An effort to establish a working group in Prince Edward County to address the state of rural roads has failed.
Councillor Roy Pennell brought the motion forward during Tuesday’s council meeting, seeking to establish a working group consisting of citizens and rural councillors to develop both short- and long-term solutions to road maintenance in the less developed areas of the county.
While speaking about the motion, he said that residents in more rural areas of the county are complaining about poor road quality, and that the roads need to be addressed.
“I really see it as a communications problem, an engineering problem, a construction problem. We’ve got major problems in this county, no matter where you look,” said Councillor Pennell. “I believe it’s time that we show the public we are willing to work with them and let them feel part of it.”
The motion sparked debate in the council chambers with Councillor John Hirsch saying that the county already has roadwork plans in place.
“Several weeks ago, we had a session devoted to roads and what do we want to do about them. We invited the public to come, nobody came,” said Councillor Hirsch. “We were by ourselves, so we had that conversation.”
The motion was defeated narrowly in a 6 to 8 vote. Councillors Pennell, Brad Nieman, David Harrison, Sam Grosso, Corey Englesdorfer, and Chris Braney voted in favour.
