A $400K gym for waste collectors? Councillors say no

Why should city waste collection employees get a new gym when Hamiltons roads are crumbling?

Thats the question city councillors asked on Thursday when they scrapped a plan for a $400,000 fitness centre for some 300 workers in the waste division.

Councillors were scrutinizing the draft 2015 tax-supportedcapital budget, which proposes a 0.5-per cent increase every year until 2024.

That to me is where the system is a little bit broken.- Coun. Chad Collins on the notion of a gym for waste collection staff

Coun. Chad Collins of Ward 5 pointed out the gym expenditure, saying that money might be better spent fixing some of the citys roads in light of its infrastructure deficit. Budget documents show an infrastructure deficit of $3.3billion.

When you stack (the gym project) up against all the other competing projects, he said, it doesnt measure up.

That to me is where the system is a little bit broken. That tells me the message is not getting out to all areas of the organization.

The waste division has some of the citys highest number of workplace injury claims, said public works head Gerry Davis.

The aging workers incur physical strain on the job, which results in Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claims, Davis said. The gym, which would have been at a public works facility, was designed to curb that.

Transit workers also have access to fitness equipment, he said.

Collins didnt buy that it was needed.

Its as candid as I can be. The roads are failing and theyre getting worse.- Gerry Davis, head of public works

Once you provide something like this for one area of the organization, others want it too, said Collins, who successfully moved a motion to scrap the gym.

Coun. Sam Merulla of Ward 4 agreed.

That gym for the public works department is unnecessary at this time, he said. That money could be spent on roads.

City waste management workers drew controversy in 2014 when it was revealed that waste management workers employed by the city work fewer hours than their private counterparts. The city attributed it to the public employees working faster, but council agreed to examinethe routes.

At Merullas urging, the city will try to find another 0.5 per cent from other areas of its capital budget to spend on roads. He cited the gym project is a good example of a project to scrap.

The city is spending about the same amount as last year on roads, Davis said. Its not enough to keep up with the inflation, or with the demands on Hamiltons aging thoroughfares.

The issue, Davis told the general issues committee on Thursday, is at a crisis point.

When we have problems with bridges, we close them, he said. With roads, we may have to go back to gravel. Thats the route were going if we dont address the needs.

Its as candid as I can be. The roads are failing and theyre getting worse.

The city has about 140 upcoming roads projects over the next year.