Melfort council approved a capital budget with almost $4 million in spending – if they receive the grant money they applied for – that includes money to replace around a mile of sidewalks.
Rick Lang, Melfort’s mayor, said after the Dec. 20 special meeting the $650,000 they plan to invest in sidewalks is significantly more than the $50,000 per year they usually do. The commitment would be paid with $600,000 from the city’s share of the gas tax and $50,000 from the infrastructure replacement fund.
The capital budget also includes $518,000 for the next phase of the Spruce Haven recreational development, $250,000 to replace water meters, $150,000 for a landfill study to figure out how to get it to meet standards, $116,000 to pave Broadway Ave from Regent Street to the city boundary – if property owners will pay $76,000 of the cost through a local improvement, $110,000 for LED lights for the airport runway, and $100,000 to upgrade the traffic signal at Main Street and Burrows Avenue.
They’ll also spend $42,196 to replace the lighting in city facilities with LEDs – an investment the city figures will pay for itself in five years.
Not on the capital budget was a $40,150 Main Street streetscaping project that would introduce rounded, bumped-out corners for the north part of the intersection with MacLeod Avenue and the south part of the intersection with Crawford Avenue.
“Council did not support that at this point of time, so we’re going to need more study on that,” Lang said. “At this point of time, it was felt by council that there are other issues with respect to the city that are more pressing than moving ahead with a cosmetic fix for the city.”
The capital budget also includes $1.4 million to redo the service roads along Highway #6 that would be paid by the provincial government – if they decide to fund it this year.
