The City of Hamilton has been ordered by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to pay $850,866, in damages to Bre-Ex Limited for “inept” management of a 2001 contract to fix a leachate problem at the Glanbrook landfill.

The damages do not include pre-trial interest or legal costs. Once added, the City will likely be on the hook for over $1-million dollars.

(Note: Bre-Ex Limited of London, Ontario is not related to the infamous Bre-X group of the 1990′s gold scandal fame)

Bre-Ex was the lowest bidder for the late 2001 contract to install a new drainage system

The City awarded the contract to Bre-Ex on December 11, 2001. However, the City did not inform Bre-Ex until a meeting on January 24, 2002.

Bre-Ex planned to complete the work in December, January, and February. The delay required them to review their plan and split work over two winters. There was a further delay as the City and Bre-Ex negotiated terms.*

Bre-Ex went to court for damages resulting from the delays.

In his ruling, Justice H.A. Rady ruled the City was at fault for damages finding “no real explanation for the delay was offered by the City although I have the impression that the City was in a state of disorganization as a result of some recent municipal reorganization.”

The new City of Hamilton was created January 1, 2001 as the result of a forced merger of six municipalities.

Justice Rady suggests City staff might have mislead City Council by not disclosing information:

I am very suspicious that those individuals from the City involved in discussions with [Bre-Ex president] Mr. Brekelmans were attempting to find a way to deal with the plaintiff’s delay claim without disclosing the reason to City Council, namely the City’s responsibility for the delay

Justice Rady notes a request from City staff to Council in early 2003 to increase the budget of the project by $569,240 ($532,000 plus GST).

The draft proposal stated the increase was “due to project delays.” After review by senior city staff, including manager of waste disposal John Mater, this was changed to funding expanded works.

Justice Rady notes the project was 97% complete at the time and “sufficient funds were available in the contingency to complete any extras.”

Council was never informed of the delay and approved $569,240 for ‘expanded works’ on May 28. 2003.

Staff requested Bre-Ex to submit a claim for delays, they originally submitted for $550,000. Bre-Ex president Brekelmans testified that he was directed by Mater to revise the figure to $532,000 plus GST.

On July 10, 2003, City staff generated the change order and mailed it to Bre-Ex. The funds were never released but the charge was neither countermanded or reversed. (I’ve emailed the City asking what became of these funds)

City staff provided contradictory statements about the events leading to the approval and the issuing of the change order to Bre-Ex. They all stated the $569,240 was not for delay costs to Bre-Ex. The judge did not rule on the validity of the statements, as the ruling did not hinge on this point.

Justice Rady closed his discussion of these events noting:

One must really wonder why the exercise was undertaken at all when the contract was rapidly approaching final completion and there were sufficient funds in the contingency to cover the cost of the additional works.  One must also wonder why the purchase order was never reversed, if the payment became unnecessary.  The City offered no explanation.

The two parties will be return to court in two weeks to argue how much of Bre-Ex’s legal costs should be paid by the city.

NOTE: The City of Hamilton’s general managers of public works and finance were both in negotiations with the city’s transit union and unavailable for comment Friday. A special note that city communications staff did their best to assist and must be commended for their stellar efforts.

CORRECTION: The first to third revisions of this article incorrectly stated Bre-Ex planned to complete work over two winters. In fact, they originally planned to complete during one winter. When the miscommunication occurred, they were unable to follow their original plan. I regret the error.

Love this idea – now to get one on the City of Hamilton website.

The building at 112 Hughson Street South is being demolished*

It’s unclear what, if anything, will replace the building.

The building, a converted house, was used solely for commercial purposes and a replacement is not required. Had building contained residential use, the downtown demolition control bylaw requires replacement within two years of demolition of any residential units.

I requested a copy of the demolition permit and it may be viewed in this PDF.\

UPDATE: Thanks to Ian Brisbin for the update.

There are plenty of CMS options out there for journalism, with Armstrong CMS being one that’s generating attention in North America. Armstrong is funded in part by the Knight Foundation and backed by two of the most successful non-profit news outlets in America.

There are many more options, with many news sites choosing CMS’ that began as non-news platforms such as WordPress and Drupal.

I’ve used both Drupal and WordPress. From 2004 until 2008, I used MovableType.

This week, I happened across Newscoop which is a new open source CMS powering radio websites in Africa and a few news sites in Europe.

I like what I see in version 4.0 of the CMS which is presently running the Swiss site tageswoche.ch

It appears to be very streamlined. It doesn’t offer many plugins, not having a large development community yet, but is designed to fulfil the primary functions of a news website.

The community features appear strong and I may give it a spin on the data site I’m creating.

The City of Hamilton and it’s transit operators, mechanics and support workers have reached an tentative agreement.

News arrived in a city news release issued at 00:49 this morning:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

City reaches tentative deal with transit union

HAMILTON, ON – January 28th, 2012 – The City of Hamilton and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 107 have reached a tentative agreement through collective bargaining. The two parties met all day Friday and into Saturday morning with a provincially-appointed mediator and were able to resolve the remaining outstanding issues.

