationship that we had working with them and we had a good experience.”

As the 2023 works met the contract requirements, Public Works requested pricing from Fairfield Seaborn Contractors Inc. to complete the 2024 works.

Their 2024 bid includes a 1.5 per cent increase from 2023. That’s an hourly price of $298.32 for two units with operators.

The cancelled Green Maples Environmental contract had been $266.68 per hour for the equipment and the two operators.

The contract may be extended to 2025, subject to the work meeting all the requirements described within the signed bid document, completed to a level that is satisfactory to the town, and be competitively priced.

Councillor Ralph Manktelow wondered if the contract’s 2025 extension would be of the same price.

Doner said that could potentially be the case.

“We ask in the fall for pricing for the following year,” he said. “If they fall into that CPI (consumer price index) range, roughly, we’ll consider that and extend it and bring it to council for their final approval.”

The CPI refers to the changes in prices over time.

Street-sweeping costs have generally risen from year to year because of increases in fuel costs and labour costs.

Deputy Mayor Fred Nix suggested a better price for the service may be achieved if Mono partnered with Dufferin County or Orangeville in tendering for street sweeping.

“They bring that equipment, they go around and do our roads,” Nix said. “But to do our roads they’ve got travel up and down some county roads. Why couldn’t we do them all the same time?”

“It’s logistics based on when our fleet’s available,” Doner said. “We try to get out there early on. As soon as we look at the forecast and know that there’s no weather coming that we’re going to be reapplying winter sand on roads that we just swept.”

He said Dufferin County’s public works department has its own sweeper, attached to a tractor. He isn’t sure if it’s the same as what Mono needs, which is a sweeper that dumps material into a tandem truck for transport to a landfill.

The Town of Orangeville also has different equipment, Doner said.

“This allows us with the flexibility to align with our operations,” Doner said. “We’re not at somebody else’s mercy.”

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