Dorval gets through pothole challenge

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

There won’t be any dents in Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau’s bank account this year after no reports were filed during the city’s pothole challenge.

“Honestly, this year I thought I’d be paying because of the winter we had,” Rouleau said last week.

The 23rd Annual Pothole challenge took place between April 14 and 18. Both citizens and non-residents were asked to report all pavement-craters big enough for a chicken to fit into located on roads that belong to the city.

Rouleau was to pay $6 to the person who first reported a legitimate pothole, and $10 to the person who reported the biggest one by the end of the challenge. There was also a barbecue dinner for four up for grabs to the person who reported the pothole with “the most character.” Any prize money would have been paid out of the mayor’s pocket, and not the city’s budget.

Rouleau credited the lack of reported potholes to Dorval’s public works crews, who make an effort to have the holes filled by the time the Challenge date comes around.

“It’s really becomes a challenge for them that we don’t get any holes for that week,” Rouleau said. Last year, there weren’t any pothole reports either. “With efforts from everyone, it is possible not to have any potholes.”

As for the money Rouleau saved this year, he said it will be used for good reason.

“It’s my wife’s birthday this week, and the money I would have had to pay (during the Pothole Challenge) would have come out of her gift,” he joked. “Now, she’s going to have a big supper.”