Updates on smart meters and a disputed Lake Wanapitei access point are expected to spur discussion during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Both items are on the night’s agenda, with the meeting the first to be conducted in person since the pandemic began, with both city council members and the public at large invited back.
The city’s mask mandate is ending in most locations on Monday, including Tom Davies Square, as the city continues “gradually returning to as close to the pre-pandemic life as we have been in two years,” Deputy Mayor Al Sizer said in a recent media release.
While in-person attendance will be allowed, some city council members might choose to continue working from home. An informal poll conducted last year revealed an appetite among the city’s elected officials for a blended virtual/in-person format continuing into the long term.
Provincial legislation and a corresponding city bylaw amendment have allowed city council members to participate in meetings remotely for the past two years, an allowance that remains in place.
Tuesday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m., and a livestream will be available by clicking here for those who do not attend in person.
Smart meters will save the city $628,000 per year, cost $17M
The smart meters being installed to measure property owners’ water use will cost approximately $17 million and save the city $628,000 per year upon project completion at the end of the year.
This, according to the city’s latest estimate for the project, which has seen 8,753 of the approximately 48,400 devices installed thus far in Wards 10, 12, 1 and 11. The to-date expenditure has been $7.4 million.
The devices replace traditional water meters, and unlike the aging meters they replace can be read remotely on a near real-time basis, which will do away with most in-person meter reading.
In a June 2019 municipal report that advocated for the smart meters, it’s noted that the city’s existing water meters had “reached their useful life expectancy and should be replaced at an estimated cost of $10.2 million,” and that replacing them with smart meters instead of like meters would cost an additional $7 million.
“The project has a payback of 10.2 years, so over the expected asset life, the benefits of this project exceed financial costs by a significant amount and are also greater than simply maintaining the status quo,” according to the municipal report of the day.
The Advanced Metering Infrastructure System was approved by city council in 2019 and will see smart meters installed on all residential, industrial, commercial and institutional accounts in the city along with radio transmitters to collect and transmit data on a near real-time basis.
The new meters will allow the city to bill 98 per cent of customers within three business days of the end of a billing period based on actual smart meter readings. This affects the city’s Community Energy and Emissions Plan goals, in that timely billing will allow users to effectively manage their water consumption choices and resulting costs, according to a municipal report.
Meter installations have continued since that time, though the city reports pandemic-related impacts on resources and COVID-related safety concerns slowing things down. As such, the project will not meet its Sept. 23 substantial completion target, and will instead aim for Dec. 23.
Poupore Road West boulders returning
The boulders blocking Lake Wanapitei access at the end of Poupore Road West in Skead are slated to be reinstalled by city staff this spring and removed again in the autumn to accommodate ice huts – a process they will follow until another direction is provided.
This much is affirmed in a report to city council to be debated on Tuesday, which outlines the boulders’ and the unofficial boat launch’s controversial history and a public consultation plan.
A community petition last summer urged the city to install boulders at the end of Poupore Road West to block lake access. They expressed concerns regarding traffic congestion blocking access to their properties during peak times and vehicles blocking access for snow plows, buses and emergency vehicles, among other things.
City administration followed through with this plan in December and installed the boulders at a cost of approximately $3,500.
Receiving immediate backlash from lake users who were concerned about winter access to the lake, Mayor Brian Bigger ordered the boulders’ removal, prompting city staff to remove enough of them to allow winter access for ice huts.
A subsequent counter petition urged for continued lake access, with proponents arguing that boat launch opponents’ concerns had been overstated.
With the can of worms opened, the city has planned a public consultation process for this year to determine the unofficial boat launch’s future and the potential for a replacement lake access point. City council will discuss the proposed public consultation plan during Tuesday's city council meeting. It includes meetings and communication with stakeholders based in Skead, an online presence for feedback, virtual meetings and sharing information on various platforms.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Ward 7 Coun. Mike Jakubo (who represents the area on city council) said he is prepared to ask staff to:
- Again provide access for ice huts to get onto and off the lake in the winter.
- Seek a reasonable period of time in the Spring for Skeadonians and property owners to launch their boats and then again a reasonable amount of time in the Fall to pull those boats out of the lake.
Traffic-calming policy update
A traffic-calming policy update is being proposed by Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh and seconded by Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti, which as a reconsideration of city council direction will require two-thirds’ approval of city council to move forward on Tuesday.
The proposal would do away with the public support requirement in the policy. A public consultation process would remain before traffic-calming infrastructure such as speed bumps are installed.
In the preamble to their motion, it’s explained that the current policy requires a 50 per cent response rate from area residents and a minimum of 60 per cent support from respondents.
Since the policy came into play in 2019, eight locations have gone to the public consultation/survey stage and only two achieved the minimum response and support rate to proceed.
“Residents have expressed frustrations with regard to the process to advance traffic calming projects while their concerns regarding speeding on the road continue,” according to the motion.
This conversation relates to the city’s recent push for temporary traffic bollards to be installed along 10 of the highest-ranking locations in the municipality this year. With only one street per year receiving permanent traffic-calming infrastructure, the bollards are intended to help fill the gap for the interim.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
