The Town of Erin has started deliberations and plans to have its budget passed in early December.
At the first meeting, held Oct. 26, staff presented both operating and capital budget requests. Departments are seeking $244,700 over the base budget in resource requests and $9.4 million in capital requests.
“It is simply a starting point and that’s important for council to remember. It is a starting point for conversation,” said interim CAO Derek McCaughan.
He added the meeting scheduled in November will be open for public input before final decisions are made in December.
Director of Finance Ursula D’Angelo led council through trends and comparisons for the current tax rate. Over the last 10 years, Erin’s tax rate has gone up and down, with a slight decrease over the last four years.
However, the town’s total assessment has increased dramatically, said D’Angelo, from $1.4 billion in 2006 to $2.4 billion in 2016.
She also compared Erin’s tax rate to seven other municipalities.
“I applied each municipal tax rate to a $500,000 assessment value; I didn’t include any special levies … and what this shows is Erin’s is the second lowest,” D’Angelo said.
She noted that by adding the county and education portion, Erin’s rate jumps in the comparison.
“Our problem’s with the county, how much money we give them,” said councillor Matt Sammut.
“Clearly at a local level I think we’re doing a pretty good job.”
Administration
Multiple departments, including the clerk, fire and roads, are seeking an administrative assistant.
Dina Lundy, town clerk, was seeking a part-time entry level administrator to take over tasks of someone who is already in the department. Lundy explained the new position would free up the duties in order to appoint a deputy clerk.
Fire Chief Dan Callaghan is hoping for a full-time position to fulfill administrative duties and daytime dispatcher duties.
General government
The big ticket item for general government, which includes council, administration and finance, is the $300,000 renovations to the town hall. Staff are hoping for a Canada 150 grant to cover 50 per cent of the cost.
Lundy was seeking $23,000 in system upgrades to servers, the network, an anti-spam upgrade and an escribe upgrade. The escribe upgrade would be a stepping stone for the eventual videotaping of council, for which Lundy is seeking $10,000.
“After we install the publishing module then we can look at video recording council,” she said.
However, Sammut said the cost for video recording was higher than he thought.
“It sounds like we’ve looked at the Cadillac but if we’re starting out, why don’t we look at the Civic?” he asked.
“There is difficulty to doing those low-cost options,” said Lundy, adding there are issues with retention, storage and accessibility.
Fire
Callaghan’s requests for the fire department include new uniforms, new hydraulic shears, an Erin fire hall expansion, a water tanker replacement, and Erin station diesel extractor.
He explained the last time a new uniform was bought was 2008, and buying new ones was identified in the operational review as good for department morale.
A $33,000 purchase of hydraulic shears would replace the aging ones.
“Since 2010, the automobile manufacturers have been increasing the strength of the steel in cars,” he said.
“Our current hydraulic shears are 12 years old and they were manufactured before they put in and implemented the stronger steel,. We’re having difficulty cutting through that steel.”
Sammut said, “the last thing we want is for anyone to die because we didn’t have the proper equipment.”
Councillor Rob Smith added he has seen the difficulty of the new steel himself.
“I use fire rescue blades and it wasn’t getting through,” said Smith.
Callaghan is also hoping for $210,000 for an expansion at the Erin fire hall. The expansion would include purchasing a strip of land from neighbours to build an addition for bunker gear and guaranteed parking for the firefighters.
D’Angelo suggested including $50,000 in the budget for planning and property purchasing for 2017.
“Once the planning is reviewed and there is a need for the expansion, then that will be dealt with through the 2018 budget process,” she said.
The biggest item on the list is the $460,000 replacement of water tanker 57, a 1990 1,500-gallon tanker.
“It has been on the capital list of projects and continues to be pushed back to future years,” said Callaghan.
He explained new regulations for fire vehicles means any vehicle over 20 years cannot be used for the tanker shuttle accreditation, which would benefit taxpayers’ insurance rates.
Callaghan is also requesting $85,000 for a diesel exhaust extraction system for the Erin fire hall. He explained the current system hasn’t been in operation for two years and firefighters have been opening doors in order to ventilate.
“It does become a health and safety issue,” he said.
Roads
Roads superintendent Greg Delfosse is asking for $1.2 million for the Station Street reconstruction.
He added the town has applied for a Canada 150 grant, which would cover a portion of the cost.
While the scope of the work has not been decided by council, he gave the cost estimate supplied by Triton Engineering.
Another potentially-funded project is the reconstruction of Daniel Street. The projects includes $1.3 million for road reconstruction and $430,000 for watermain and storm sewer installation.
Councillor Jeff Duncan said the town should be investing in its roads.
“Those roads are horrendous and are an embarrassment to the community … we always have this discussion on where should your taxes go, this is it,” he said.
Delfosse also asked for $600,000 for bridge and culvert maintenance.
“The town has 49 structures … a combination of bridges and culverts,” he said.
“At least 25 of those structures are in need in varying degrees and I would like to start marching through the infrastructure repairs.”
Delfosse listed three bridges – 10th line north of Bush Street, 1st line north of Halton Sideroad 32, and 3rd Line north of Sideroad 27 – and two culverts on Sideroad 32 and 17th Sideroad.
Water
Along with the Daniel Street reconstruction, water superintendent Joe Babin is asking for an annual $12,000 contribution for a fire hydrant program.
“We have 180 hydrants and some of them date back to the 1950s,” explained Babin.
“They are operational, they are checked every year but there are some that really need readjusting.”
The program would replace some of the bodies of the fire hydrants.
Recreation
Recreation and parks manager Graham Smith asked for an increase to his operating budget for parks and playgrounds of $5,000.
“One of the issues that we’re having … (is) that a lot of our playgrounds are not up to CSA standards,” said Smith.
He added he’s been trying to get funding for the parks.
“We can’t come and do every park all at once, it would just be too much,” he said.
Smith said the increase would allow him to work to bring the parks up to standard.
Another item on the recreation capital request list is $120,000 for the replacement of the theatre roof at Centre 2000. The town and Upper Grand District School Board would split the cost, explained Smith.
He said he expects the project to take two years to complete, so he’s asked the town to set aside $30,000 for 2017.
The largest item on the capital list is $390,000 for a generator for the Centre 2000. Smith said the generator would allow Centre 2000 to be set up as an emergency centre and warming station.
Smith said there may be funding opportunities for this project.
Mayor Allan Alls said, “It is high on my priorities because I’ve been involved in two emergencies; there’s just no place to send people here.
“I know it’s a big item, but I think with climate change and all the rest that’s going on, I think it’s something that we should seriously look at.”
Economic development
Economic development officer Robyn Mulder has asked for $30,000 to be put back into her operating budget for 2017.
Last year, she used that money to fund the Erin Rotary riverwalk feasibility study, but in 2017 she would use the money to carry on with the economic development action plan.
She also asked for $5,500 for portable public washrooms for the village of Erin.
“I think it’s one of the best investments this town can make,” said Mulder.
She is hoping for $45,000 for the riverwalk to start the request for proposal process. The funds would be matched by the county’s trails grant.
“This is something that I’m totally passionate and dedicated to doing,” she said.
“If we can make it the best project that we can, people will want to live here and will want to bring their business here.”
Duncan added the town should be moving forward on this project.
“The election will be here before we know it and I kind of see this trail money from the county as being low-hanging fruit for a new slate of people coming in … I’m not sure if that’s going to be here after 2018,” he said.
“I think we need to move on accessing that money now. I think it’s something that is important for us to do.”
Council’s next budget meeting is scheduled for Nov. 23 at 6:30pm.
The meeting will be open for public comment.
