SACKVILLE, N.B. — A new excavator, road upgrades and a new generator to power the Tantramar civic centre – these are several of the big-ticket items that could be approved next week as Sackville town council gets set to vote on the 2020 capital budgets, which will see nearly $2 million in funding spread out amongst various sectors in the community.
And the good news, according to treasurer Michael Beal, is that the town will be able to do all of its general capital projects next year without any borrowing – and the only funds needed from the Municipal Capital Borrowing Board will be about $462,000 for utility projects.
“If everything goes forward as drafted, it would be the first time ever we would be able to do all general capital without any borrowing, and that includes the fire department,” said Beal.
The town has been working on a debt management and reduction plan for a number of years, Beal explained to council during a recent public budget information session, which has put the municipality in a position where it now has some flexibility with capital out of revenue.
“Over the years, we’ve been able to reduce the number of debentures we have outstanding which reduces the overall debt and the overall interest.”
And this has happened even with a number of capital projects continuing over the past 10 to 15 years – including several major road reconstructions, an extensive makeover of the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park, the construction of the civic centre, and the purchase of the tourist bureau.
One of the biggest general capital projects proposed for this year is the purchase of a new excavator. With a price tag of about $309,000, town engineer Dwayne Acton explained that this new piece of equipment will replace an older unit in need of repair. He said the excavator is the public works department’s most widely used piece of equipment, used throughout the year for items like road reconstruction and water and sewer repairs.
Another significant capital project is a new emergency generator for the Tantramar civic centre, which will provide back-up power for the facility during emergencies and power failures. The civic centre serves as the community’s warming centre during these instances.
About $289,000 will be allocated in 2020 for the generator, while the remaining funds for the $575,000 project had already been set aside in the 2019 budget.
“This would just be continuing with that phased approach, where we would allocate $289,000 in 2020 to give us enough money to go ahead with the back-up generator for the Tantramar Veterans’ Memorial Civic Centre,” said Acton.
Road work has also once again been placed high on the agenda for 2020, with a number of projects getting capital funds. More than $700,000 has been set aside for upgrades, including reconstruction projects on Milner Lane, Wright Street and Cattail Ridge (although the Cattail Ridge work will be dependent upon provincial funding). There are also funds for paving of various streets, sidewalk renewals and crosswalk upgrades.
Beal said even if the budget is approved overall, each individual project will still come back to council throughout the year for approval.
Other capital projects proposed for 2020:
$80,000 for a dog park
$80,000 for portable generator for public works building/lift stations
$74,000 in upgrades to the fire department’s equipment
$50,000 for water treatment plant upgrades
$40,000 for two new bridges and trail improvements in the Waterfowl Park
$30,000 for a digital upgrade to the events sign at civic centre
$30,000 for new dugouts at the baseball fields.
For a full list of recommended capital projects, visit Sackville.com.
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