Saint-Zotique's elected officials, with the exception of Yannick Guay who was absent, met on Tuesday March 4 for a special meeting of the municipal council. The only item on the agenda was the awarding of a contract to Aquamarine inc. for the purchase of a mowing boat. 

In October 2023, Mayor Yvon Chiasson announced that the city had had to pay out an additional sum of nearly $300,000 as part of an out-of-court settlement concerning dredging of the mouths of canals S-2 (65th Avenue), S-3 (68th Avenue) and S-4 (81st Avenue). 

The information was revealed by Mayor Yvon Chiasson at the regular meeting held on Tuesday, October 17. “This year, we hired an engineering firm to oversee the removal and transportation of sediment from canals S-2, S-3 and S-4. In total, this operation was supposed to cost us $900,000, but in the end, we had to spend $1.7 million, or an additional $700,000, on this project. It was the first time we'd done this this year, and it didn't work out,” he said at a public meeting. 

Mr. Chiasson went on to argue that the dredging work had not been the most effective. “In some canals, the sediment came back in almost the same quantity as before. We dug down five feet to remove it in some places, and now it's back up to three and a half feet.” 

The out-of-court settlement with the engineering firm alone cost the Ville de Saint-Zotique $297,437 that year.   

To prevent such a situation from recurring, the town decided to purchase its own facarder boat to tackle the difficult task of dredging its canals.  

Following the public call for tenders published on the Système électronique d'appel d'offres du gouvernement du Québec (SEAO), only one bid was received by the municipal administration. This bid was deemed non-compliant. 

Since the Town maintains that there is only one known supplier for this type of boat and that it wishes to avail itself of articles 573.3.0.1 et seq. of the Cities and Towns Act, and since it has duly published its intention to enter into a contract with Aquamarine inc., the elected officials ratified the awarding of the contract to this Ontario-based company. The amount of the transaction is $167,317.50, taxes included.

“The expense will be financed and paid by the working capital, reimbursed within five years of the acquisition date, and any unused surplus will be returned to the working capital to enable payment,” stated Mayor Chiasson before the resolution was adopted.