Spending the money
City of Charlottetown passes $12.4 million capital budget
New detox equipment and new crime fighting technology are among the bells and whistles in the City of Charlottetown’s $12.4 million capital budget.
City council passed the capital budget at its regular public monthly meeting on Monday night with the annual operational budget set to be delivered next week.
Last year, the city had a $14.3-million capital budget but only spent $7.1 million. “The operational budget is the day-to-day workings of the city, and the capital budget deals with new infrastructure, new equipment, street paving, ditch infilling, new purchases or new services,’’ said Coun. Melissa Hilton, chairwoman of the city’s finance committee. Among the purchases, city police are getting a new laser date capture system at a cost of $105,000.
Hilton said it was her understanding that the technology allows police to see what’s going on inside a building before entering the structure. Deputy Police Chief Brad MacConnell said it’s much more than that, describing it as cutting-edge crime scene/ accident capture and reconstruction technology.
The city will also spend $165,000 on design work for the new fire station it plans on locating in the West Royalty area. In addition, there’s $26,328 in there for a detox sauna.
“They go to fires and there could be chemicals burning,’’ Hilton said. “This is a sauna they can go in where they can detoxify and get rid of any toxins that they may have been exposed to by fighting the fire.’’ Station 1 on Kent Street is also getting a door replacement at a cost of $225,000.
There’s $200,000 in the capital budget for new playground equipment and park development.
Memorial Field will get new lights at a cost of $100,000. Queen Elizabeth Park and Hillsborough Park are having some work done on their tennis courts at a cost of $170,000 (combined). In addition, the boardwalk behind the Friendly Pharmacy is getting replaced at a cost of $190,000. Under community sustainability, the Pownal Parkade will be getting a lights upgrade at a cost of $100,000.
There’s also $600,000 in the capital budget for upgrades to traffic and pedestrian signals. Under public works, there’s
$1.5 million for new sidewalk snowplow gear and money to replace vehicles.
“These sidewalk snowplows are actually going to have other attachments that can be used year-round and not just during snow season,’’ Hilton said.
Public works is also getting about $3 million for street resurfacing and rehabilitation. “People will be very happy to see that because at this time of year we all know the roads break down with the frost and heaving,’’ Hilton said.
The capital budget also contains $1.4 million for the purchase of the property at the corner of Prince and Water streets, land the city bought to preserve as green space. It’s currently used as an outdoor skating rink. It’s a purchase Hilton opposed. There’s also $150,000 in there for the purchase of the house and property at the corner of Queen and Pond streets. The house is being removed in an attempt to improve sight lines for traffic.
One project that isn’t in the capital budget is the longtalked-about roundabout for the Vogue Optical intersection in Sherwood. The city is still waiting for a federal government program that will help pay for that.
As for the Water and Sewer Utility, it’s operating under a $32 million capital budget, but the city is only responsible for $7.8 million of that, thanks to joint funding and the federal gas tax program.
The money will see $1.2 million spent on the new Miltonvale water source and upgrades to the Winter River wellfield. A total of $5.3 million will be spent on improvements and upgrades to the Charlottetown wastewater plant so the city can receive waste from Stratford and for decommissioning the lagoon in East Royalty.