Mount Pearl: goals and challenges for 2013
At $41.5 million, the budget for 2013 is the largest in the history of the City of Mount Pearl. And the municipality has launched into the year with plenty of work ahead of it and the enthusiasm and drive to make it all happen. Mayor Randy Simms takes a theme from Mount Pearl’s strategic plan, “We don’t focus on continuous growth as much as we focus on continuous improvement.”
The paradigm is underscored by the new slogan of the city – A progressive, independent City with a strong sense of home. Says Simms, “Our commitment is to a well-rounded healthy community, catering to both needs and wants.”
Construction values in the City of Mount Pearl in 2012 reached $95 million, a substantial portion of which (some $30 million) representing work on the Multiplex, an approximate 60,000 sq. ft. facility housing a 25,000 sq. ft. aquatics complex, a fitness centre with indoor walking track, weight training room, fitness program spaces, multi-purpose room and retail space. The remainder of the $95 million is in residential and commercial development. The figure is some $58 to $60 million above 2011.
As well, the municipality placed some $17 million in capital investment last year which would include, for example, fleet repair and the project to realign Mount Carson Avenue.
It was also a good year for business: the city saw the opening of 91 new businesses representing some 431 new jobs.
“Mount Pearl was able to introduce a significant reduction in our residential mill rate from 9.25 to 6.7,” Simms reported. The opportunity was there, the Mayor added, both to reduce the rate and still capture revenues – the municipality now has one of the lowest mill rate among the 18 towns and two cities of Northeast Avalon.
Some 21% of the city’s budget goes to pay Mount Pearl’s portion of regional obligations such as water and waste water management, fire protection, public transit and para-transit services.
An important launch for Mount Pearl in 2012 was the automatic garbage collection system - familiar elsewhere, but an innovation in this province. Simms said that at a cost of $1.2 million, the system has a terrific approval rating – “Mount Pearlers love it!” The whole system of collecting garbage for Mount Pearl has become 50% more efficient with no loss of work to collection crews. The program “comes from the heart of our strategic plan,” Simms added. The City continues to reinvest in its infrastructure especially at its business parks, Donovans Business Park (the largest in the Province), Beclin Industrial Park and Kenmount Business Park. At the same time, in terms of improvements, the city asks itself, ‘what else can we do for our parks?’ Simms makes a point here that the correct name of the Donovans complex, contrary to what the Province has placed on nearby highway signs, is Donovans Business Park – not Donovans Industrial Park. The correct name reflects the evolution of the huge and important site.
On the matter of business parks, Mayor Simms expressed the wish that an IT park would be developed at Mount Pearl in the near future. “The Province does not have one but I can’t help but think there are policies and strategies that can be applied to setting one up here – in fact, I see Mount Pearl as being challenged to go after just such a facility,” he said. “We have three business parks and they are going gang-busters so an IT park we would love to see.” Simms said that Aberdeen has such a park - “and if anyone may ask why representatives of Mount Pearl would go to an oil and gas show, it is for that kind of reason – ideas such as this come from those events!”
More expenditures will continue to bring improvements to the municipality throughout the year: nearly $45 million on roads, $1 million in new equipment (mostly rolling stock), $18 million on parks and recreation (most of which is earmarked for the Multiplex “which is 25 to 30% completed and when done will be a $32 million facility.” Simms added that “if I am still the Mayor (and I hope to be – because I am going to run again ) I look forward to cutting the ribbon in the spring of 2014!”
MYTH: Mount Pearl is full. “We are far from full” says Randy Simms in identifying as myth the contention that Mount Pearl has reached its complement of residents. Simms says work forges ahead in the municipality on residential units. Mount Pearl is encouraging intensification – “making better use of our landbase” says Director of Planning & Development Stephen Jewczyk, pointing out that “there are multi-storey, multi-unit constructions underway and in addition to condominium buildings, Mount Pearl is encouraging more affordable housing with input from Federal and Provincial governments and from the private sector.” As Mayor Simms says, “municipalities have the best handle on requirements in subsidized accommodations.”