There's an old adage which says to speed up, sometimes you need to slow down.
That seems to be the motto of Estevan city council right now. After two to three years of watching projects get delayed, pushed back a year, or not fully completed, council has decided to hold off any major new work in 2013 and catch up.
Instead of adding anything new to the mix, they will finally finish the Souris Valley Aquatic and Leisure Centre parking lot. The much-needed lights at the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Devonian Street will be installed. In fact, the list of the carryover projects is a fairly lengthy one and we could go on for awhile.
Because they do have such a long list, the decision by council to slow down in 2013 and get caught up is the correct one.
Had they added a pile of new projects to the 2013 schedule, there is a good chance they wouldn't have gotten to them until late in the construction season. Or it's likely they wouldn't have been started at all, which creates issues for the following year. Those they did start might not have been finished before winter, which leads to frustration from residents, makes the city look bad and would further clog the schedule up for 2014.
As was stated by Mayor Roy Ludwig in a recent article, there are other reasons for the direction the City will take in 2013.
Chief among them is the City's debt. Estevan is currently carrying a debt load in the $35 million range. The bulk of that figure is due to the City's rapid growth and will be paid down as they move forward. However for now, they are fairly close to their debt ceiling and need to exercise caution.
The other issue is the looming possibility of federal infrastructure funds in 2014. There is talk the government will have a replacement for the $33 billion Economic Action Plan. That is the plan that helped the City of Estevan get over $10 million in federal funding for Spectra Place.
No one seems to know exactly what this new plan in 2014 will entail, but Estevan, and the majority of communities across the country, have hopes that they will get some money for much needed infrastructure projects. There has even been talk about money for an underpass for the city. Dare to dream.
The City, of course, runs the risk that there won't be any funding available in 2014. Still, if there isn't and Estevan enters 2014 with a clean slate and the ability to take on some new projects, that isn't the worst of all scenarios either.
While this current strategy is admirable, council must be careful that by slowing down and catching up, they aren't putting themselves further behind in the future. And any thought of a return to the times when council refused to do any infrastructure work, the reason we are in our current predicament, must be completely thrown out the window.
It's a tight rope that council must walk, but if handled correctly, it's a walk worth taking.
