By Cecilia Nasmith
With two votes in dissent, Northumberland County council voted at its October meeting to expand the seasonal work force it hires for winter operations to 11 from nine.
Provincially-mandated minimum maintenance standards for municipal highways apply to 504 km. of major arterial roads in Northumberland County, said the report from manager of project engineering Denise Marshall.
Marshall pointed out that, under the current pandemic conditions, “the county may encounter a higher level of staff absences from work than normal due to illness, requirements to isolate in accordance with provincial and local health-authority directive, or requests for accommodations related to COVID.”
Her report noted an increase in the number of absences in the Transportation, Waste and Facilities Department - even in the past several weeks.
“In the winter months from Nov.1 to April 30, we have 15 plow routes during the day and two spare operators who are typically used to maintain each of the yards, assist with road closures and provide coverage in case of sickness during the day.
“At night, we have six plow routes with one spare operator to provide winter maintenance along the former provincial highways such as County Roads 2, 28, 30 and 45 and County Road 9 and the Emergency Detour Routes.”
Marshall estimated the additional cost for the added staff at $60,000.
Councillor Gail Latchford asked how the extra staffers would be classified – full-time-seasonal or as-needed.
Director of transportation, waste and facilities Mo Pannu said they would be full-time seasonal, present every day and ready to work as needed.
“What if we are not short-staffed?” Latchford wondered.
There will be work they can do, Pannu assured her.
“Going out and cleaning up in village and hamlet areas, attending during accidents and other areas we could assign them on duty,” he listed.
“Our roads staff are unionized, so these staffers can be assigned to non-union activities – like if there's a shortage in the waste department, we can send them to assist in that area as well.”
When they were reviewing this recommendation, Pannu said, they performed a cost-benefit analysis that pointed to this addition as the best bet.
“I think all our municipalities are going to be in the same situation,” Warden Bob Sanderson said.
“If these two additional staff are not necessary, they could potentially be available for lower-tier municipalities?”
“We do share equipment and forces on an as-needed basis, and this will be exception,” Pannu said.
