The situation became more complex last summer for the public works department in the City of Saguenay. With major projects underway in the region, such as Rio Tinto or Bagotville, bitumen and concrete suppliers are not chasing small contracts, explains the president of the commission, Jimmy Bouchard.
“For large asphalting contracts, like next year, we will have 24 million [de dollars] which we are going to divide into three contracts, there is no issue. It’s a big volume. Where it is more problematic is for repairs or for small portions of sidewalks.”
Municipal councilor and head of the Public Works Commission, Jimmy Bouchard. (Sophie Lavoie/Le Quotidien)
And when they manage to sign a contract, it comes at a high price. “At the same time, I understand the suppliers. Let’s take concrete, they have the choice of being on a large construction site for two days where it will be rolling all day or walking around a few street corners in the city to repair a sidewalk,” continues Mr. Bouchard.
The solutions
In Saguenay, it was decided that for the next few years, longer portions of sidewalks will be repaired, making it possible to offer more attractive contracts.
Then, municipal employees do more sidewalk and curb work. “These are the people we hired in 2022 when we decided to take 75% of the snow removal under management. It’s part of their job in the summer.”
In 2023, nine kilometers of sidewalks and curbs will have been repaired or built by municipal employees. In 2024, it will be 12 km.
Savings on snow removal
In 2023, snow removal cost $800,000 less than expected. Jimmy Bouchard does not yet want to comment on the savings that will be made in 2024, but we can expect a similar amount, unless the months of November and December have a ton of snow in store for us.
The teams are also ready to begin their work when the first snowflakes fall.
