During a presentation to council last Thursday, Director of Finance/Deputy CAO David Gillan explained some of the Town of Battleford’s upcoming capital projects.
2018 is the year some previously-approved projects will begin.
Gillan noted $200,000 is dedicated to consulting regarding the long-term feasibility of the Opera House on top of Town Hall.
Gillan said the Town has received donations over the years from various organizations. The funding toward the project, Gillan said, has been approved by the groups involved with the fundraising. The amount is listed as “prior funded reserve.”
Rehabilitating roads is another major outlay. A project this year is comprehensive rehabilitation to the north end of 2nd Avenue, Gillan said this involves excavating, changing the water and sewer and rebuilding the road. Work involving overlay and curb and gutter is also planned to take place. Of the price tag, $300,000 is from the general fund while $200,000 is from the utilities fund.
A combined total of $500,000 is also planned for road rehabilitation projects in each year until 2022.
The West Park Reservoir project is to cost, according to the draft budget document, $1,621,000.
A pre-approved $800,000 is going towards ice plant replacement in Battleford Arena, and work will take place this year.
The town is also planning to upgrade the arena in the future, and currently has $140,000 budgeted each year from 2018 to 2021. The figure $1,650,000 currently appears in the 2022 column of the capital plan, but $1,100,000 is noted as external funding.
“We’re hoping there’ll be grant funds and we’ll be working on that, putting some money away, and over the next couple years working towards this project,” Gillan said.
Gillan noted arena upgrades as an example of needing to see amounts within a longer context for a project to take place in the future, and not only in one year’s budget.
