The County of St. Paul approved its interim municipal budget for 2016 and borrowing for planned major projects at a special meeting on Dec. 18.
The interim budget projects operating and capital revenues at $39,261,794, while the County of St. Paul’s planned debentures and funding from its restricted surplus providing an additional $3,054,869. Operations expenditures are projected at $24,717,770, capital expenditures are estimated to be $15,932,600, while the debenture repayment will be $1,638,310, leading to a projected $27,983 surplus.
County of St. Paul CAO Sheila Kitz said in an interview after the meeting, that there are a couple of major projects in the pipe for the county in 2016.
Chief among those is seeing the culmination of what Kitz called “the saga” of trying to bring water from Spedden to Ashmont, with the county successful in getting a Water for Life grant and pushing on with the project in 2016.
“We’re pretty excited, we’ve been working on that project since 2010.”
The project to bring water from Spedden to Ashmont, which in turn feeds into Lottie Lake, is estimated to be $9.93 million, and the county is anticipating that the project will receive just under $8.97 million from the province, while the county will take a debenture of $963,201 to cover the rest.
Council gave second and third reading to Bylaw no. 2015-27 to authorize the borrowing of $963,201 to bring water to Ashmont and Lottie Lake.
The other major project for the County of St. Paul in 2016 is to construct a lagoon for the hamlet of Ashmont, as well as a wastewater transfer station in the area.
The existing lagoon in Ashmont is at capacity, explained Kitz, who said that municipalities are only supposed to release effluent into the lagoons once a year, but the county has had to get special approval to release effluent twice a year. For the past 18 months, trucks have not been able to dump waste at Ashmont lagoon either, she noted, necessitating the construction of an expanded lagoon.
The other part of the project, to build a wastewater transfer station, will be a joint effort with the County of Two Hills, she said. Both counties had done a feasibility study regarding Lac Sante, which straddles both counties’ borders. Since there is a lot of residential development around the lake, this necessitates a lot of trucked waste and hauling costs.
“We’re trying to alleviate that issue, by putting in a wastewater transfer station,” she said, adding that there are a few ideas about potential locations for the station, but nothing yet decided.
The County of St. Paul was successful in getting a Small Communities Grant, in which the federal government and the provincial government each contributing a third of the costs at about $1.7 million. The remaining third of the costs will come from the municipalities, with the County of St. Paul providing $1.54 million and the County of Two Hills kicking in $175,000; the cooperation between the two municipalities is “an integral part of why we got the grant,” explained Kitz.
Council passed a second bylaw to authorize the borrowing of $1,541,668, for the purpose of constructing a lagoon for Ashmont and a wastewater transfer station.
According to the Municipal Government Act, electors had 15 days after the bylaw was advertised to file a petition against it, with the 15-day period ending on Dec. 9, according to the County’s agenda package. With no petitions registered, council gave second and third reading to this borrowing bylaw.
Other expenditures for the County of St. Paul in 2016 will be to continue with its 20-year road plan, with 14 miles of roadwork to be included in the capital budget, as well as more equipment purchases, with council approving the purchase of a tractor, four ton trucks, and some tractor-trailer equipment at the Dec. 18 meeting.
