South Frontenac Council - Oct. 25/11

Jeff Green | Oct 27, 2011

By Jeff Green & Wilma Kenny

Road construction plan dominates south frontenac budget debate

South Frontenac devoted a meeting of their Committee of the Whole this week to a discussion of their 2012 capital budget.

In his background report, township Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Orr talked about how maintaining roads and bridges has become a central concern for South Frontenac.

“The largest part of the capital budget is attributed to construction. Construction includes roads, sidewalks, bridges, culverts, storm sewers, guide rails, etc. Council has heard repeatedly that the condition of these assets is deteriorating at a rate faster than we are investing in them. The gap between what we should be doing and what we have been doing has been widening. Cumulatively this infrastructure deficit is a significant liability and risk for the township.”

In order to address this deficit, township staff are recommending that council consider a three-year construction plan, with incremental increases in the financial commitment each year to account for inflation. The preliminary budget is for $4.3 million in construction in 2012; $4.55 million in 2013; and $4.8 million in 2014.

In order to finance this aggressive plan in 2012, staff recommend using just under $3 million from 2012 taxes and some money from reserve funds. In addition, they would like to allocate 1% of the total budget into an Asset Investment Reserve Fund. This would buffer the township from the monies being taken from current reserves for road work.

The proposed capital budget for 2012 is split into three sections: Villages, Local Roads, and Arterial Roads. In the Villages section, work is proposed on the Harrowsmith intersection ($25,000), on the Perth Road Crescent ($450,000), and on Railway Street in Harrowsmith ($40,000). Under Local Roads are Arena Boundary Road (($150,000), Bradford Road ($150,000), Canoe Lake Road ($230,000), Clark Road ($60,000), McConnnel Road ($200,000), Opinicon Road ($800,000), Ritchie Road ($100,000), White Lake Road ($100,000), and various roads to be determined ($90,000). Under Arterial Roads and Bridges are Bellrock Road ($700,000), Perth Road ($450,000), Hardwood Creek Bridge ($350,000), Maynard Bridge ($350,000), and various roads ($55,000).

Wayne Orr also noted that this year there is a change in what items the capital budget will cover: Historically, any one-time purchase regardless of value, if it was funded from reserves, was considered a capital budget item. Now, while road construction has been added to the capital budget, many smaller items, such as the bathrooms at Centennial Park, Harrowsmith, and the contribution to the Cataraqui Trail have been shifted to the operating budget.

The township holds a total of almost $15 million in reserves, in three general categories. The largest, committed reserves, are reserves set by Council, and include winter road control, working funds, fire equipment and sanitation.

Obligatory reserves, such as: development charges and gas tax reserves, are established by statute. A third group is for accessibility, election expenses, landfill closures, etc. In all, there are presently more than 30 categories of reserve funds.

Council agreed to refer a review of the reserve policy to the Corporate Services Committee (Councilors York, Vandewal, and Deputy Mayor Tinlin) for recommendations on condensing the categories, setting optimal maximum amounts of each reserve fund, and a clear description of what each reserve can be used for.

There was agreement with the proposed creation of a 1% Asset Investment Reserve.

There was some concern that the recreation budget should address needs, not wants, but Orr also noted that because recreation is funded from the parkland reserve, it has no direct impact on annual taxation.

$90,000 is being budgeted for upgrades to the Glendower Hall, under the recreation section. However, Council agreed that no improvements will be made without first getting a full assessment of the building’s underlying mold and structural issues.

Council will also have to look at options for funding the township’s portion of the costs of upgrading the Sydenham water system and the Frontenac Arena.

Council has set the goal of having the 2012 budget ready for approval by December 6. They will meet all day on Saturday November 19, beginning at 9am, to discuss the operating budget.