Councillors discussed road maintenance,–Roundup– in the middle of the ongoing pothole season, received the 2021 Annual Drinking Water Report, approved new procedures regarding incorporating land widenings into city roadways, addressed sewage capacity issues on along Dewitt Road, voted to implement natural burials at the Mount Hamilton Cemetery, voted for a new playground at Eleanor Park in the Templemead neighbour in honour of 11-year-old Jude Strickland, a new pedestrian crossing and sidewalk for the Ancaster performing arts centre, adding more wheelchair-accessible swings to parks, and a series of local park improvements. Councillors heard from Hamilton’s Chief Road Official, Edward Soldo, on changes to how the City seals cracks on roadways. “Once you have cracks in the road, you then will start to suffer things such as pavement falling apart in terms of creating potholes,” Soldo stated. “Crack sealing is a very effective means of preserving the roadway itself. We are right now in the process of developing and more robust preservation strategy for pavement.” This follows the City conducting a “trial” sealing technique between 2017 and 2019 which failed, and a “pause in crack sealing by Transportation Operations & Maintenance in 2020 due to resourcing.” An auditor revealed the decision of Public Works to discontinue crack sealing. Following the audit, in 2021, the City hired a private firm to conduct 18,000 linear metres of sealing. The City is increasing funding for sealing by 50% in 2022, and plans to increase funding by 5% each year going forward. The City will prioritize sealing on roadways that are three to seven years old in non-residential locations. Sealing will occur during late summer and fall to prevent water from infiltrating the roadway during winter. This should prevent the development of potholes. “All councillors have been getting a lot of tension on potholes,” noted Ward 8 Clr John-Paul Danko. Councillors received the update without much debate. The legal processes for incorporating new development and sub-division road widening and right-of-way lands into the City of Hamilton’s ownership is complex and “very cumbersome.” City staff are streamlining the process by asking Council to approve delegating the entire process to staff. Council will approve the incorporation bylaws directly as bylaw bills instead of the present procedure of staff reports to committees, followed by Council approval, followed by drafting the bylaw bill. Councillors discussed how complicated the present process is, and approved the new procedures. Councillors approved adding $1,561,000 to the budget for road reconstruction to expand sewer capacity underneath Dewitt Road between Highway 8 and Barton Street in Stoney Creek. The expanded capacity is needed to both address present capacity constraints and to respond to development plans along Highway 8. An August 2019 engineering report found portions of the existing sewers are already overcapacity. The 375 mm portion of pipe which runs from Highway 8 to just north of Juniper Drive is overcapacity. The pipe expands to 450mm in front of Orchard Park Secondary School. This 450 mm section is nearing its capacity between approximately MacIntosh Drive to Dupont Street, where it expands to 525 mm at the northern edge of the Our Lady of Peace Catholic Elementary School. Half of the expansion will be funded from Development Charges, and half funded from the existing rate budget. The 2019 Development Charges Study determined half the expansion need is attributable to existing need and half is to facilitate new development. The sewers north of Barton Street, which run to the Sanitary Sewer Truck under Seaman Street will require further expansion as well. The overall budget for the sewers and road reconstruction on Dewitt Road is $4,173,238 (not including contingency and non-refundable HST). More details, including the capacity diagrams, in another TPR story: Council Votes to Expand Sewer Capacity on Dewitt Road Following 2019 Study Showing It’s Maxxed Out The City of Hamilton will begin offering green burial options at Mount Hamilton Cemetery in the near future following Ward 7 Clr Esther Pauls committing $100,000 from the Ward 7 area-rated funds to create an 8,400 square metre space for burials done without non-biodegradable materials. Hamilton resident Rochelle Martin worked to convince the City of Hamilton that green burials are viable, and many people expressed interest in the option. (See: TheSpec, August 2018) Council also approved adding $55,000 per year to the cemeteries budget for a half-time position coordinating green burials.