SNOWED UNDER
City facing $10M deficit
The city just can’t dig itself out of a snow-clearing deficit, with councillors learning Tuesday there is already a projected $10-million hole in the winter maintenance budget for 2017.
The snow-clearing deficit in 2016 was $13.8 million and there were deficits in each of the previous four years, too.
“There’s just a gap we need to address in our budgeting,” Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans said during a finance and economic development committee meeting.
The city shovelled $4.5 million more into the winter maintenance budget this year, but even the city treasurer doesn’t know if it will make a difference when staff crunch the final numbers at the end of 2017.
“Is that going to be enough? It’s too early to say,” Marian Simulik told the committee.
Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder pointed out the obvious problem with Mother Nature: The city can’t predict exactly when the snow is going to fall.
Harder used the opportunity to promote the city’s “building better suburbs” program.
“Build better to reduce the cost of snow operations,” she said.
The start of 2017 has included some wacky weather, from large snowfalls to freezing downpours.
“I have confidence in our staff to make the necessary adjustments throughout the year so we try to minimize that deficit,” Mayor Jim Watson said after the meeting.
The city has $4.2 million stashed away in the winter maintenance reserves.
CITY LOOKING FOR ‘BIG THINKERS’
The city needs to “keep the fun” in the ByWard Market by embracing creativity through a new board of directors, Watson said.
“Sometimes I think we over the years have over-regulated the market and really sucked all the creativity out of the market because we’ve had so many rules and regulations involving size of stand, type of canopy and what products you can sell and what times of the year,” Watson said after the committee meeting. The city is expected to publish a proposed governance model soon for the ByWard and Parkdale markets. Under the draft plan, a board of directors would hire an executive director and they would report to council each year.
City staff told councillors that they’re looking for “big thinkers” to sit on the board.
The committee received an update on the oversight changes and received a sneak peek at what two new BeaverTails “signature stands” will look like.
The committee also heard about the city’s plan to include more small-scale food producers in the markets.
Watson said the spread of smaller neighbourhood markets across the city has had an impact on the two city-run markets.
The city hopes a new governance model will especially breathe life into the ByWard Market.
Watson didn’t want to say much about the Special Investigation Unit’s manslaughter charge against an Ottawa cop related to the arrest death of Abdirahman Abdi. The mayor was in Toronto on business Monday when the SIU announced the results of its criminal investigation. He declined to comment through his office that day since the case is now before the court.
“I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take for the SIU to report out, so obviously I’m pleased they have issued their report and taken the action they feel appropriate,” Watson said Tuesday at Ottawa City Hall. “In terms of the substance of the issue, the last thing the process needs or the families need are politicians offering comments. We should stay out of it and let the justice system do its work.”
There’s just a gap we need to address in our budgeting.