“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement that allows us to continue to provide transit services that are essential to so many in our community,” said Gerry Davis, General Manager of Public Works. “Both parties have worked diligently to achieve a mutually satisfactory resolution that balances the interests of the City, employees and the citizens we serve.”

The ATU negotiating committee will be presenting the tentative agreement to their membership within the next week with a recommendation to accept the deal. An update will be provided to City Council at General Issues Committee on Monday, January 30th.

This means there will be no disruption to transit services in Hamilton. No details were released this morning.

Negotiations between the City of Hamilton and the union representing HSR bus drivers, mechanics, and support staff continues at this hours.

I must nap before working a night shift.

CHCH’s Brittany Gogo is at the hotel where negotiations are occurring and promises to update on Twitter if any deal is reached.

Her latest tweet at 1927hrs:

Just spoke to the union for HSR drivers… They are continuing to negotiate tonight and into weekend if they can’t reach a deal

January 27, 2012 19:27 via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@BrittanyGogo

Brittany Gogo

You can find her on Twitter: @BrittanyGogo

I asked the City of Hamilton:

Does the City have a plan in place for purchasers of transit passes in the event of a labour disruption?

More directly, can people purchase their February pass now instead of waiting until the results of negotiations are clear.

The City responded:

The City remains hopeful that a negotiated settlement can be reached at the bargaining table today. It is too premature to speculate about what the exchange/refund policy would be in the event of a labour disruption as it would depend on the length of the disruption and other factors. We encourage HSR customers to watch local news reports and visit www.hamilton.ca for updates.

At this time, there is no reason why customers should not purchase their February pass now.

Hamilton public transit drivers are showing optimism as a strike deadline of Monday looms. Talking to senior bus operators the past two days, there is a belief that a strike will be averted.

I’m told, and the union will not confirm due to a media blackout, that 5 of 12 outstanding issues were settled on Tuesday and the remaining issues are “minor.”

To quote two senior drivers: ‘There’s no way we’ll strike over these [outstanding] issues.’

The negotiating teams for the city and union are meeting again today (Friday) and we should know if a strike will be averted when both parties issue statements tonight.

Fifteen years ago, the Board of Education for the City of Hamilton and The Wentworth County Board of Education merged to form District School Board 21 – the now named Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board.

Today, after 15 years, the HWDSB is leaving the downtown core and the headquarters originally built for the Board of Education for the City of Hamilton. The new location – the Crestwood site that provides ‘better access’ to highways and suburbia.

I enjoyed a front row seat, or more accurately, a front row hot seat. I sat on many transition school board committees as the tie-breaking vote between city and county factions.

The transition committees served to create the policies of the new board, but many became forums for wrestling between adopting the county or city way of doing things.

It was a great learning experience for a 15-year-old teenager.

One of the most contentious issues for all committees was where to meet. The county members nearly always voted to meet at Crestwood with its easy access to the Lincoln Alexander Parkway. City members nearly always voted for meetings at the Board of Ed building downtown. As a compromise, meetings would rotate between the two sites. As a teenager using public transit, the Crestwood site was out-of-the-way and inconvenient.

Neither side showed much enthusiasm for the former county board headquarters in Ancaster.

The debate about the site for new school board’s headquarters was a short-lived, but nonetheless contentious. With a large building suited for governing a large school board already existing at 100 Main Street West, it was obvious the board would be downtown.

It didn’t prevent discussion of creating a new headquarters more accessible to the suburban transit method of choice – the car.

Today, that school of thought prevails with the Crestwood site.

The irony in all of this, the county faction was terrified they’d be gobbled up by the city board. It seems the opposite happened.

Negotiations continue between the City of Hamilton and it’s transit operators, mechanics, and support staff. The city tabled a revised offer to the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 107 on Tuesday and both parties agreed to meet again on Friday.

The earliest a strike (and theoretically a lockout) can begin at 12:01 a.m. on Monday.
(Explanation why 12:01 a.m. doesn’t mean service ends at midnight)

Both sides issued statements yesterday and did not speak to the media.

I’m working night shift this weekend, backfilling for a friend, and will do my best to report developments.

The full statements follow:

Budh Dhillon, president of Local 107, wrote:

Negotiations with the City ended today. Some of the outstanding Articles were addressed however none of them were signed off. The negotiations will resume on Friday, January 27, 2012.

The Executive Board is asking all the members to continue to stay patient and continue to provide the best service to our passengers.

We will keep you informed while we remain committed to getting a fair deal.

In Solidarity on behalf of your Neg. Team:

Budh Dhillon

Kelly Anderson, public affairs coordinator for the public works department, issued the following statement on behalf of the city:

The City of Hamilton and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 107 met again today, with the assistance of a provincially appointed conciliator/mediator, and continued discussions towards reaching a collective agreement. The City tabled a revised offer to the union and both parties have agreed to meet again on Friday, January 27th.

“The City remains optimistic that we will reach an agreement on Friday,” said Gerry Davis, General Manager of Public Works for the City of Hamilton.

The two parties will be in a legal strike/lockout position at 12:01 a.m. on January 30th. ATU Local 107 represents HSR bus operators, mechanics and other transit workers.

