Council update: Grass cutting and line painting tenders; election signage timing

By Sharon Harrison
Whether it’s grass cutting or road line painting, it’s that time of year again when the municipality puts out tenders for the work as spring approaches. This week’s regular council meeting also included discussion on the appropriate timing of when this year’s municipal election signs should be allowed to be erected.

Council also approved the renewal of the land ambulance service agreement with Hastings County EMS, which remains largely unchanged except to extend it from five years to eight.

For those anticipating the deputation from the Highland Shores Children’s Aid Society, it didn’t happen and has been re-scheduled to the May 26 council meeting.

An update from the Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation was among the agenda items discussed, see that separate story here

Summarized below are some of the highlights from the meeting.

Grass cutting tenders
The County will spend $265,000 this year to ensure grass on municipal lands is maintained this season, covering some 159 municipally-owned or managed properties (including cemeteries), for the 2026-2028 seasons. Ten bids were received at the tendering process, eight of which were compliant.

The following companies were successful in securing three-year contracts amounting to an overall total cost of $795,000 (estimated) for three years covering for the various County wards. The contract will begin on April 1, 2026, to end on November 17, 2028.

(Costs are per annum, plus taxes):
2842793 Ontario Inc. – Picton $88,805, Wellington $25,745, Ameliasburgh $32,815
Breadman Property Care – Bloomfield-Hallowell $38,195, Hillier $7,744
Martin’s Construction & Demolition Inc. – North Marysburgh $16,898.08
Find A Way Property Maintenance Inc. – South Marysburgh and Athol $8,697.20, Sophiasburgh $11,403.60.

“I am happy to say that tender has come in under the previous amount that was recorded for the previous three years, so we are sitting in a pretty good place,” said Albert Paschkowiak, supervisor of environmental services and sustainability.

Line painting and pavement marking tenders
A tender for line painting and pavement marking was awarded in the sum of $333,994.94 (plus taxes) to Stoneline Ltd., the lowest of the eight bids received.

Coming in at a total cost of $383.860.58, there is a $16,139.42 surplus from the $400,000 approved operating budget, which staff recommend directing to refreshing three commemorative crosswalks and two pride crosswalks with no additional budget impact.

Recent year results indicate that pricing has stabilized following the volatility experienced in 2022 noted Ronnie Joslin, construction and technical services supervisor, which may support consideration of a multi-year approach in future years, he said.

Councillor John Hirsch raised a point about a time when the paint used to paint the roads lasted more than a season.

“The rules about not having any VOCs and not having lead and not having any good in paint makes the paint go away way too fast. Has anyone ever given any thought to the areas, the high-wear ones that are crossed all the time, what if you did two coats the same year, so do it and come back and do it again. Would that last longer?” he enquired.

Joslin said some municipalities do both a spring and fall application, but he said the County only do a single application in the spring on the higher arterial roads where there is higher traffic crossing the paint.

“If you doubled up and did it in the spring and the fall, would it last longer, yes, but you are going to be increasing the quantity by double,” he said.

Councillor Phil St-Jean brought up the two Pride rainbow crosswalks in Picton where he asked about the timeline for getting those painted, noting that last year it was left a little late.

“The contractor who was responsible for doing the one across from the arena did not get it done, and it is all but non-existent at this point,” shared St-Jean. Joslin said he has been informed that the current design of the Pride crosswalk isn’t the supported design at this time.

“I would like to investigate further about what is being used by other municipalities for the Pride crosswalk and do more research versus painting what’s existing as I’ve heard that its not correct,” he said. He further confirmed that now funds have been allocated, it would be done for June.

Election sign timing
The issue of restricting election signage was raised again by councillor Brad Nieman, and which ended up garnering a fair amount of discussion around the horseshoe. His point was that anyone running for election would not be able to put their sign up until after the nomination period closes (Aug. 24). The nomination period opens May 1.

By restricting it, it benefits the incumbent,” he said, “and anybody new that’s running, they would like to get their name out there to have a fair chance and to have it out there. May 1 you are able to put your name in, you should be able to start putting signs up, if you want, the legislation allows it.”

He said people will be starting campaigning and knocking on doors before August, where he asked why they are being restricted by not being able to put their signs up.

“The whole intent is that we have heard from our business community and how difficult it is and having that much more competition to distract people’s attention on top of real estate signs and events,” expressed mayor Steve Ferguson. “I just thought it was appropriate, particularly in this economy, to allow, to give consideration to the businesses, that’s all.”

He added that there are lots of other ways people can campaign, such as brochures, door-to-door, town hall meetings, and so on.

“Any good election officer or consultant will tell you that incumbents putting time limits on election timelines on signs always, always benefits the incumbent,” contributed councillor Chris Braney. “I want to have an even playing field for the candidates running, it is our responsibility to encourage that. Let the clerk run the election, and do the right thing, we shouldn’t even be discussing these types of things.”

Councillor Kate MacNaughton said they want to encourage a level playing field where the incumbents aren’t able to have an early advantage.

“Seeking a level playing field for those who are lower income participants potentially in this important electoral process should be where we put our efforts,” she said. “The true advantage in an election is the people with the money; if you’ve got a lot of money, you’ve got an easier pathway to election.”

“If we restrict timing, it also restricts members of the public from putting signs on their lawns, and when they put signs on their lawns, they are advocating and they are exercising their freedom of expression,” added Catalina Blumenberg, municipal clerk.

The nominations period for next year’s council opens May 1, for the election Oct. 26th. Candidates will be allowed to put up election signs at any point within the campaign period.

Further information and associated reports and attachments on all agenda items, as well as the meeting recording, can be found on the County’s website.