Town planning 2019 budget deliberations

Battleford citizens will soon have an opportunity to find out what the town’s proposed budget will look like for 2019.  

The town has announced it will hold its budget deliberation session on Jan. 14. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.

Mayor Ames Leslie said council will also look at whether there will be any tax increase recommended by administration in the new budget.

“Council’s job is to take into consideration what’s best financially for the town, but also what’s best financially for the taxpayers as well,” he said following Monday’s council meeting. 

Leslie said council will also need to determine some of its priorities for 2019 as far as bigger capital projects, such as future plans for the former St. Vital Church building and the Finlayson Island bridge upgrades.

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Town administration will first present the proposed budget to council, likely at the Jan. 7 meeting. 

Here are some of the other highlights from council’s meeting:

Council approved a recommendation to carry over funds left over from 2018 for capital projects not completed this year, that will be transferred to the 2019 budget. 

The amount added up to about $1 million. From that amount, a total of $602,400 was a carryover from the general fund and $419,000 from the utility fund. Some of the general fund projects include street rehabilitation and sidewalk replacement work, as well as upgrades to the Flats Ball Diamond. Some utility fund projects include design work for a wastewater lagoon upgrade project, as well as sewer line repairs and underground infrastructure work.

Leslie said the projects will get done.

“The plan is most of these projects will be completed in 2019, they are not going to disappear,” he said during the meeting.

Also from council this week, councillors approved a recommendation from administration for the town to work with the City of North Battleford on a project to create a Regional Parks and Recreation Master Plan. The aim of the plan is to review current recreation facilities, parks and recreation services used by Battlefords residents and identify ways the town and city can collaborate in providing recreation services to the Battlefords.

The plan is focused on working toward “cost-effective planning and operations of the parks and recreations resources in the Battlefords,” CAO John Enns-Wind said in his written report.  The town had allocated up to $40,000 in its 2018 budget for a study related to the project. Mayor Ames Leslie said following the meeting that the town was already planning to complete its own study on parks and recreation. Now essentially, it is giving administration permission to share that information with the city “so we’re not doing the same thing.”

“My biggest worry, and I think Mayor (Ryan) Bater will agree, if we are both going to build a hockey rink, why are we? Is there a way we can work together or fund the project together, or maybe we both need a hockey rink?” Leslie added. 

A delegation from Kanaweyimik Child and Family Services Inc. also gave a presentation this week about their work to expand the current facility in Battleford and add a second site that will include an Intergenerational Trauma and Recovery Program to help families dealing with addictions issues. Executive Director Marlene Bugler and Legal Counsel Mike Riou spoke to council about the plans, saying the non-profit organization that serves five surrounding First Nation communities has outgrown its existing site.

The current facility has tax exemption status under The Municipalities Act, so they hope to also have that exemption applied to the second facility as well when it is ready. Bugler described the proposed new facility as an expansion to the current services, not an addition. With the expansion, new staff will also be hired. Mayor Ames Leslie said council will look at their request in the new year.  

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW