City seeks to sweep away troubled street cleaning contract

The DeAngelo Brothers struggled each year to finish the work on time, requiring help from city staff in at least the first two years. Under terms of the 2011 contract, the winning bidder was required to clean 616 kilometres of city streets within 15 working days, or three weeks. However, a 2011 staff report said that numerous complaints had been received about dust storms created during cleaning, the “poor quality” of the sweeping and the length of time it took to complete the contract.

Staff also said they believe that the contractor “arrived in the city with insufficient equipment to complete the contract within the designated timeline.”

The problems generated several complaints, prompting anger on the part of city council. Ward 8 Coun. Fabio Belli said in 2011 the sweeping kicked up such a dust storm in some areas, residents were asking him if the city would pay to have their windows cleaned.

“I honestly believe my two- or three-year-old could do a better job than the services that we're getting from this company right now,” he said at the time. “I'm very disappointed.”

Things improved in 2012, but problems persisted. While the quality of work improved, it was still a slow process. Ward 2 Coun. Jacques Barbeau, chair of the city's operations committee, said in 2012 the problems weren't going away.

“It's not so much the quality this year, as it was the time it took to complete the work, as well as complaints we received from the public,” Barbeau 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.”

By last year, it was clear the contract would be put out to tender again, rather than being renewed for the optional two more years. The city’s annual budget for spring cleanup is around $850,000, which includes street-sweeping operations. Street cleaning normally begins in April, weather permitting, with the goal of being finished by the long weekend in May.