Council approves $650,000 engineering price tag for Markdale challenge
Grey Highlands council has accredited paying much more than $650,000 for engineering perform essential for a main infrastructure task in Markdale.
At its meeting on Oct. 4, council voted in favour of awarding the request for proposals for the engineering operate necessary for the Lawler Travel and Brackenbury Road infrastructure project in Markdale. At its former conference, council had voted to defer the awarding of the tender for the do the job until eventually extra aspects about how the project would be financed.
The full quantity for the engineering is $657,513 (excluding HST).
At the meeting, municipal team offered a observe up report and chart to council that outlined how the engineering do the job would be financed. The municipality’s transportation and community spaces section is dependable for 55 for every cent of the expenditures and that funding will appear from the tax foundation. The environmental solutions department is dependable for 45 for each cent of the expenditures and that revenue will appear from the person pay out water and sewage finances.
The breakdown usually means $361,678.35 should occur from the tax foundation and $295,918.65 will come from the user pay back water and sewage spending budget. A complete of $200,000 has been budgeted for the job in the 2023 h2o/sewage spending budget.
With the economical breakdown in front of them, councillors centered their focus on how the project will be financed. The personnel chart termed for the engineering costs to be distribute more than the 2024, 2025 and 2026 money budgets. Even so, the chart did not make any precise suggestions about quantities.
Coun. Paul Allen questioned the deficiency of suggestion for how the challenge would be financed around many many years.
“I’m hoping we’re not spending $657,000 on working day one of the contract,” he mentioned.
Allen named for the 2024 tax base funded quantity for the task to be capped at $200,000, with the remaining $161,678.35 to be spread around the 2025 and 2026 budgets.
Other associates of council felt they were being finding into the weeds seeking to predetermine the funding for the challenge before the budget procedure.
“We’re overthinking this,” claimed Deputy Mayor Dane Nielsen, who claimed just about every yr in the course of the finances cash projects arrive forward that include funding ideas that are pushed into the coming yrs.
In the end, council voted in favour of a $200,000 cap on the 2024 tax base expenses, with the remainder becoming pushed to the 2025 and 2026 budgets.
The project is an infrastructure improve in Markdale. It entails improvements to the underground h2o and sewage performs, stormwater administration upgrades as nicely as bringing streets up to regular by adding curbs and sidewalks. The subdivision was built in the 1970s and the underground infrastructure in the place has knowledgeable numerous complications in new decades.
Chris Fell, Regional Journalism Initiative Reporter, CollingwoodToday.ca