Controversial line-painter hired for another three years

An out-of-town line-painter whose previous work in Sault Ste. Marie raised eyebrows, was awarded a new contract this week to paint our street lines for another three years.

2228977 Ontario Inc. (doing business as R&N Maintenance or Rann Maintenance of Guelph, Ont.) was the only bidder on the job, which covers 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The company will be paid $207,005 (including HST) in 2020, resulting in a $70,600 increase in the city's operating budget.

"I personally have found that the company... which has been doing our line-painting for the past couple of years, is very quick at painting lines but I find there were an awful lot of mistakes," Ward 3 Coun. Matthew Shoemaker told City Council on Monday night.

Local pundit Doug Millroy wrote numerous critical columns about the Guelph contractor's 2015 work on the intersection of Albert and East streets.

Last year, the company was fined $70,000 after a member of one of its road-maintenance crews was critically injured in Toronto when a kettle of asphalt sealant spilled.

The worker had been instructed to ride with the kettle in the back of a truck. The truck stopped suddenly and 165°C molten asphalt overflowed the functioning kettle, severely burning him.

R&N's new three-year contract may be extended up to two additional years.

An escalation clause in the tender specifications allows cost adjustments in the second and subsequent years, based on material and fuel costs and the Consumer Price Index.

Tim Gowans, the city's manager of purchasing, describes the deal as "fair and equitable."

"I see there was only one response to the request for tenders, so there's not much option for voting against this," Shoemaker said.

"I'm not terribly pleased that they're the only respondent. I'm sure that there will be mistakes no matter who is responded to, but I do wish that other options were available."

The Sault's 211 kilometres of yellow center line, 117 kilometres of white lane markings and 180 kilometers of white edge lines are painted once a year, most often in June after street-sweeping is done. 

Standards for pavement markings are set out in the Ontario Traffic Manual.

Two or three line-painting trucks, working with buffer vehicles, can usually complete the job here within 48 hours.

Drying time during summer months is usually three to four minutes, but can vary depending on temperature, humidity and other factors.

Sault Ste. Marie switched several years ago to water-based paints with low volatile organic compounds to minimize effects on the environment.

At intersections, stop bars, crosswalks and arrows are applied using thermoplastics which are far more durable and wear-resistant than paint, lasting five to 10 years.

Driving over fresh road paint can seriously damage vehicles because it contains glass reflective beads which are hard to remove.

"When approaching a line painting operation, it is recommended that vehicles wait until the line painting truck finishes painting the section of road on which it is travelling," the city advises.

"The sections are intentionally kept short for the purpose of allowing motorists the opportunity to pass at the next major cross street. Paint trucks must operate at low speeds of 10 to 20 kilometres per hour in order to paint the lines effectively."

If you do get road paint on your vehicle, the city recommends pressure-washing the affected areas immediately.