Duane Hicks
Council continued working its way through the 2010 capital budget during a special budget meeting yesterday—this time focusing on $6.8 million in projects under the Operations and Facilities division.
Some projects that made it through the first round of cuts include a new pumphouse foundation, storm sewer forcemain, and railway pipe crossing for the Portage Avenue underpass, Phase II of the biomass roads projects (Portage Avenue from First to Third Street East and Fifth to Sixth Street), water treatment system upgrades at Sunny Cove, and upgrades to the water treatment plant.
One project which made the first cut, and no doubt would make many north-end residents happy, is a new surface treatment for Fifth Street.
While the town has made it a practice in recent years to replace water and sewer infrastructure at the same time as they fix roads when at all possible, several members of council agreed that while the town can’t afford to do all of that for Fifth Street this year, the road has been in rough shape for too long and deserves a fix.
“I think we owe it to the citizens,” said Mayor Roy Avis, with Coun. Paul Ryan noting a new surface treatment would give “people a smooth ride they haven’t had in years.”
With an estimated cost of $79,000 to fix the entire two-km stretch of roadway, several councillors suggested that perhaps to save money, the town only resurface Fifth Street from Portage to Wright Avenue this year.
Another project that may happen is modifications to the recycling transfer station at the Pubic Works yard. The town recently got $74,379 from Waste Diversion Ontario to make upgrades that will allow residents to drop off recyclables 24 hours a day.
The total cost of the project is $157,250.
Some of the projects, like the reconstruction of Scott Street from Reid Avenue to Colonization Road East or a salt shed storage building at Public Works yard, will depend wholly on whether or not the town can get government funding.
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig said administration will continue to apply for grants for such projects, and while they have been very fortunate to get money in the recent past, council shouldn’t get its hopes up that the dollars will come through in these tough fiscal times.
He stressed the town should take “more prudent steps for asset management on a self-sufficient basis” to better plan to do these types of projects with less reliance on outside dollars.
Some of the items taken out of the capital budget yesterday included a heated shack for the north-end rink, engineering and manager office upgrades, and some playground equipment.
Coun. Ryan noted items council has approved so far in the capital budget, both at yesterday’s meeting and one on Monday, should be considered to have survived the “first cut” but aren’t necessarily guaranteed to make it through a second review.
The next committee of the whole budget meeting is slated for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16 (this was moved from Feb. 15 due to Family Day).
In related news, Mayor Avis attended a provincial pre-budget consultation in Thunder Bay today.
Joining municipal leaders from across the region, he has been asked to provide comment on the following questions:
•What processes should the government put in place to enable it to move out of deficit?
•What steps should the government take to streamline and provide better public services to Ontarians?
•Government priorities are job creation, health care, education, strong fiscal management, and economic growth. How should the government balance this multitude of priorities?
•Given the considerable fiscal challenges, what should be the core priorities of the 2010 budget?
Each representative will be given three minutes to provide their input.
Members of council and administration at yesterday’s capital budget meeting here noted the questions seem to indicate the province also is expecting a tough budget year ahead.
