The city’s annual street-sweeping program is “substantially complete,” but work will continue this week and into next.
David Shelstead, director of roads with Greater Sudbury, said in a phone message that the operation is finished, with the exception of some areas have to be swept again.
“The contractor will be in town, and city crews will also be doing some sweeping, to finish up some deficiencies, this week and the remainder of next week if required,” Shelstead said.
He said the “deficiencies” are areas not properly swept, because, for example, there were cars parked in the area when the sweepers went through.
“We follow up backwards and go and do those types of areas,” he said.
Calls to Shelsted’s office looking for follow-up comment weren’t returned by late in the day May 24. A news release issued May 16 said the sweeping program was on schedule to be complete by the Victoria Day weekend. The release was a response to a request from Ward 2 Coun. Jacques Barbeau, who heads the city’s operations committee. Barbeau said he has heard complaints from residents and staff that the sweeping was behind and not being done properly.
Barbeau said he wasn’t impressed by the press release’s insistence that everything was on schedule.
“It was not (supposed) to make it sound like all was well on the contractor end of things,” Barbeau said May 22, following a meeting of the finance committee. “In fact, the exact opposite is true.
“I think residents are entitled to know that, in fact, things did not go according to plan. This is not the type of service we paid to deliver.”
The PSA said everything was on track and on schedule with the street sweeping this year, refuting a media report that quoted Barbeau and Greg Clausen, the city's general manager of infrastructure.
The story said the program was behind schedule and wouldn’t be complete by the end of May. Most of Chelmsford, Onaping, Dowling, Levack and Capreol haven’t been swept yet, the story said, and it was unlikely the process would be complete on time.
But, the May 16 release that said the work was, in fact, proceeding on schedule and many of those communities have already been swept.
“The City of Greater Sudbury’s street sweeping program will be complete by the Victoria Day weekend,” the release said. “Municipal crews began street sweeping operations during the last week of March. Communities assigned to city crews, including Levack, Dowling and Onaping, were completed by May 1.
“Communities assigned to the city’s contractor are either complete or nearing completion. Street sweeping in Capreol was completed during the first week of May. The former City of Sudbury is complete. The contractor is currently finishing streets in Chelmsford and Lively.”
An American-based company, DeAngelo Brothers, was awarded a three-year contract in 2011 to head up the city’s annual street sweeping program. The city received several complaints last year, and a staff report found the contractor “arrived in the city with insufficient equipment to complete the contract within the designated timeline.”
So last year, the city stepped in to help the contractor complete the work. This year, the contractor is sub-contracting some of the work to city crews.
Shannon Dowling, a media relations officer with the city, said information in the release is accurate.
“We can’t speak to what other media outlets are reporting,” Dowling said. “But what was written in the PSA is accurate. Where other people got their information, I don’t know.”
She also declined to comment on whether the city is content with the job the DeAngelo Brothers has done this year.
“When it comes to the contract, it would be an internal thing,” she said. “So conversations between staff and the contractor would be internal ... We wouldn’t be discussing (publicly) what’s said between them.
“But I can tell you what is in the PSA is accurate information.”
But Barbeau disputes that, saying he and others have heard complaints from residents across Greater Sudbury.
“The street sweeping is not fine,” he said. “Our own staff, who look after some of the residential rural areas, did an absolutely terrific job. But they had to come in and help the contractor.
“The contractor did not perform according to the contract ... To offer such a comment is completely wrong. That is not the case.
“We will have to look again at what the contract is at the end of the contract and decide what we’re going to do for the next spring event.”
DeAngelo Brothers signed a three-year contract for street sweeping, which means they have one more year left after this one. Barbeau couldn’t say whether the city would be able to cancel the remaining year.
Posted by Arron Pickard
