Town of Shelburne approves $4.8m capital budget
34 planned projects on the list for the 2018-19 fiscal year
The Town of Shelburne has approved a five-year capital budget that includes 34 planned projects for the 2018-19 fiscal year valued at $4.8 million that range from wastewater treatment facility upgrades to new Christmas decorations.
The capital budget was approved by town council on April 16 and is supported by a projected $2.87 million in external funding (60 per cent). An additional $665,000 in capital spending for 2018-19 will be financed from the town’s capital reserves.
Among the key investments in the 2018-19 capital budget are a commitment to complete the $2.8 million Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrades project, start- ing steps towards a new Shelburne Family Centre and a major investment in the Shelburne Marine Terminal.
“Building on Shelburne’s status as the only community in southwest Nova Scotia with a growing population of young families, the town proposes a new community facility consolidating supportive services for families of all ages under one roof” reads a town press release. CAO Dylan Heide said there will be a lot of preplanning with stakeholders and the community when it comes to the proposed Shelburne Family Centre. “We anticipate several planning sessions over the next couple of months, involving the public, to further develop the concept, following which an external architecture/ engineering firm would be engaged for preliminary designs, to be used for external funding applications,” said Hyde.
“We are anticipating a new build rather than a renovation at this time, but this will be confirmed via the aforementioned planning process; primarily this would be a replacement and expansion of the current ‘King Street Centre.’ It would be anticipated that a groundbreaking would occur no sooner than 2019,” he said.
The major investment in the Shelburne Marine Terminal project “represents the implementation of remaining recommendations from engineering studies previously conducted on the terminal, to ensure long-term structural stability of all operational areas,” said Hyde.
“Completion of this work is intended to ensure the terminal remains open for commercial use for the foreseeable future, allowing it to continue to play a significant role in the economy – not just of the town but the surrounding area - and to expand on that important role.”
The capital budget also provides for continued investment in parks, trails and greenspaces including support for the proposed Graham’s Park Skatepark project; tourism initiatives including improved banners and visitors signage and new public Wi-Fi network in the downtown; new Christmas decorations for town streets as requested by residents; a contribution of up to $50,000 to the Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club Sailing Academy in support of legacy upgrades to the youth sailing program in preparation for hosting the International Albacore Championship in August; and road paving projects throughout town including the seal coating of Falls Lane and Water Street, and following up prior widening projects, along with a commitment to improve downtown parking.
The 2018- 19 capital budget follows a busy 2017/18 which saw the town undertake 23 capital projects at a projected cost of $4.34 million, supported by a projected $2.44 million in external funding (56.3 percent), and $224,709 in financing from the town’s capital reserves. All but three of the 2017-18 projects have been successfully completed, with the remainder slated to be finished by September.
The complete 2018-19 town budget – operating and capital – will soon be available on the Town of Shelburne website at www.town.shelburne.ns.ca.