There are seven capital and special projects schedules on the docket, and council has made it through the first five.
Each schedule contains special projects and capital spending per department: General Government, Economic Development, Protective Services, Public Works, Golf, Community Services and Grant related projects.
The total proposed capital and special projects budget was $9.65 million going into budget meetings, but a number of things have been cut, reducing the total amount.
For instance, the proposal to light the interpretive trail was cut, as well as four trail-accessible washrooms on the trails around town, which were estimated to cost $113,000 each. Also not making the cut was a proposed Bobcat for the Community Centre and a parking lot area for the pump track, which would have cost $84,000.
On paper, the largest special project and capital budget is for the Community Centre, at $4.36 million, which includes $2.85 million for a new stand-alone childcare facility and $1.39 million for upgrades and improvements to the refrigeration plant.
This latter is a carry-over project from last year, and about $1.12 million is being funded by provincial grants.
About $2.67 million of the budgeted amount would come from grants, a chunk of funds has already been budgeted, $700,000 would come from reserve funds and another $862,000 from Peace River Agreement funding, so in total, only $84,000 of new capital is earmarked for the Community Centre.
The same holds true for the capital and special projects budget for Public Works. On paper, it is $3.12 million, but the majority of that would come from grants ($1.1 million), reserve transfers ($811,000) or Peace River Agreement funding ($977,000), meaning only $219,000 would be needed in new capital.
This would include $385,000 to stabilize the banks at Flatbed, $279,000 of which would come from a grant that is already approved, $1.12 million to fix the downtown sidewalks, $750,000 of which would come from grants, and $128,000 to replace a number of solid waste bins around town.
The biggest chuck of funds would be to replace aging vehicles, including $576,000 for heavy equipment replacement and $846,000 for light vehicle and other equipment.
This includes replacing the current 2009 Zamboni with a new, electric Zamboni. According to Fleet Manager Doug Lowther, electric Zambonis are used in places like Whitehorse, Dawson City, Prince George, Penticton, Vancouver, “and many other arenas that currently have top junior A teams as well as NHL teams.” He says the new Zamboni would take about 15 minutes to fully charge, and with no real limit to the number of floods it could do per day. “The battery life is 10 to 12 years,” he says, which would be about the same lifespan as the current machine, which he hopes to trade in for $12,500. “All options are the same as existing machines, but the newer technology provides better quality flood.”
Lowther is also hoping to replace one of the golf course mowers. “This is the last existing 1900s mower,” he says. “Parts are hard to find and most parts are only able to be sourced from USA and in most cases, these are used parts.” He says the mower is becoming unreliable. “This mower started as a greens mower, then as it deteriorated it was moved to a fringe and tee box mower. We intend to move the new mower into the greens mower position and move the 2015 greens mower into the fringe and tee box mower. This rotation allows for extended life of mowers yet maintains high-quality results in key areas.”
Also on the schedule to be replaced is the “air-end” for the golf course compressor. “This has been rebuilt twice completely but it cannot be rebuilt any further,” says Lowther. He says the unit has 60,000 hours on it, and is vital to the irrigation system, running all day, every day during the golf season. “With solid preventative maintenance, we have been able to extend the life as it has more hours on it then the manufacturer has seen on this model ever before,” he says. “By replacing this air end we are projected to get four more years out of this compressor before the entire compressor needs replacement. This compressor was purchased in 2015.”
The Water Treatment Plant generator from 1992 is planned to be replaced this year. “Parts are hard to find for the electrical controls,” says Lowther. “To replace the complete electrical control system outweighs the market value of the generator. This is a vital piece of equipment to operate our Water Treatment Plant during power failures.”
He says that every other year the District has load testing done on all the generators. “We are advised that this system is losing its integrity,” says Lowther. “This has become an unreliable system, and the District have had several failures during the last three years where the generator will not operate as it should during an outage. This proposal is to replace the existing generator with an NG generator so no fuel has to be hauled to keep it operational. All other similar NG generators the District have are doing well and have a long life expectancy.”
Public works is also looking to get an Emergency Generator for the Public Works Yard. Currently the District has no generator there for outages or emergencies. “The District is able to rent a generator from a local rental company if they have one available, or if the District rents it before someone else does,” says Lowther. “This is not conducive to being an emergency response base for our Municipality crews, Fire Department, or any other emergency response service the District could assist in the protection of the community is needed during outages in winter, summer, forest fire threats, or any substantial emergency in our community. In winter months we store several vital pieces of equipment inside to prevent freezing such as our Vactor and Steamer.”
