Although the province has cut the gas tax, the feds are giving even more to the county.
Craig Douglas, the Haliburton County Director of Public Works, got the go-ahead from council to allocate some extra funds from the Federal Gas Tax to work on County Roads 4 and 17.
Douglas met with the council earlier today, saying that the Roads Committee had learned that municipalities were going to get “a bonus allocation equal to the 2018 gas tax allocation”. According to Douglas, originally staff suggested doing hot mix paving on County Road 16 easterly from Highway 35.
After seeking out pricing for that work, Douglas said that unit prices for that work were higher than previous work and it would be an extra $85,000. Because of the extra costs to do that work, Douglas said that staff felt this project was better suited for the extra funds for a number of reasons.
The reasoning includes the fact that County Road 16 being so close to County Road 1 which is earmarked for paving as well, meaning that they could get better pricing. Another factor for that suggestion was the fact that 16 should not generate spring potholes like a surface treatment road does. As well, 4 and 17 are not on the list of roads to be worked on and they are both sustained damage.
According to Douglas, the surface treatment option is the lower cost option which means they can have a contingency allowance. As well, he says that Miller Paving has agreed to hold their prices for surfacing.
Although he did make that recommendation and it was approved, he did note that the money is not in the account just yet.