Some of P.A.'s city councillors during Thursday's budget deliberations. From left, Dennis Ogrodnick, Dennis Nowoselsky, Evert Botha, Charlene Miller

By Alison Sandstrom

Building budget

Council approves infrastructure investments for 2020

Nov 8, 2019 | 5:24 PM

Prince Albert city council has earmarked money for a variety of capital projects in the coming year.

After two days of budget deliberations, councillors finalized a list which included money for roads, community services and parks.

In a budget that prioritized infrastructure spending over new staff positions requested by city administration, council maintained $4.2 million for road repaving, continuing a program that began in 2013.

The sidewalk rehabilitation program received $300,000, while the parking lot on 12^th St. W. between Central and 1^st Ave. will be repaired for $72,000.

Half a million dollars was sourced from a reserve fund to pay for the replacement of two pedestrian bridges and $100,000 was put aside for investment in playground replacement.

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Council also voted to spend $30,000 to widen Gary Anderson Way at the Art Hauser Centre as a measure aimed at easing congestion after big events like Raider games.

Several items became the subject of heated debate including new LED speed displays. Council voted to buy eight of the solar powered speed monitoring devices for $40,000 in total. One will go in each ward where they can be moved around to different problem areas.

“I’m hearing complaints of speeding all over the city,” said Coun. Blake Edwards, mentioning that they would be particularly useful on streets like Wylie Cres.

Coun. Don Cody was a fervent opponent of the new signs citing that in his opinion the city already had enough traffic calming devices.

“Do you want to have the city come to a crawl? Why don’t you just bring the horses back,” he told council.

An amount of $50,000 was also allocated to put up additional speed displays and finish installing raised crosswalks at the ten schools around the city.

Garbage cans also became a flashpoint of discussion, as councillors bickered over whether they should invest in animal proof bins.

“I’ve had enough of those,” said Coun. Ted Zurakowski, referencing the open style garbage cans which allow trash to be blown away by wind or picked up by crows. “And I think the community has too.”

But the price-tag of the new waste receptacles was hard to swallow for several councillors, with the new bins coming in at $1854 each.

“This is an abhorrent price,” said Coun. Dennis Nowoselsky.

In the end, council voted to use reserve funds to buy 50 animal-proof cans for along the riverbank and the Rotary Trail. The total cost was about $90,000.

The budget will be subject to final approval at an upcoming vote by council.

alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom