The Province of Saskatchewan has allowed Rural Municipalities (RM’s) to implement ‘Fee based’ Road Maintenance Agreements (RMA) for travel on RM roadways since 1981.
Roadata Services Ltd. (RDS) has been partnered with select R.M’s since January 1st, 2015 and coordinates the administration of the Road Maintenance Agreement program on behalf of its partners.
The goal is to implement a program that provides a method to calculate fees based on actual roadway exposure rather than setting a universal flat fee.
Development of the Unified Road Maintenance Agreement Program (URMAP) attempts to provide the highest possible level of “fairness” to industry while implementing fees as prescribed by Provincial legislation and protecting municipal infrastructure.
What are Road Maintenance Agreements?
The Province of Saskatchewan has allowed Rural Municipalities (R.M.’s) to implement fee based Road Maintenance Agreements (RMA) for travel on R.M. roadways since 1981. This capacity is provided through “The Municipalities Regulation” and it defines the fees an R.M. can charge for movement of commodities on R.M. roadways.
What is the Unified Road Maintenance Agreement Program (URMAP)?
Roadata Services (RDS) currently coordinates the issuance of a Unified Road Maintenance Agreement Program with some of our partners Prime Contractors sign one Master Unified Road Maintenance Agreement that will be valid in all R.M.’s participating in URMAP. Each project location will then have a Schedule “A” Addendum issued which will be used to determine the fees that are due under the program. All fees will be calculated based on the fee structure as defined under Section 12 and Section 13 of “The Municipalities Regulation”.
What is the value of using a Road Maintenance Agreement?
Most Rural Municipalities use Road Maintenance Agreements (RMA) to make sure the prime contractor is aware of the responsibilities and policies the R.M. has in place for movement on roads under their control. It also allows for the R.M.’s to recoup some of the added costs for maintaining the road due to the increase in commercial activity on the road.
How are the Road Maintenance Agreement Fees determined?
Fees are regulated by “The Municipalities Regulation” as per Section 12 and Section 13. Section 12 of the regulation specifically relates to fees being paid to the Municipality for “Maintenance and Restoration of roads by the hauler”, while Section 13 is for “Payment for shortening of lifetime of municipal roads”. These rates are then charged to the hauler per cubic meter/tonne per kilometer of travel on R.M. roadways.
What commodities are covered under the program?
Each R.M. Council has the authority to identify any commodity they want to have covered in the program.
How is the program delivered?
Roadata Services Ltd. (RDS) will deliver the program on behalf of all participating R.M.’s to make the process as simple as possible for Prime Contractors and R.M.’s. RDS will coordinate completion of all the required documents and will invoice for each location with a detailed breakdown of fees that will be distributed to each R.M. The use of RDS as the single point of contact and administration will provide greater availability to Industry and minimize potential disruption to Industry.
What if we are interested in becoming a participant in URMAP?
Before RDS can assist you with Road Maintenance Agreements, we must be working with the R.M. for the issuance of Overweight Permits. Establishing a relationship for a permit partnership is a relatively quick process and can be setup in as little as 30 days. We can then work with the R.M. to create a timeline to have you become an active participant in URMAP.
