I do not find myself agreeing with Councillor Malboeuf very often, when it comes to Transit, but, when he voiced his displeasure with the 'short timeframe council had to consider the renewal of the transit contract i found myself cheering him on. The 6-year contract with PWT was slated to end on June 30th, 2016. The three year renewal proposal was presented to Council on June 27th - how can you have a meaningful discussion? This renewal should have been presented in January of this year. There were a number of other statements made by staff which have a tendency to raise my concerns: 1) The staff statement ' while the report was scheduled for Council's May meeting, (still not enough time), staff wasn't comfortable with the financial commitment in the proposed contract, so it went back to the negotiating table with PWTransit and [/u]took out a number of items to reduce the cost.' My problem is consistent with when it is time to renew your car/home insurance and the insurance company says - 'we can reduce your rate IF you agree to give up some coverage' What did we give up in the old contract to get the dollars to PWT's liking and within the allotted dollars? Were their growth items in the contract, which have been removed but, will find their way into spending later this year. What would have been the result if Council changed the timelines for the contract - say one year guaranteed and discussion to continue on a longer period - perhaps even with the Town accepting the lease liability for the final two years if an extension was not agreed on. 2) I believe PWT provides a very high level of quality in service and, they do have a commitment to a yard for the equipment but, this is all the more reason to have presented a "complete" picture of needs for Council to consider and, to have done it earlier. 3) I would like to know how much the year-to-date ridership is up in comparison to two years ago, not last year, as presented by Commissioner Cripps. Last year's numbers were a disaster due to the staff recommendation to provide door to station to door service to a select number of residents and, eliminate the three late buses. Is the 9% growth just these riders returning? What was staff's budgeted growth this year? Would the numbers for operating costs have not shown an increase when presented at budget time? Was the contract renewal even mentioned in Staff presentations at budget?
Council needs to start demanding staff provide adequate time for major decision making presentations. This is a three year contract, starting the first of July, 2016 - does this mean the renewal will be presented late June, 2018 - an election year!!!!!!
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