Barrie councillors want city workers to keep cutting grass on steep slopes at municipal facilities, approving plans to purchase remote-controlled mowing equipment after staff recommended ending the practice over safety concerns.
A staff memorandum deferred from May 13 recommended ending mowing operations on hazardous grades because of what's been described as significant safety risks and equipment limitations.
The slopes include areas around the surface water treatment plant, emergency services campus, and other city-owned facilities.
Barrie's News Delivered To Your Inbox
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Central Ontario Broadcasting, 431 Huronia Rd, Barrie, Ontario, CA, https://www.cobroadcasting.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Just after the city's corporate facilities department assumed responsibility for in-house lawn maintenance services in April 2024, there was a near-miss incident that occurred during maintenance on sloped terrain, the memo says. That incident then triggered a formal review.
The subsequent review found that multiple city facility properties contain areas originally designed to be naturalized. Also, contractors who previously maintained these areas either used specialized slope equipment or, more likely, operated unsafely beyond equipment design limits, running the risk of their machines rolling over.
Committee members unanimously supported an amendment from Deputy Mayor Robert Thomson authorizing staff to purchase remote-controlled mowing equipment so maintenance can continue safely.
The funds would come from the city's tax capital reserve and would be equal to or less than $50,000.
"There's liabilities that have become a little too dangerous and it creates more problems," he rationalized during the meeting. "But not being able to cut also creates a different line of problems."
Overall, the aim by staff to cease the slope cutting would aid in cost-saving while reducing risk of costly injury claims or Ontario Health and Safety Board enforcement.
Rick Pews, the city's director of corporate facilities, says that staff have already looked into what the new teleautonomous equipment would be and that the cost falls under the limit.
According to the memo, staff was interested in purchasing a particular model that was larger and between $80,000 and $100,000 in cost, with annual upkeep costs of $16,000 to $18,500.
"The ones we were looking at before were much larger... we were looking at doing much larger areas [like] stormwater management ponds across the city." Pews told the committee. "[With] this one being smaller, we won't be able to do things as often, but certainly a few times a summer, I think, is gonna be a lot better than not doing them at all, and we can pick and choose what we do and when we do it."
The desired mower is around just under 160 kilograms, and would need to be transported in trailers that currently carry the city's zero-turn lawn mowers.
Thomson says that the hope is that city employees will get used using the remote-control equipment on the 50-degree slope at the surface water treatment facility before trying it around retention ponds and other areas.
Coun. Bryn Hamilton, who represents Ward 10 where the treatment facility is located, says servicing the surrounding grassy areas is important to the nearby neighbourhood.
"I've heard from a number of residents who back on to the water treatment facility specifically in this area has been maintained for the past couple of years," she said. "So we've set that level of service expectation already, and it's actually a beautiful area when it's well maintained. It hasn't been maintained over the past couple of weeks, months."
Later in the evening, city council formally received the memorandum along with Thomson's amendment.
