PelhamToday received the following letter to the editor from reader Mike Manzoni in response to the article Nabbing tricky truckers avoiding QEW inspection station.
The town of Lincoln is looking at installing a camera to watch for trucks avoiding the Vineland Truck Inspection Station. The “Truck Bypass Camera Monitoring Pilot Project” was apparently approved as part of the town’s capital budget in 2022.
Firstly, I really have to ask what these councillors were thinking when they approved $37,500 for a project that should clearly be borne by the MTO.
Secondly, in times of extraordinary inflation, when families are having trouble making ends meet, why are they planning to proceed with this ridiculous expenditure, only to pass the cost on to us taxpayers. I would have much more respect for them if they push this back to the MTO and cut this from the budget to reduce our upcoming tax increases.
It is programs such as this that make me wonder, what other unnecessary projects are they spending our hard-earned tax money on?
Their justification for this “smart camera” is to “improve safety” in the area by helping the MTO watch for trucks that bypass the Vineland Truck Inspection Station. The phrase “improve safety” is very vague. Staff is too quick to spend our money on vague buzzwords. What evidence is there of unsafe activity as a direct result of not having the camera installed? I doubt they can answer that.
The smart camera is a dumb idea if it has to be paid for from the municipal budget. It is a Provincial project. MTO stands for Ministry of Transport of Ontario – not Municipal Tax Obligation.
According to the article, “While no decision was formally made at this meeting, it will be considered by staff…”
Consider this staff: do the right thing and hand it back to the MTO and look in your files for other dumb ideas that can be cut to keep our upcoming tax increases to a minimum.
Mike Manzoni
Ridgeville
