Town of BWG on the hook for half the cost of Simcoe Road Bridge sidewalk

In the committee of the whole meeting at council on Tuesday night, councillors deliberated over the money demanded by the County of Simcoe for the redesign and upgrades done to the Simcoe County Bridge, which connects Simcoe Road and Canal Road.

In 2016, Simcoe County replaced the aging bridge over the north canal, widening it and, at the request of the town, adding a sidewalk.

Originally, BWG town staff assumed the sidewalk would be paid for because it was a county bridge. The county refused.

"The issue was that there are other county bridges that have sidewalks, and the other individual towns weren't asked to pay for a portion of the sidewalks," said Mayor Rob Keffer.

The county is now seeking $160,000, half the cost of the sidewalk, plus an additional $10,399 for amendments to the original design of the bridge.

Coun. Mark Contois questioned why the town has to pay for the what is the county’s responsibility. “It makes no sense in my mind...Obviously I’m not in favour of it,” Contois said.

Coun. Peter Ferragine agreed, saying, “At the end of the day, it’s Simcoe County’s bridge. I don’t think we should be fronting this cost.”

But Coun. Gary Lamb pointed out that the town is responsible for other bridges in the Holland Marsh, and that the Simcoe Road bridge was in danger of collapse. He added, “Because of the process and their (Simcoe County’s) policy, I don’t know if we have a choice.”

Coun. Raj Sandhu said that he was bothered about the repayment but understood why it was coming back to council. He proposed deferring the payment to “see what our options are.”

Chief Admintrative Officer, Geoff McKnight advised it might be better to just pay the county the outstanding balance, in case the county responds by withholding payments for other projects in Bradford West Gwillimbury, like the Line 5 interchange at Highway 400; Simcoe County is contributing 1/3 of the cost. He speculated that if the town did not pay its bill for the Simcoe bridge, the county might withhold an equivalent amount.

“I suppose the county could withhold some portion of payment they owe us, if they want to play that game,” McKnight said.

Coun. Gary Baynes agreed, “We go ahead and pay.”

A majority of council voted in favour of making the payment; Coun. Ferragine and Coun. Contois voted against.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Deputy Mayor James Leduc, but he added, “There’s bigger fights to have in the future.”

"Pardon the pun, but this topic is water under the bridge at this point," said Coun. Baynes.

