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Contractors were at it again Friday replacing the damaged lawn at Ottawa City Hall, this time after the jazz festival pulled up stakes. They rolled out the fresh sod and a sprinkler fed water to the newly installed turf as taxpayers absorbed the cost.
Using access to information, the Citizen asked for grass replacement invoices on file between Jan. 1, 2012 (after the Rink of Dreams was built) and June 8, 2017, related to the Laurier Street side of city hall.
All the invoices add up to $46,202.59, which includes sales tax.
River Coun. Riley Brockington said he’s concerned about the damage to the lawn and the ongoing replacement cost. He filed a written inquiry with staff last month during a community and protective services committee meeting and is waiting for a response.
On Friday, Brockington said he believes the annual sod replacement is “an irresponsible use of taxpayers’ dollars” and that money could be better spent on important programs.
He has been told that the city is considering other options, including patio stones.
“I would like to see a natural look, but I don’t want to replace it every year or every other year,” Brockington said.
“I’d like to see some kind of middle ground.”
The largest bill for grass replacement was in 2016, when the city paid $21,526.50 for the work, which included sod reinstatement covering 30,000 square feet of area.
The single purchase order on the city’s file for 2017 (at the time of the request in June) was for $10,296.84 to reinstate an area of 14,350 square feet.
Crews arrived at city hall in June to begin the annual ritual of digging up and replacing the ruined grass. Trucks dropped off skids of sod and the workers rolled out the strips. They roped off the grassed areas so people would know to stay off.
The city started replacing the damaged grass around the Rink of Dreams at city hall in June. Photo by Jon Willing.
About half of the grass on the Laurier Street side of the building around the Rink of Dreams was replaced in June, before the Ottawa Jazz Festival set up its performance tent on the other side of the concrete pad.
Dan Chenier, the city’s general manager of facility services, said rental contracts have a provision to hold the user responsible for any damage to the site, but in the specific case of the jazz festival, the organization hasn’t been billed for damages.
“A reinstatement of the sod all around the plaza was planned for this year to refresh the entire area and address incremental damage from summer and winter use,” Chenier said in an email. “The project was phased so that the areas occupied by the jazz festival could be reinstated only after the completion of the event.”
According to Chenier, most events cause only minor damage to the turf and it’s usually repaired by the city without any charges to the rental customers. If there’s significant damage, the city will go after the repair costs.
“Damage tends to be incremental over the season and this is addressed through ongoing maintenance activity by city hall staff,” Chenier said.
About half of city council has offices overlooking the Rink of Dreams and politicians make note of the annual sod installation.
“We do pay attention to that area,” Stittsville Coun. Shad Qadri said.
Qadri said the city would need to crunch the numbers to determine if it would be cheaper to find a permanent solution rather than replacing the grass each year.
Then again, there might not be a better alternative.
The city already lost much of its front lawn when it installed the Rink of Dreams, so replacing more of the grass with concrete or stone would virtually eliminate most of the greenery at the front of the building. Plus, this is a city trying to encourage stormwater management through porous surfaces.
Artificial turf could be cheesy and possibly embarrassing for a city hall in Canada’s capital, but it would require little attention and is adequate for several kinds of events. Of course, hot rib and poutine grease could be a problem if the stains don’t wash out.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
Using access to information, the Citizen asked for grass replacement invoices on file between Jan. 1, 2012 (after the Rink of Dreams was built) and June 8, 2017, related to the Laurier Street side of city hall.
All the invoices add up to $46,202.59, which includes sales tax.
River Coun. Riley Brockington said he’s concerned about the damage to the lawn and the ongoing replacement cost. He filed a written inquiry with staff last month during a community and protective services committee meeting and is waiting for a response.
On Friday, Brockington said he believes the annual sod replacement is “an irresponsible use of taxpayers’ dollars” and that money could be better spent on important programs.
He has been told that the city is considering other options, including patio stones.
“I would like to see a natural look, but I don’t want to replace it every year or every other year,” Brockington said.
“I’d like to see some kind of middle ground.”
The largest bill for grass replacement was in 2016, when the city paid $21,526.50 for the work, which included sod reinstatement covering 30,000 square feet of area.
The single purchase order on the city’s file for 2017 (at the time of the request in June) was for $10,296.84 to reinstate an area of 14,350 square feet.
Crews arrived at city hall in June to begin the annual ritual of digging up and replacing the ruined grass. Trucks dropped off skids of sod and the workers rolled out the strips. They roped off the grassed areas so people would know to stay off.
The city started replacing the damaged grass around the Rink of Dreams at city hall in June. Photo by Jon Willing.
About half of the grass on the Laurier Street side of the building around the Rink of Dreams was replaced in June, before the Ottawa Jazz Festival set up its performance tent on the other side of the concrete pad.
Dan Chenier, the city’s general manager of facility services, said rental contracts have a provision to hold the user responsible for any damage to the site, but in the specific case of the jazz festival, the organization hasn’t been billed for damages.
“A reinstatement of the sod all around the plaza was planned for this year to refresh the entire area and address incremental damage from summer and winter use,” Chenier said in an email. “The project was phased so that the areas occupied by the jazz festival could be reinstated only after the completion of the event.”
According to Chenier, most events cause only minor damage to the turf and it’s usually repaired by the city without any charges to the rental customers. If there’s significant damage, the city will go after the repair costs.
“Damage tends to be incremental over the season and this is addressed through ongoing maintenance activity by city hall staff,” Chenier said.
About half of city council has offices overlooking the Rink of Dreams and politicians make note of the annual sod installation.
“We do pay attention to that area,” Stittsville Coun. Shad Qadri said.
Qadri said the city would need to crunch the numbers to determine if it would be cheaper to find a permanent solution rather than replacing the grass each year.
Then again, there might not be a better alternative.
The city already lost much of its front lawn when it installed the Rink of Dreams, so replacing more of the grass with concrete or stone would virtually eliminate most of the greenery at the front of the building. Plus, this is a city trying to encourage stormwater management through porous surfaces.
Artificial turf could be cheesy and possibly embarrassing for a city hall in Canada’s capital, but it would require little attention and is adequate for several kinds of events. Of course, hot rib and poutine grease could be a problem if the stains don’t wash out.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
