Proposed local improvement policy would give residents clarity on costs of projects

Residents who want to see infrastructure near their homes upgraded could soon have a better understanding of the costs they would be expected to pay before enhancements even happen.

City administration has produced an updated local improvement policy (LIP) that would consistently govern the use of the program. According to a report presented to city council, the strength of the proposed policy would offer a pre-screening opportunity before the lengthy process begins of petitioning for a project.

“The major consideration of most property owners is the individual costs they will bear as a result of the proposed work,” the report said.

“By providing a pre-screening opportunity to neighbourhoods … proponents for a particular project will have a realistic view of their individual cost obligations. In this way, residents will be in a much better position to provide informed consent when they agree to sign a petition to have work completed. The same would be true in situations where city council might decide to initiate a project.”

With pre-screening, this also ensures city administration doesn’t have to go through the onerous process of a full and formal LIP, which involves generating many documents and doing plenty of measuring, the report said. City administration presented the proposed LIP during city council’s most recent executive committee meeting. Council voted 6-1 to accept the recommendation; Coun. Brian Swanson was opposed. The recommendation must now be passed at the next regular meeting to become official.

Council discussion

Residents John Bye and Don Mitchell spoke to city council about an LIP project they hoped to see in their neighbourhood on Coteau Street East.

Afterward, Coun. Scott McMann asked administration about the issues the men raised since their request had been hanging around for years. He wondered if this project could be expedited once the proposed LIP was approved.

There are three outstanding LIP requests from several years ago, said engineering director Josh Mickleborough. They have all been delayed, so the concerns of Bye and Mitchell are valid. Once council approves the proposed policy, administration would move on all three requests quickly. The department would develop cost estimates and send them to affected residents to ensure they are still interested in upgrading infrastructure.

These projects can be budget items if they happen with budget discussions, he continued. However, if they missed budget preparation, then administration would bring forward a report and ask for funding for these projects. There were funds for LIP projects placed in the 2020 budget, said city manager Jim Puffalt. There is $250,000 in this year’s budget and the same amount every year for the next five years in anticipation of council approving the policy.

“The procedure defined is an excellent one. It’s generally very advantageous to talk to the property owners and provide a price so they know what the costs are,” he said. “It (expedites) the matter if we have a majority of property owners affected in favour of the local improvement. We can move faster with that information.”

LIP background

The proposed updated LIP answers many questions about where and when the municipality would use a local improvement policy project, along with who can initiate an LIP, explained Mickleborough.

Feedback shows that all parties should have the ability to pursue an LIP; LIPs should be used for new infrastructure projects; LIPs should be used for infrastructure that does not meet current standards; the condition of current infrastructure should not play a role in the use of LIPs; the municipality should pay its portion of any city-owned frontage; and new budget funding should be identified and used.

The pre-screening process of the policy would include: · Submission of scope (description and location) and application

· Engineering department’s review of project eligibility · The department’s estimate and petition form

· Signatures collected from affected property owners in support of LIP

· If support for LIP is adequate, the formal LIP process would be initiated and included in the municipal budget

The policy also includes a financing option on the same terms as a service connection; this would be put on taxes at four per cent over seven years.

If there are LIPs initiated by both residents and the municipality, priority would have to be determined, said Coun. Chris Warren. With a finite amount of funding, he wondered how administration planned to approach this. The engineering department plans for priority projects in the budget and then council approves those, said Puffalt. “I would hope some of these resident-initiated projects that have been sitting in the queue for the last 10 years, we would expect that we would try to move those forward with existing funding and then consider city-initiated projects as those are completed,” Warren said.