Expanding the city's fire department and starting the first leg of construction on Ray Gibbon Drive are among the big ticket items St. Albert city councillors are considering for next year's budget.
On Monday, the city released its proposed 2020 budget, which includes a suggested 2.4-per-cent tax increase. On the capital side, council will look later this month at five major projects that would require the city to take on $47.8 million in debt, the bulk of which would go towards Ray Gibbon Drive and the construction of a new fire hall.
If those projects are approved, city council would still need to sign off on borrowing bylaws for any that do not currently have such a bylaw in place, before the city can officially take out loans. While administration is requesting those major projects' entire budgets in 2020, those loans would not be taken out until construction actually begins.
Other capital projects to be funded in 2020 total $6 million and include planning for a new recreation facility, development of Lacombe Park and opening up development in Lakeview Business District and Badger Lands through creation of an area structure plan.
The current budget is only in draft form, as city council continues to wrestle with the numbers and holds public presentations throughout November. Final approval of the budget is currently set for Dec. 16.
Fire services
Protecting St. Albert’s current and future northern-most residents is top of mind in the proposed 2020 capital budget.
While construction of Fire Station #4 would not begin until 2022, in order to secure financing through a borrowing bylaw the project’s entire $16.3-million budget is being requested in 2020.
Money to secure additional equipment to furnish the station is also being requested, including $1.5 million for a new fire engine and $779,000 for a fire tanker.
Currently, nine-minute response time targets are generally being met, according to the project's desciption included in the budget. But with increasing development in north St. Albert, including future annexation lands, those times will be stretched out.
A fire aerial apparatus is also being requested at $2.5 million, although it would be used by other stations as well. An increase in high rises and densification within St. Albert is spearheading the need for a second aerial apparatus.
Administration is also recommending hiring ten firefighters per year until opening day of Fire Station #4 – along with one assistant chief medical liaison – to the tune of $1.2 million in 2020. That would increase to $3.7 million in staffing costs by 2022.
Coun. Ken MacKay said he has asked administration to weigh the implications of delaying construction of the fire station – and hiring its staff – by one to two years.
“I’m not looking to delay it, I’m just looking to see what the implications would be if we did, and can we,” he said. “If they come back with pretty neutral then maybe it could be something we could look at.”
While the city plans to begin work on a brand new fire hall in 2020, replacement of Fire Station #1 was also approved under the city's repair, maintenance and replacement (RMR) budget earlier this year. That comes with a $14.1-million price tag, followed by an estimated $852,500 to decommission the old station in 2022.
Lacombe Park and future park planning
St. Albert could be pouring a hefty chunk of change into developing more green spaces in the city, both in 2020 and the coming 10 years.
In addition to recommending investing $1.3 million in completion of the Lacombe Park West neighbourhood master plan, administration is putting forth a proposal to begin planning for parks in new neighbourhoods that would cost $14.9 million over 10 years. Construction on those parks would not begin until 2021, with $250,000 proposed for planning in 2020.
Work in Lacombe Park West next year would involve development of the Lachance Park playground, trails and fitness stations, construction of Legacy Stormwater Management Facility trails, and completion of trail connections.
The project’s first phase was completed in 2014.
St. Albert would be looking to develop new parks in neighbourhoods including Kingswood, Riel, Erin Ridge North, Jensen Lakes, North Ridge Phase 2, South Riel, Riverside and Ville Giroux.
The funds for future park planning cover costs of public engagement, detailed design and construction for park amenities, including playgrounds, outdoor rinks, sports fields, trail connections, park signage and seating areas.
Kingswood and Riel are slated to be the first with brand new parks in 2021, with Ville Giroux and Riverside following in 2022.
Traffic calming
Curb extensions and speed bumps will continue on in 2020 as the city beefs up its traffic calming pot.
From 2020 on, administration is recommending the city spend $550,000 every year for the next decade on efforts to calm traffic within residential areas.
"The increased funds represent anticipated needs of the program to support the various activities occuring throughout the city, which are in different phases of the project," said St. Albert corporate communications manager Cory Sinclair in an email.
