The Village of Burns Lake will no longer use a local contractor to paint street lines.
Last week council approved the purchase of a paint striping machine which would allow the village’s public works crew the ability to paint lines, curbs and crosswalks throughout the village.
According to village staff, purchasing this equipment will result in savings for the municipality given that only paint will be required in the budget and there will no longer be the need to budget for a contractor. Director of public works Dale Ross said line painting costs have steadily increased over the past several years.
“We’re just trying to keep the costs down,” said Ross during a council meeting.
While the village spends on average $11,000 to $12,000 on a line painting contractor, purchasing a line striping machine will result in a one-time cost of $9600 and approximately $5000 a year for paint.
Village staff said that purchasing this machine will not only reduce the annual budget for roads and streets, but it will also increase the amount of painting throughout village boundaries and allow for more timely painting as required.
Once the repaving of Centre Street is completed this summer, public works crew will use the line stripping machine to paint two lines on Centre Street - one to separate traffic and another for the new walkway.
“Public works crew will continue to line paint newly paved streets each year,” added Ross. “This is not something that is normally covered in the paving budget.”
Funds for the paint striping machine will come from the village’s 2017 roads and streets operating budget, which has a year-to-date balance of $20,000 out of a $60,000 annual budget. The paint striping machine will come with a two-year warranty.
The local contractor, DWA ENT, had been painting street lines for the Village of Burns Lake for the past seven years.