This newspaper learned last week that heavy equipment was moving in and out of the four-storey Granite Trail condominium project on James Street, the five-storey Residence Inn by Marriott at Muskoka Wharf, and Muskoka Bay subdivision on North Muldrew Lake Road.

Klinck said on Friday that Granite Trail provided the town with a written affidavit guaranteeing the road surface and the underpinnings in order to allow heavy construction equipment to cross James Street.

In response to questions about heavy equipment crossing Steamship Bay Road to the Marriott site, Klinck said he believes the new road was built to a standard that is not subject to load restrictions, especially because there are no signs posted there.

This newspaper later learned that statements of indemnity were also received by the town from the Marriott and Muskoka Bay Development Corporation in order for their own construction to continue.

Klinck’s first crack at convincing town councillors to waive half loads for the Marriott and Granite Trail occurred March 18 during a public works committee meeting, where the town’s public works manager said he would not recommend waiving load restrictions on municipal roads no matter how significant the development is.

Dave Saunders said heavy trucks on municipal roads during the normal freeze-and-thaw cycle pose significant risk to road surface degradation and sub-grade infrastructure such as water and sewer lines. He said the municipality follows the lead of the District of Muskoka, which does not grant exemptions for specific developments, but exempts roads deemed to be essential transportation routes that are generally built to a better standard, such as District Road 169.

No councillors spoke in support of exempting the developments from load restrictions and the item was never put to a vote.

“After we didn’t get any word from council at the council meeting, we chatted about it and Granite Trail provided us with a written affidavit that they would guarantee the road surface and the underpinnings so they were allowed to cross the road,” Klinck said in a telephone interview.

When asked why the contentious move to allow one developer rights over others wasn’t put to vote, Klinck said there hasn’t been a committee meeting since then. In fact, two committee meetings were held April 1 and 15, and council, through a majority, can add any item to any committee or council meeting.

“We had to find out more information to see what could be done to protect our interests, because that’s our biggest concern,” said Klinck. He believes the documents will protect the municipality’s interests, he added.

When asked about Saunders’ earlier statement that damage, especially under the road surface, may not be recognized until two years later, Klinck said, “I’m not sure I agree with that.”

He refused to provide this newspaper with a copy of the written affidavits until the exemptions are formalized at an upcoming committee meeting on May 6.

Klinck confirmed the approvals are already in place through a consensus of council and did not believe he was putting the cart before the horse.

“I think the whole half-load restriction bylaw needs to be revisited and that will probably come before next winter when we hit this situation again, because I don’t like the existing bylaw now that I’ve taken the time to look at it and understand the implications of it,” he said. “For practical purposes, I think it is too restrictive. There are certain roads that are half-load restricted just because that’s always what we’ve typically done. But certain roads have been rebuilt to a higher standard by us or by others and they can accommodate the traffic and the flow year-round, so we need to start identifying those.”

Klinck said the “whole gamut” needs to be looked at.

“I think we also need to have some exceptions if a developer is doing some work and he is responsible for the road, is still in a credit system, and if they feel confident they aren’t going to damage the road and they give us all the guarantees, then I think it should be appropriate for them to be able to cross them if they’re built to a standard.”

When reminded James Street is not built to such a standard and when asked whether allowing heavy vehicles will compound the problem, Klinck said he doesn’t think that road can get any worse.

“Failing somebody peeling up the asphalt with an asphalt grinder, I don’t believe that road can have any damage done to it,” he said. “It’s to the point where it’s as bad as it could probably be unless the surface started to peel off, and there’s no evidence of that.”

Phone calls to the other eight members of council proved councillors had different takes on the topic.

Public works chair Bryan Pilger said he had not heard anything about half-load exemptions. “I’m not aware anyone has been exempted,” he said.

Sandy Cairns consented to the exemptions for Granite Trail and Muskoka Bay, as did Lou Guerriero, based on the “strong” level of documentation from the requesters.

Paisley Donaldson said she could not be reached for the first request, but agreed to Klinck’s second request, though she struggled with the issue of fairness.

Tracey Wilson said she was in favour of a one-time exemption, but was under the impression the exemption was for one day only.

Councillors Mark Clairmont and Bob Colhoun did not return phone calls from this newspaper.

When asked if exempting one developer over another is fair and equitable, Klinck said that’s the point of developing a new bylaw that is fair for everybody.

“We have to develop an approach to these things that is consistent and gives us the protection we require across the municipality,” he said. “If council sees fit to grant certain individuals or corporations the ability to travel in and out of an area, it would be determined by time of year, condition of road, state of road and full set of guarantees, and I would like to see a bylaw that would reflect the same type of guarantees across the board for everyone else.”