Photo by Curtis Galbraith

By Curtis Galbraith

City Hall

Department spending plans reviewed on Day 1 of city hall budget talks, more discussion planned for Day 2

Dec 2, 2021 | 6:07 PM

Items flagged for more discussion will be on the agenda for city council on Day 2 of budget talks Friday.

Council and staff went over each department’s proposed budget on Day 1 Thursday.

There is $11 million set aside for work on existing roads.

Director of Infrastructure and Economic Development Brian Glavin lists some of the work that is planned.

“100 Avenue from Crystal Landing Drive to 98 Street, so east of downtown. 84 Avenue from Resources Road to 100 Street. We will be doing some road work on that stretch. As well as likely the northbound lanes on 116 Street from 84 Avenue to 97 Avenue as get up towards Costco.”

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There is $5.75 million in next year’s budget as work on the roads that used to be considered part of Highway 43 continues.

Glavin says there will be work done on 100 Street in 2022.

“Next year, what we’re looking to do is rehabilitate the section (of 100 Street) from 116 Avenue, so the Ernie’s corner, going north to 128 Avenue.”

“In the following year, in 2023, we’re looking to rehabilitate more or less the last section of road on there since we took it over (from the province) from the bridge over by (Grande Prairie Regional Hospital) over to 100 Street.”

Glavin says a start date for the 2022 work will be decided once the project is tendered.

Leisure Centre demolition also in 2022 spending plan

The demolition of the old Leisure Centre is among the projects planned for 2022.

Community Services Director Arlen (ARE-lin) Miller says the city will work with the province when the old Comp high school is being torn down next fall to try and keep the cost down.

“Right now, we have about $842,000 in the budget but we’re anticipating it is going to cost significantly more and that is based on a report we received from a consultant that we hired.”

“They gave us a range of options, but a full demolition would be, potentially, another $3.9 million.”

Miller says the cost could be covered with money from a reserve fund if council agrees with that idea.

Museum, Archives changes also in the budget

There is also money in the 2022 spending plan for the plan to have the Heritage Discovery Centre, currently in Centre 2000, and the South Peace Regional Archives, currently in the Grande Prairie Museum, to switch locations.

That includes $130,000 to take down the Heritage Discovery Centre and $101,100 for the Archives to pay for the move.

Miller says exhibits from the Heritage Discovery Centre will be moved to the museum.

“We will close down the Heritage Discovery Centre in 2022 and then remove our stuff, do some renovations and make it a suitable space for them to begin setting it up for archives.”

Miller could not give a firm date for when this might start but did say the archives is waiting to hear about some grant funds.

Recreational items in the budget as well

There are several items related to recreational facilities in the new budget.

One of those is $2,167,700 to install solar panels at the Coca-Cola Centre.

Glavin says the federal gas tax grant would cover about $1 million of that. There is another grant for green solar initiatives that is worth around $750,000 with municipal taxes covering the rest.

“If we are successful in getting the grants, it would displace about 50 per cent of the electricity usage at that site as well as (cut) around 1700 tonnes of CO2 emissions,” he explained.

“The payback is somewhere between 10 and 11 years on that if we get the grant funding. If we are successful, it could help lower costs at that facility in the long-term as the solar panels have an estimated life of around 25 years.”

There is also $100,00 in the budget for new shale and other improvements at the South bear Creek ball diamonds. There is also $120,000 to install lights in Diamond 3 and another $240,000 to replace the lights in Diamonds 1 and 2.

There is $300,000 in a Playground Replacement Program and $50,000 for replacing surfaces at playgrounds.

There are also some budget items connected to the downtown arena.

That includes $150,000 for upgrades to the south concession, $120,000 to upgrade trusses, and $60,000 for chairs for events like banquets. The current ones are 25 years old and were only supposed to last for 10 years or so.