The Municipality of Grey Highlands will increase a road maintenance grant that it provides to private local road associations.
At its meeting on Feb. 21, Grey Highlands council reviewed a staff report about the municipality’s Private Road Grant Policy and its various private road maintenance agreements.
In 2017, Grey Highlands implemented the grant policy in an effort to get the municipality out of the business of providing road maintenance to private roads. Instead of receiving maintenance from the municipality, private road associations were provided a grant of $1.39 per linear metre of road to be used by the association for road maintenance needed.
Although the new grant policy was implemented, six private road associations were “grandfathered” under the new policy and continued to receive maintenance directly from the municipality.
The review of the policy and the various maintenance agreements was prompted by a request from the Lakewood Lane Road Association, near Irish Lake, to enter into a maintenance agreement with the municipality for spring and summer road maintenance. The Lakewood association has been receiving funding through the grant program of $1,209.30 per year.
A staff report on the matter outlined three decisions for council to make.
- Council had to decide on whether to increase the grant amount from $1.39 per linear metre to $2.46, staff proposed the increase due to inflationary pressures.
- Council had to decide whether to direct staff to negotiate a maintenance agreement with the Lakewood group.
- Council also had a choice of continuing with the status quo for the program with six grandfathered maintenance agreements or to end all agreements and transition all local private road associations to the grant policy.
“The program has been working well, it has solved an issue,” said Mayor Paul McQueen, regarding the grant policy.
Ultimately council voted to increase the grant, deny the request from the Lakewood group and keep the status quo of six grandfathered agreements and the rest using the grant policy.
Coun. Dan Wickens was the lone councillor to vote against all three options.
“When they bought the cottages, they knew it was a private road. I don’t think we should be doing the maintenance for anybody,” said Wickens.
