Yorkton Council heard a proposal to expand the scope of beautification at the intersection of Highway #9 and Broadway Street, but they weren’t ready to spend the added dollars.
In June 2020, Council approved budget for the beautification of Hwy #9 and Broadway, explained a report circulated to the regular meeting of Council Monday.
It was recommended by the Economic Development Committee and was endorsed by YBID with a monetary contribution.
The project was set to commence this spring with a budget of $900,000, with $350,000 from the MEEP grant, $150,000 from YBID and $400,000 from the City’s 2021 budget.
The project will feature gabion walls with City of Yorkton signage and lighting on the South West and South East corners to welcome inbound traffic. The project will also include pathways, concrete planters, native grass planting, berms and landscaping.
“During the winter months we have been looking at the designs for this project in conjunction with Parks, Engineering and the consultants at Scatliff Miller Murray (SMM). As we dove deeper into detailed design, we realized that in-order for us to build close to the conceptual drawings that were presented to Council in June 2020, we needed to either refocus our funds on two sides of the intersection or come back to Council for further direction,” noted the report presented by Lonnie Kaal – City Manager, with the City.
Working with SMM, we have an estimated budgetof $1,515,000 to be able to complete the full intersection.
The additional $615,000 was suggested by City Administration to be found with $300,000 from departmental reserves, and $315,000 from the rainy day fund.
“If the project does not receive additional dollars, the previous conceptual plan/rendering that was provided during budget will not be able to be completed. Significant reductions in scope would be required which likely means that signage on the east side, lighting, pathways and some planting would be deleted,” noted the report.
“I’m somewhat concerned about a price tag about 70 per cent higher than we had budgeted,” began Councillor Ken Chyz.
And Chyz was not on-side regarding the suggested source of extra funds either.
“To me this is not a rainy day reserve type of thing,” he said.
Coun. Chris Wyatt wasn’t up for additional spending either, or using the rainy day dollars.
However, Kaal noted some of the original concept plan would not happen without added dollars, which could mean less lighting, or no pathways.
Mayor Mitch Hippsley said you only have seven seconds to make a good impression and that is what the busiest intersection into the city allows, a good first impression when coming into Yorkton.
“This is a marketing tool,” he said, adding because of the impact a great looking intersection could afford he was on-side to do the complete project if an acceptable funding option were found.
However, Council ultimately voted in favour of reducing the scope of the project to match the budgeted amount of $900,000, although Hippsley and Coun. Randy Goulden were opposed.
