Duane Hicks
Council will consider some much-needed repairs and renovations to some town buildings in its 2015 capital budget.
During a budget meeting yesterday, council began to discuss what capital budget items are most important this year and which can be cut right off the bat.
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig said one facility that’s in desperate need of fixing is the animal shelter, which is earmarked for $100,000 in the budget.
“I don’t think it should be dismissed just because it’s the ‘dog pound,’” he noted.
“That building is in a severely-deteriorated condition. It’s horrible.”
McCaig added the issues goes beyond the superficial and extends into the humane treatment of the animals.
The building is poorly-insulated and ventilated, and the town has had to pay electrical bills for upwards of $400 a month to heat it and run exhaust fans around the clock.
The pens are too deep for handing some animals, especially cats. The top five pens are not usable because the animals can get out of them and dogs occasionally get their heads stuck in the bars.
And when the animals in the top pens urinate, it runs down to the ones below.
As well, the roof on both sides of the building is rusting out, the siding needs replacing, there’s poor lighting, and the walls show signs of water damage and mold.
“It’s not a good story over at that building and I encourage it to be addressed,” said McCaig.
Repairs to the roof of the Civic Centre above Council Chambers, painting and maintenance of the Civic Centre, and renovations to the Operations and Facilities managers’ and engineers’ offices—the last of which have been cut out of the budget year after year—also were mentioned as priorities for 2015.
Another big item on the list is a salt/sand shed for Public Works (this would be a fabric shed with a high roof and conveyor that would shelter the town’s salt and sand supply).
Currently, the town’s salt and sand is uncovered and they lose some salt into the ground due to the elements.
Having a shelter would allow the town to better store the materials—and even use straight salt to put on the roads when conditions are right.
It’s currently estimated to cost about $528,000.
With this year’s budget in good shape, Coun. Ken Perry said the time to build the shed is now.
“Some of these $100,000 [repairs] that we need to do, don’t get me wrong, we need to do,” he noted.
“[But] we could do them next year if we have to.
“We can stick in $100,000 any time but we can’t stick in $528,000,” he reasoned.
Several members of council agreed the town should put out tenders to see how much it actually will cost to repair the animal shelter, build a salt storage shed, fix the Council Chamber roof, and other jobs on the list.
Other high-priority items on the capital budget include:
•replacing 200 metres of sanitary main on Phair Avenue from Third Street East to Fifth Street East;
•replacing 105 metres of sanitary main on Nelson Street from Butler Avenue to the Shevlin wood yard;
•a street sweeper;
•a scissor lift;
•an air dryer for firefighter gear;
•windows and door upgrades at Sunny Cove;
•two riding lawn mowers for the cemetery;
•a video surveillance system for the airport;
•iPads and laptop computers for council; and
•a return air fan replacement for the OPP office.
Meanwhile, council already has slashed some $2.46 million in capital budget items.
These “low priority” items, as priorized by town managers, range from cleaning and painting of the underpass, replacing street light poles along Scott Street, and a new stage at the arena auditorium to a heated shack at the north-end rink, coin-operated door knobs for public washrooms, and a bike path.
The bulk of the cost among these items is a $1.7-million project to reconstruct Scott Street from Reid Avenue to Colonization Road East—one that won’t go ahead unless the town can get the province to foot 90 percent of the bill.
In related news, the proposed 2015 operating budget is slightly higher than two weeks ago, indicating a deficit of about $97,000.
That’s mainly due to payroll adjustments and $5,500 in council public relations costs in regards to the upcoming Dudley Hewitt Cup.
Treasurer Laurie Witherspoon noted this translates into less than a one percent increase to property owners.
But the operating budget is not finalized.
The town still needs to know what levy resulting from the 2015 Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board budget will be, as well as receive the new education rates from the province.