Between 2012 and 2017, 30 to 35 per cent of all public roadway collisions occurred on neighbourhood roads, according to the project description.
In 2020, traffic calming efforts will focus on Erin Ridge and Erin Ridge North, Lennox Drive and Grosvenor Boulevard.
Sinclair said pedestrian crossing improvements will occur in Erin Ridge North, turning temporary traffic calming measures into permanent ones. The temporary measures would be moved to other areas of the city, which are yet to be determined, Sinclair said.
Work on Grosvenor Boulevard will be at Grenfell Avenue, and will also involve turning temporary traffic calming measures into permanent fixtures.
At Lennox Drive, no construction is planned for 2020, but the city will conduct stakeholder feedback on effectiveness of temporary measures that were installed this year.
Ray Gibbon Drive
Shovels will be in the ground on Ray Gibbon Drive next year, in the first construction stage of a major $54.2-million twinning project spread over 10 years.
St. Albert is relying on an agreement with the city to cost share the project 50/50, if St. Albert front-ends the first five or six years. Administration is recommending the city borrow the entire project charter’s budgeted amount, $26.7 million, in 2020.
Next year, the first construction phase would include twinning Ray Gibbon Drive from the city’s southern boundary to 300 metres past LeClair Way, at an estimated $7.9-million cost.
Phase two, spread out over 2021 and 2022, will involve twinning from LeClair Way to just north of McKenney Avenue.
Community amenities
New recreation services could be just over the horizon, as administration is setting aside $1.5 million over the next two years for community amenities planning.
In early 2019, city council directed administration to locate a 35-hectare parcel of land suitable for new community amenities, which is not only restricted to recreation. Last month, council heard there are three options on the table, two of which involve land donations from private companies, and the other is city-owned land.
Servicing alone could cost between $7 and $14 million for each of the sites, and council has not even looked at how much construction would cost or nailed down what new amenities would be offered.
Development opportunities
Developers sitting on land in the Lakeview Business District will be happy to find $1.3 million earmarked in the budget for drawing up area structure plans (ASPs) for both Lakeview and Badger Lands.
This is one of the most expensive capital items being proposed that isn't funded by debt, and is a long time coming.
Area structure plans lay out items like servicing plans, road networks, proposed land uses and density requirements. They are essential for long-term planning in municipalities and must be in place before development can occur in an area.The Lakeview ASP was delayed when the city decided to update its municipal development plan (MDP), and administration said the ASP would be developed in conjunction with the MDP.
The Gazette spoke with one developer in September, Kota Contractors, that has plans for a Chalton Hotel in the Lakeview Business District. Those plans have been put on hold until an ASP is drawn up.
The lands are an “important opportunity” to enable non-residential development, the project charter background said.
Doubling up on debt
St. Albert could be doubling its debt in coming years, if city council approves all of the infrastructure projects administration is recommending be funded through borrowed dollars in 2020.
That is so today’s residents are not held financially responsible for infrastructure that benefits future residents, St. Albert director of finance and assessment Diane McMordie said.
The city would still have lots of wiggle room before hitting its debt ceiling, which is provincially legislated at just over $290 million. Currently, St. Albert’s outstanding debt is only 15 per cent of that limit, at an estimated $42.7 million in 2020.
That is before factoring in the five capital projects administration is recommending the city take out loans for. After taking out debentures on Fire Station #4 and its equipment, along with funds for Ray Gibbon Drive, the municipal debt would increase by $47.8 million to a grand total of $90.5 million.
However, McMordie said those capital projects would have no actual impact on debt levels in 2020, and it would not hit until 2021 or 2022, when the city actually needs the cash to start building the infrastructure.
She added the city strategically recommends debt for certain types of projects, and the advantage in this case is a concept of “generational equity.”
“When you have a big capital project that has a very long lifespan, the concept behind it is it’s not fair to expect residents today to pay 100 per cent of that particular asset when people moving in in the future are going to benefit from it,” McMordie said.
Currently, the city is still paying off loans on Servus Credit Union Place, the building of Ray Gibbon Drive and Project 9.