General Government has a $344,000 budget for 2022, much of which is technological upgrades for the District, including $53,000 from 2021 to improve the audio and visual system for the Council Chambers.
The largest single item in General Government is $148,000 for a study, being undertaken and funded by the Resource Municipalities Coalition, looking at the rail network to help ensure long term viability and capacity for Northern BC exports, which the District is spearheading but will be funded by the Coalition.
Economic Development has the smallest capital budget for 2022 at $60,000. Most of this is earmarked for purchasing land (100 acre woods and Saddle Club area) for new lots. Funds for these purchases will come from the Land Sale Reserve Fund. The project is on hold due to “cumulative effects on First Nations and the Community Forest License Amendment which is on hold.” Once the Community Forest License Amendment is approved, it will remove this area from the Community Forest and initial subdivision development will commence.
Protective Services only has $296,380 in special projects and capital, but of that, only $25,000 is covered by a grant, meaning $271,380 will be new spending. This includes $75,000 for an Encroachment Enforcement Project, a special project “using contractors trained in Bylaw Enforcement and land surveying to identify and address situations of encroachment onto District property,” $75,000 for a Fire Hall Facility Assessment Study to “evaluate options for renovation, expansion, or replacement of the existing fire station as the building is at its life expectancy and does not provide spaces required by current fire department occupational health and safety programs, including those listed by WorkSafeBC,” and $75,000 for a Wildland Urban Interface Sprinkler Protection Trailer that can be deployed during “wildfire urban interface situations.”
There is $1,057,000 budget for the golf course, nearly all of that transferred from reserves, and nearly all of that for work on the Golf Course Road. “The Golf Course Road was established when the golf course was built next to the District’s Right of Way for our sanitary line,” says the report. “This road was never part of the Right of Way and was situated on Crown Land. This road was never built to a proper specification and over the years has required significant maintenance to ensure safe travel. As of September 2019 the District took ownership of the road access and is now able to install a proper roadway. This will entail a proper base standard and a proper width that would give the District a safe access to the golf course and years of low maintenance requirements.”
Council waived their purchasing policy for $7000 for maintenance and a redesign on the District’s website.
While council has made it’s way through special projects, they still have a few major hurdles to pass before they’re done, including passing the operational budget, and setting the 2022 tax rates.
They have until May 15 to do so.
Council is working its way through its 2022 Budget.
There are seven capital and special projects schedules on the docket, and council has made it through the first five.
Each schedule contains special projects and capital spending per department: General Government, Economic Development, Protective Services, Public Works, Golf, Community Services and Grant related projects.
The total proposed capital and special projects budget was $9.65 million going into budget meetings, but a number of things have been cut, reducing the total amount.
For instance, the proposal to light the interpretive trail was cut, as well as four trail-accessible washrooms on the trails around town, which were estimated to cost $113,000 each. Also not making the cut was a proposed Bobcat for the Community Centre and a parking lot area for the pump track, which would have cost $84,000.
On paper, the largest special project and capital budget is for the Community Centre, at $4.36 million, which includes $2.85 million for a new stand-alone childcare facility and $1.39 million for upgrades and improvements to the refrigeration plant.
This latter is a carry-over project from last year, and about $1.12 million is being funded by provincial grants.
About $2.67 million of the budgeted amount would come from grants, a chunk of funds has already been budgeted, $700,000 would come from reserve funds and another $862,000 from Peace River Agreement funding, so in total, only $84,000 of new capital is earmarked for the Community Centre.
The same holds true for the capital and special projects budget for Public Works. On paper, it is $3.12 million, but the majority of that would come from grants ($1.1 million), reserve transfers ($811,000) or Peace River Agreement funding ($977,000), meaning only $219,000 would be needed in new capital.
This would include $385,000 to stabilize the banks at Flatbed, $279,000 of which would come from a grant that is already approved, $1.12 million to fix the downtown sidewalks, $750,000 of which would come from grants, and $128,000 to replace a number of solid waste bins around town.
The biggest chuck of funds would be to replace aging vehicles, including $576,000 for heavy equipment replacement and $846,000 for light vehicle and other equipment.
This includes replacing the current 2009 Zamboni with a new, electric Zamboni. According to Fleet Manager Doug Lowther, electric Zambonis are used in places like Whitehorse, Dawson City, Prince George, Penticton, Vancouver, “and many other arenas that currently have top junior A teams as well as NHL teams.” He says the new Zamboni would take about 15 minutes to fully charge, and with no real limit to the number of floods it could do per day. “The battery life is 10 to 12 years,” he says, which would be about the same lifespan as the current machine, which he hopes to trade in for $12,500. “All options are the same as existing machines, but the newer technology provides better quality flood.”
