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SARAH WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
The newest term of Prince Edward County Council has completed their annual Capital Budget Deliberations. As a result, the County has adopted a capital budget of $85.1 million for 2023. The capital budget pays for repair, construction, and replacement of roads, bridges, emergency vehicles and other assets the municipality depends upon.
For comparison, the 2022 capital budget was $18.6 million.
“Investing in municipal assets each year is critical so that we can continue to best serve the community,” Mayor Steve Ferguson said. “I commend Council and staff for working together to develop a capital plan that prioritizes the most critical work while respecting the fiscal constraints that we face.”
Among other deliberations, council approved the next phase of the Picton Main Street reconstruction. This project will span the distance from Johnson Street to Spencer Street. The road construction portion of the project is $5.9 million while the water and wastewater work portion is $6.4 million.
With a substantial sum earmarked for the water/wastewater portion of this project due to the need for a replacement pump station, Director of Finance, Amanda Carter, fielded a question by Councillor Brad Nieman regarding the possibility of offloading some of this cost to developers.
“If we didn’t have to upsize to accommodate developments, we could leave it (the pump station) and not do all this work? So because we are accommodating developers, are we not trying to recoup some of that cost,” he inquired. “Part of this is due to the development north of County Road 49. Are we asking the developers to help pay for some of this?”
Phil St. Jean.
Carter replied that she was unsure this type of request would be permitted, given the municipality already collects development charges.
“We do collect a connection charge on the water/wastewater side for Picton, which is a growth component charge,” explained Carter. “I don’t’ know under development charge framework whether we could go beyond that and ask developers to ‘kick in’ further because we do collect the development charge.”
Council also gave support for the H.J. McFarland Memorial Memorial Home redevelopment project to move forward. The $64.9 million proposed project will take advantage of $42.2 million in accelerator incentive provincial funding, provided design can reach a substantive stage by August 2023. The balance of the project would be funded through development charges, long-term debt and donations.
In speaking to the redevelopment of the home, Councillor St-Jean asserted this project is of the same importance to the community as is the building of the new hospital. Supporting this project, he argued, is of generational importance.
“We’re not gaining (beds) we’re just getting back what should have been ours when Picton Manor closed. This is the single biggest multi-generational decision this community has faced,” said St-Jean. “It’s critical to our community, not unlike the hospital rebuild. Our community deserves this- I can’t say this enough. This is a multigenerational decision.”
Additional highlights from the 2023 capital budget include:
In addition to adopting the 2023 capital plan, council began the process of creating a working group to strategize and advocate for the rehabilitation of County Road 49, including meeting with the appropriate provincial and federal ministry representatives. Council also directed staff to review the multi-year plan for replacing fire fleet and bring a revised plan back to Council in the second quarter of 2023.
There are a variety of ways in which the municipality pays for capital work. These include:
Council also approved the water and wastewater capital budget of $25.1 million. Of this budget, $8.2 million is set aside for the construction in Wellington of new sewer main trunks.
A majority of the water and wastewater budget is debt financed. There is no additional impact to the rate-supported 2023 operating budget or water rates due to debt repayment because of up-front financing agreements.
Council passed a motion to explore the establishment of a water and wastewater committee for the purpose of oversight and input for the next rate study to cover the period of 2026-2031. Staff will bring forward terms of reference for Council to review later in 2023.
A complete list of 2023 water and wastewater capital projects can be found at: https://www.thecounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-Water-and-Wastewater-Capital-Budget.pdf
A complete list of approved 2022 capital projects with funding sources can be found at: https://www.thecounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-Capital-Budget.pdf
Council will review the proposed 2023 operating budget February 22-24, during which time it will confirm the final tax levy. The proposed operating budget will be published by February 16.
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