By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—The following items were discussed at Council on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Any decisions made will need to be ratified at the Council meeting on Monday, February 13.
Budget for Frank Marshall Business Park storm pond upgrade to cost $372K more than budgeted
A stormwater management pond located at the Frank Marshall Business Park in Dunnville has reached its current capacity, requiring an upgrade to handle additional development along Ramsey Drive, including an in-development affordable housing project.
The County put out a tender on the project in December, receiving 10 compliant bids from contractors, with the lowest bid coming in at $316,000 higher than the approved $1.6 million construction budget for the project.
The approved overall budget also included $100,000 toward engineering and testing of the upgrade, but the costs for this aspect of the project also came in $52,000 higher than expected, resulting in a total budget amendment of $372,000 and a total projected expense of $2.072 million.
County staff noted that while the budget amendment has an impact on the Industrial Land Sales Reserve Fund, the costs will be recovered through servicing fees paid by property owners.
The upgrade will take the stormwater pond to its ultimate capacity. It will include the excavation and grading of roughly 40,000m3 of material, the installation of a pond liner, reconstruction of the pond’s inlet and outlet, the construction of a new maintenance and access road, and the disposal of 30,000m3 of excess soil.
County to continue utilizing online voting after successful first run
County staff have revealed that 40.72% of all votes cast in the 2022 municipal election were done so through advanced online voting, prompting staff to re-evaluate how future election activities are handled in Haldimand.
In terms of advance voting, of the 7,468 votes cast before election day, 6,074 were done online, accounting for over 81% of the advance vote.
Based on the 2022 results, staff are recommending that the number of in-person voting locations on Election Day be reduced accordingly, noting that while the County will continue to ensure voting locations are available in all major areas, Dunnville and Caledonia will be reduced from two in-person locations to just one each.
Internet voting was touted by staff for providing increased accessibility to residents who wish to vote but may have trouble physically getting to a voting location, with staff attributing the County’s 2022 turnout rate to the availability of online voting. In nearby Brant County and Brantford voter turnout dropped by over 26% compared to the 2018 election, but Haldimand County saw a slight uptick, going from 36.05% turnout in 2018 to 36.5% in 2022.
County considers two private offers to purchase surplus lands
County staff have given clearance to proceed with the sale and conveyance of two separate stretches of unopened road allowances, located in Dunnville and Cayuga, and deemed surplus and not required for municipal purposes.
The first request relates to a section of unopened road allowance along Farr Road in Dunnville. As the requested conveyance falls along the lakeshore, County staff have recommended approval of the sale with conditions, one being that current drainage routes along the municipal property cannot be impeded, and the knowledge that any future work related to shoreline protection will be the sole responsibility of the property owners.
The second request relates to sections of Snow Street and Hill Street in Cayuga, which contain two unopened road allowances abutting privately owned properties.
Staff have determined that both unopened road allowances are surplus to the County’s needs, however the offer submitted to the County for both purchases came in lower than the County’s value calculation based on their Vacant Land Value Chart. As such, staff discussed the matter in a closed session on Tuesday to consider the sale. Details on the results of that closed meeting were not available prior to publication.