Lowther is also hoping to replace one of the golf course mowers. “This is the last existing 1900s mower,” he says. “Parts are hard to find and most parts are only able to be sourced from USA and in most cases, these are used parts.” He says the mower is becoming unreliable. “This mower started as a greens mower, then as it deteriorated it was moved to a fringe and tee box mower. We intend to move the new mower into the greens mower position and move the 2015 greens mower into the fringe and tee box mower. This rotation allows for extended life of mowers yet maintains high-quality results in key areas.”
Also on the schedule to be replaced is the “air-end” for the golf course compressor. “This has been rebuilt twice completely but it cannot be rebuilt any further,” says Lowther. He says the unit has 60,000 hours on it, and is vital to the irrigation system, running all day, every day during the golf season. “With solid preventative maintenance, we have been able to extend the life as it has more hours on it then the manufacturer has seen on this model ever before,” he says. “By replacing this air end we are projected to get four more years out of this compressor before the entire compressor needs replacement. This compressor was purchased in 2015.”
The Water Treatment Plant generator from 1992 is planned to be replaced this year. “Parts are hard to find for the electrical controls,” says Lowther. “To replace the complete electrical control system outweighs the market value of the generator. This is a vital piece of equipment to operate our Water Treatment Plant during power failures.”
He says that every other year the District has load testing done on all the generators. “We are advised that this system is losing its integrity,” says Lowther. “This has become an unreliable system, and the District have had several failures during the last three years where the generator will not operate as it should during an outage. This proposal is to replace the existing generator with an NG generator so no fuel has to be hauled to keep it operational. All other similar NG generators the District have are doing well and have a long life expectancy.”
Public works is also looking to get an Emergency Generator for the Public Works Yard. Currently the District has no generator there for outages or emergencies. “The District is able to rent a generator from a local rental company if they have one available, or if the District rents it before someone else does,” says Lowther. “This is not conducive to being an emergency response base for our Municipality crews, Fire Department, or any other emergency response service the District could assist in the protection of the community is needed during outages in winter, summer, forest fire threats, or any substantial emergency in our community. In winter months we store several vital pieces of equipment inside to prevent freezing such as our Vactor and Steamer.”
General Government has a $344,000 budget for 2022, much of which is technological upgrades for the District, including $53,000 from 2021 to improve the audio and visual system for the Council Chambers.
The largest single item in General Government is $148,000 for a study, being undertaken and funded by the Resource Municipalities Coalition, looking at the rail network to help ensure long term viability and capacity for Northern BC exports, which the District is spearheading but will be funded by the Coalition.
Economic Development has the smallest capital budget for 2022 at $60,000. Most of this is earmarked for purchasing land (100 acre woods and Saddle Club area) for new lots. Funds for these purchases will come from the Land Sale Reserve Fund. The project is on hold due to “cumulative effects on First Nations and the Community Forest License Amendment which is on hold.” Once the Community Forest License Amendment is approved, it will remove this area from the Community Forest and initial subdivision development will commence.
Protective Services only has $296,380 in special projects and capital, but of that, only $25,000 is covered by a grant, meaning $271,380 will be new spending. This includes $75,000 for an Encroachment Enforcement Project, a special project “using contractors trained in Bylaw Enforcement and land surveying to identify and address situations of encroachment onto District property,” $75,000 for a Fire Hall Facility Assessment Study to “evaluate options for renovation, expansion, or replacement of the existing fire station as the building is at its life expectancy and does not provide spaces required by current fire department occupational health and safety programs, including those listed by WorkSafeBC,” and $75,000 for a Wildland Urban Interface Sprinkler Protection Trailer that can be deployed during “wildfire urban interface situations.”
There is $1,057,000 budget for the golf course, nearly all of that transferred from reserves, and nearly all of that for work on the Golf Course Road. “The Golf Course Road was established when the golf course was built next to the District’s Right of Way for our sanitary line,” says the report. “This road was never part of the Right of Way and was situated on Crown Land. This road was never built to a proper specification and over the years has required significant maintenance to ensure safe travel. As of September 2019 the District took ownership of the road access and is now able to install a proper roadway. This will entail a proper base standard and a proper width that would give the District a safe access to the golf course and years of low maintenance requirements.”
Council waived their purchasing policy for $7000 for maintenance and a redesign on the District’s website.
While council has made it’s way through special projects, they still have a few major hurdles to pass before they’re done, including passing the operational budget, and setting the 2022 tax rates.
They have until May 15 to do so.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
