Members of Chatham-Kent Council have admitted they might have been somewhat hasty when removing dust suppression during budget deliberations.
Ward 6 councillor Michael Bondy presented his motion to bring back dust control services to dirt roads at Monday night’s council meeting.
The service consists of coating Chatham-Kent’s gravel roads with sodium, calcium, and magnesium chlorides to reduce dust and debris, but its elimination from the 2025 budget update freed up almost $1.4million annually to help reduce the tax burden on local residents.
Four in-person depositions were given at the start of Monday’s meeting, urging council members to rethink their decision to cut the service.
Beth Gladstone said the number of large trucks that frequent the gravel road in front of her home, particularly when traffic is re-routed off the 401, creates dense clouds of dust that become a major safety hazard.
“We have seen vehicles approaching from opposite directions in near-zero visibility, an accident waiting to happen,” explained Gladstone.
Bondy’s original motion, which aimed to have dust suppression services restored immediately, was amended after much discussion by council. In the end, it was a 13-3 vote in favour of administration following the procurement process for dust suppression services with the goal being to have a partial application completed this year. The funding for the work would be taken from the strategic reserve.
“I think that councillor Bondy’s motion represents a good idea,” said Ward 1 councillor Melissa Harrigan. “We maybe made a knee-jerk reaction about dust suppression, and that conversation during our budget discussions. It seems there is more information that needs to be learned about dust suppression.”
Councillors Conor Allin and Brock McGregor, along with Mayor Darrin Canniff, voted against the revised motion. Councillor John Wright did not cast a vote due to a conflict of interest, and Councillor Amy Finn was not in attendance.
The second part of the motion requested a report be presented to council before next year’s procurement to decide whether to reinstate effective dust control on gravel roads going forward. This was voted through 16-0.
Chatham-Kent’s General Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Services, Edward Soldo, was honest in what could be the projected timeline for the project.
“By the time we get a contractor on board, following an RFP process, it’s going to be September,” said Soldo. “We might get 25 percent of the roads done this year.”
With no confirmed timeline for when the dust suppression project could begin, the total cost to taxpayers remains uncertain.
