COBDEN — The wish lists of the various department heads for the Township of Whitewater Region were recently reviewed by council during a special capital works budget meeting.
The wish lists totals $2,132,214.39, with about $120,000 to be paid only by the users of the water and sewer plants in Cobden. There are two departments with no capital expenditures – waste management and building, said township treasurer Marsha Hawthorne.
Prior to council viewing the draft wish list, Ms. Hawthorne sat down with each department head to discuss the capital projects. She then reviewed the department requests with Chief Administrative Officer Christine FitzSimons.
Public works is hoping to have about three-quarters of the capital works money spent in its area. The other 25 per cent is split between administration with two per cent; fire at almost 10 per cent; parks and recreation at five per cent; the arena at just over 2.5 per cent; water at 1.5 per cent and sewer at just under 4.25 per cent. The water and sewer capital projects are user pay only.
While nothing has been set in stone, Ms. Hawthorne provided a draft list of the projects for each department.
The administration projects total $43,724. The projects include are an upgrade to the server ($7,000); eight new council chairs ($3,500); two new iPads for the staff table ($2,000); asset management software for tangible assets ($17,031) and asset management software for planning ($14,193.).
Ms. Hawthorne noted that on top of being uncomfortable, the chairs are old, squeak, are dirty and stink. She said the chairs have been used since before amalgamation, about 15 years ago. However, the council table needs to be changed as well. It’s a possibility that council members will have to decide between a new council table set-up or new council chairs, she said.
The fire department has a wish list totalling $210,420.39. Of that $184,429.39 is for fire protection. This includes an electric exhaust fan for the Beachburg fire truck ($3,000), BA’s (Breathing Apparatus) for the Cobden fire station ($40,000); bunker gear, 15 need to be replaced as each one is good for only 10 years, ($30,000), coveralls to replace old ones ($8,550), high volume hoses as three are needed per truck ($15,000) and the unfinanced portion of the Westmeath fire truck ($87,870.39).
The other $26,000 is for building maintenance in Beachburg with $20,000 allotted to expand the training room; $5,000 to replace doors in the Foresters Falls fire hall and $1,000 to replace windows in the Westmeath fire hall.
The total capital projects for the public works department is $1,598,070. The breakdown is $1,034,000 for major road construction; $517,000 for equipment and $47,070 for building maintenance.
The major road construction projects include St. Augustine ($14,000); Rapid Road ($40,000); Cornerview Road ($395,000); Snake River Line ($205,000) and Grants Settlement Road ($380,000).
The equipment includes the purchase of a trackless sidewalk plow ($140,000); sweeper broom ($27,000); and Westmeath Sand Dome ($350,000).
The building maintenance draft budget items are both at the Ross Mineview garage. The garage doors need to be replaced at a cost of $25,300 and a new heating system needs to be installed at a cost of $21,770.
It was noted there is no new major road construction work for 2016, as former projects, dating back to 2012, have yet to be completed. Also, public works manager Bill Misener has requested township roads crews work on Grants Settlement Road while the other projects be contracted out.
The Parks and Recreation wish list totals $110,000. These projects include $65,000 for the tourist booth upgrades; $30,000 for upgrades at Beachburg Little Lakes and $15,000 for public docks. The tourist booth upgrade includes a $30,000 grant. It’s expected that due to the poor water quality of Muskrat Lake, swimming lessons will be at Beachburg’s Little Lakes, which means outhouses and change rooms will need to be built.
The Cobden arena is slated for a $50,000 upgrade. However, council is awaiting approval for a Trillium grant application for the go-ahead on the Cobden arena.
The sewer capital works totals $90,000 which will be used to pay $40,000 of the unfinanced portion of the cast-in-place project completed last year and $50,000 for a backup sewer generator at the lift station on Truelove Street. However, the generator would not be paid in this year’s budget, rather split evenly between 2017 and 2018.
The water budget is for the $30,000 Beachburg aquifer study, which was not completed last year.
