As expected, Belleville Council is following a staff recommendation on a purchase for road closure safety.
On Monday evening, council approved the purchase of an Anti-Vehicle Barrier System.
The price tag is $105,000.
Required for road closures during festivals and events, the system is specially designed to prevent vehicles from entering a closed roadway and protect event patrons.
The city has been renting the system for events but that is quite expensive.
In 2023, it cost $40,000 to rent the necessary barriers for downtown events.
Councillor Kathryn Brown questioned whether the cost was worth it.
“I guess I would question why we have to go to the point of anti-vehicle barrier systems, when not that far to the east of us, the City of Kingston does exactly the same thing and happens to do it with saw horses.”
CAO Rod Bovay fielded the question and said the design of the downtown and risk management are both considerations.
“We’ve tried the low-tech version, we’ve tried other versions with solid cement barriers. The challenge with doing those things is it takes a lot of staff time and effort.”
In the end council approved the purchase, with money earmarked from the Municipal Accommodation Reserve Fund.
