By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh
Witless Bay council unanimously approved two separate motions at its September 9 public meeting on tenders related to winter road maintenance, deferred one other, and also voted down a resident’s request for reimbursement related to snow clearing damage from last winter.
Council awarded the contract for provision of 300 metric tonnes of road salt to the lowest bidder, Avalon Coal, Salt and Oil Ltd. of Bay Roberts, at a cost of $40,383, plus HST.
It then awarded the contract for provision of 700 metric tonnes of winter road sand to lowest bidder, O’Brien’s Trucking of Witless Bay, at a cost of $33,600, plus HST.
“You can’t have the salt without the sand,” said councillor Ralph Carey.
Councillor Gerard Dunne declared a conflict of interest prior to the vote on the salt contract because the company he works for had submitted a bid.
The salt and sand are to be delivered by October 9.
Council later deferred its decision on awarding its snow clearing contract for the 2026-2027 season until more information could be gathered.
“It’s our snow clearing contract so it’s a considerable amount of money so what we’re trying to do is look at every possible way to get the service provided at the best possible value,” said Carey in making the motion to defer. “We have time, this is not absolutely urgent.”
Dunne declared a conflict of interest on the snow clearing discussion.
Carey also made the motion to deny a resident’s request for reimbursement for snow clearing damages last winter, arguing the snow clearing contractor is not liable for claims made after May 1.
“We have photos but unfortunately it was brought to our attention after the deadline,” Carey said, adding that if they make an exception there’s no point having a deadline.