In the event of a labour disruption, there would be no HSR transit service on any route throughout the city. HSR customers are encouraged to start considering alternative transportation options, such as:

Car pooling with neighbours or co-workers. Visit www.smartcommutehamilton.ca for more information about Hamilton’s Carpool Zone program – a free carpool matching system.
Walking, cycling
Working from home if possible

The Disabled and Aged Regional Transportation System (DARTS), the accessible transit service provider for the City, is not part of ATU. In the event of a labour disruption, DARTS’ delivery of the specialized transit service would not be affected. Existing subscription trips, as well as currently booked casual trips, will remain in place. However, there may be some changes required to the way that passengers book trips for DARTS. These changes will be communicated to passengers in advance of any requirements through the ATS phone service, the City of Hamilton Web site, and through other public announcements.

New developments throughout the negotiation process will be shared as they become available.

Hamilton’s public bus drivers, mechanics, and support workers are in a legal strike position at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, January 30th.

This doesn’t mean a strike will begin at 12:01 a.m.

Traditionally, HSR operators end their shift that begins the calendar day before a labour action.

There are many practical reasons, including calculation of pay and public goodwill, that service is not abruptly interrupted. Hamilton’s transit operations end just after 1 a.m. for Sunday service (25:00hrs on HSR logs) and 2 a.m. Monday-Saturday.

Last buses leave downtown at 12:00 a.m. Sunday night and 1:20 a.m. all other days with the last buses being Stoney Creek routes that wait for the last King bus at Eastgate Square.

Ending service at midnight would cause administrative headaches in calculating driver pay and shift premiums. It also risks confrontations between operators and passengers they be asking to leave the bus in mid-service.

In the event of a HSR strike, you don’t have to worry about being stranded mid-route. You’ll only need to worry about getting to work in the morning.

I’ve been working on a framework for mapping the home addresses of the 197 soldiers of The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry who died during or because of the infamous Dieppe Raid of 1942.

The goal is to map the home addresses of the dead on a map of the Hamilton area in 1942.

To make the map, I’m reaching out to the local OpenStreetMap network to see if we can build upon that platform using maps from the Hamilton Public Library Special Collections.

A decade ago, when I was attached to the RHLI, I access the regimental archives to find the addresses of Westdale High School alumni who died at Dieppe. With that information, I took a walking tour of Westdale to look at the houses they came from. It was a moving experience and helped me to understand more fully the impact of the raid upon 1942 Hamilton.

One could not avoid knowing someone that died or their family in 1942.

I hope that mapping on a 1942 map of Hamilton will convey what I felt walking in Westdale to a wider audience.

It should be an interesting project and a fun challenge.

Note: this post was somewhat inspired by seeing The Hamilton Spectator Dieppe Raid casualties front page on Jim Poling’s blog – The Newsroom Insider

Hamilton Police sent the following to local news media at 13:58 today:

There will be Police Services Act proceedings taking place on Thursday, January 26, 2012, 10:00 a.m., at Central Police Station, 155 King William St., Hamilton, 3rd floor, Bill Sturrup Media and Community Room. These proceedings are open to the public.

The City of Hamilton and the union representing transit operators, mechanics and administrative support staff will meet at the negotiating table later today.

The two sides are apart on few issues and talks could go into the evening.

There’s no way of reading into the status of talks by their length. A late evening could equally mean they are close to a deal or they are far apart.

I’m expecting statements from both the union and city tonight.

I’ll tweet and post as soon as I recieve anything.

There was an accident Thursday in the intersection of King Street East and Main Street East in Hamilton’s East End which prompted an interesting discussion on Twitter.

Is the intersection, known as The Delta, ‘King at Main’ or ‘King and Main’?

View Larger Map
I did a scan of tweets about the locations and a search of blogs. (I was slightly bored at the time)

In a completely non-extensive and non-scientific scan, I found native-Hamiltonian’s leaned towards ‘at’ over ‘and’ whereas non-native Hamiltonians preferred the more common ‘and’ without much use of ‘at’.

King and Main streets are the two primary arteries for east-west travel in the City with four one-way lanes for the majority of their distance. Travel west is on King, travel east is on Main. They run parallel across Hamilton with the exception of this crossover at The Delta.

I’m an east-ender by birth and lived there most of my life. I’ve lived outside of the east end during times while in foster care and for the past decade.

To an east-ender King and Main is THE Delta with an emphasis on ‘the’ to distinguish between the intersection and neighbourhood of the same name. The emphasis also serves to avoid confusion between the intersection and nearby high school of the same name.

For example, ‘let’s meet at the Pizza Pizza at Delta’ means the location at Graham and Main across from Delta High School. ‘Let’s meet at Pizza Pizza at The Delta’ means the location at King and Main.

When using King and Main, without saying “The Delta”, I’ll use King at Main to emphasis the intersection. King and Main, while more proper, sounds weird to the ear of a native Hamiltonian. We expect the cross-street to be a north-south route, and have to think about it before realising the speaker means The Delta.

Am I pointing in the wrong direction? Do you use King and Main more than The Delta or King at James? Let me know, let’s have a discussion. This is one of Hamilton’s great localisms.