CREMONA – The Village of Cremona's public works department is not for hire.
Council unanimously agreed during the regular Jan. 21 meeting that neither residents nor business owners could contract out the service.
“We had a resident in the village wondering if public works can be hired,” said mayor Robert Reid.
Inviting feedback from his colleagues, there was a consensus against contracting out the village’s public works department with liability and insurance being the main concerns.
“There are circumstances where it’s operational, where (public works) has the operational ability to decide if something needs to be done on a person’s property,” said Reid following the brief roundtable discussion, adding those are one-off operational decisions.
“(But) for us to contract out public works is just a minefield,” he said.
“Snow removal on private property, businesses – it’s an insurance nightmare,” the mayor said, adding the village could find itself liable if someone were to for example slip on a section of a business’s sidewalk that had been plowed by public works.
In response to a note raised by the mayor with regards to the municipality’s master rates and fees bylaw, administration said certain items are included on the schedule for billing purposes in the event public works is tasked to step in when a property owner is deemed negligent.
“It’s no different than unsightly (premises),” said Karen O’Connor, chief administrative officer.
Council ultimately opted against contracting out public works.
