Tight budgets mean next council must think small

For as long as I can remember, there has been talk of building a “bike skills” venue on the south shore of the river valley, in Queen Elizabeth Park.

The vision for a series of jumps, ramps, flow tracks and other challenges has been pitched so many times that its sizable support group of two-wheeled enthusiasts could be excused for wondering what it might take for the city to finally fund it.

Various designs have been contemplated, and an ideal spot southeast of the Walterdale Bridge has already been picked out. All that’s left is for the city to finally say yes.

“It’s been in the works for a long time … they just can’t get it across the finish line,” said

Cory Boddy, a coach with the Sprockids biking program who, along with his 12-year-old son Elliot, made a plea for the park to council last year.

“There’s a really vibrant community here and we have some of the best trails, but what we’re missing is a place where people, in a very controlled setting, can develop their skills.”

To the north, in the still developing neighbourhood of Griesbach, plans are afoot to create a unique community hub by repurposing the old William Griesbach training centre, the lone remaining structure from the area’s past as a military base.

The ABC Head Start Society is interested in using the building, which features an extra large gymnasium, to deliver programs to vulnerable kids and families.

The Griesbach Community League, wary of the financial risks of building its own community hall, wants to get involved as a tenant.

But like the bike park, the Griesbach partnership also requires the city to participate, at least as a tenant, and perhaps as a contributor to some of the needed renovations.

I’ve highlighted these two unfunded developments because they are examples of the kind of small-scale projects city council will likely need to focus on over the next several years, in part to put more attention on community quality of life, but also out of financial necessity.

Yes, in case you hadn’t heard, infrastructure funding will be in short supply for the foreseeable future.

The big dollars have already been spoken for, devoted to massive LRT projects and improvements to Yellowhead Trail.

The province, though it may come through with some shortterm stimulus funding, is reducing its capital grants to municipalities over the long term.

And as a further headache, Edmonton dipped into its infrastructure reserve fund this year to help cover the city’s revenue shortfall from COVID -19, money that will have to be paid back.

Which means Edmontonians shouldn’t expect a lot of shiny new things for a while beyond what’s already been approved, particularly when it comes to the large, “city-building” glamour projects.

Even a new multi-purpose recreation centre, which can run more than $300 million a pop these days, seems out of reach.

“We’re going to be forced to go smaller, whether we like it or not,” said Coun. Michael Walters.

The city’s unfunded infrastructure list contains no shortage of these asks, from shale baseball diamonds to new parks to seniors facilities.

Or if you don’t like those ideas, the municipality could expand its neighbourhood street renewal program, develop more supportive housing, or expand a couple of libraries.

Transforming Queen Elizabeth Park, including a new bike skills venue, is pegged at about $3.4 million, or about one per cent of the price tag for a new steel-andglass recreation palace. (Boddy thinks the bike park by itself can be done for less than $300,000.)

And if you’ve seen the explosion of new riders that have appeared on city pathways in recent years, and particularly in 2020, you know it will be well used.

But beyond these kinds of micro-projects, I’d suggest the city also look at increasing its investment in something even less exciting: maintenance and repair of the projects it’s already built.

According to the last capital budget, the city owns approximately 950 facilities. Around 30 per cent of these are at least 50 years old, while another two-thirds are at least 30 years old, key milestones when many building components like roofs, boilers and plumbing need to be replaced.

Like a lot of governments, the city’s level of investment in repairs and maintenance, though much improved in recent years, hasn’t historically kept up with the deterioration. At last count, the municipality’s deferred maintenance backlog was still high at $825 million, which means it wouldn’t hurt to invest further in a bunch of new pipes, wires, windows and elevators.

For the next city council, I can imagine these fiscal restraints will be a drag, since focusing on the small and old over the big and new doesn’t carry a lot of political panache.

It could even lead to a somewhat subdued civic election in 2021 since candidates — the credible ones, anyway — will need to keep their promises modest.

Still, just because something is small doesn’t mean it can’t be meaningful. Just ask anyone in the cycling community who’s been waiting interminably for that bike park.

“When we keep saying ‘no’ to projects it can have a big impact at the community level,” said Walters. “Our next capital budget will have some limits, and to start to prioritize projects that are smaller scale and more community based I think is a real opportunity.”