Morinville town councillors were furious on Tuesday when they learned a proposed park pavilion had doubled in price, and that they might have to put off repairs to the town’s splash park for another year if they wanted to build it.
Town councillors debated proposed changes to Morinville’s 2021 capital budget at their regular council meeting May 11.
The province announced a $500-million Municipal Stimulus Program in July 2020 as part of its COVID-19 recovery plans. Communities could use this program to fund up to five capital projects that would start construction in 2020 or 2021, would not require operational cash from the province, would not cause municipal-tax increases, and would not proceed without the program.
Morinville councillors agreed to use the $1.2 million the town could get under this program on five projects, including the construction of a $285,000 park pavilion near the former Ray McDonald Sports Centre’s outdoor rink.
Town infrastructure services general manager Iain Bushell told council May 11 the pavilion had doubled in price to $570,000. Council had based its application for it on a conceptual design a local company had done for free. Two weeks ago, ISL Engineering told the town the design didn’t meet provincial building codes, as it wasn’t wheelchair accessible and didn’t include a foundation, and would have to be reworked.
Town chief administrative officer Stephane Labonne characterized the pavilion’s approval process as somewhat rushed; they would normally have a year to consider its details, but the province gave them just weeks to come up with projects for the grant.
“Administration is as frustrated as council is,” he said.
In addition, Bushell said last year’s East Boundary Road trail construction ran over budget, as crews added a retaining wall to it to address resident concerns. They also had to pay for a stormwater connection under 100 Street in 2020 when a property owner wouldn’t let the town hook into their storm line as planned.
Bushell said the town needed another $355,000 to fund the retaining wall and stormwater line and an additional $285,000 for the pavilion.
The cost of these projects could be covered with $30,000 of in-house work, about $60,000 in unused Municipal Sustainability Initiative funds, $255,000 from cancelling this year’s replacement of the splash park, and $289,750 from cancelling this year’s plans to pave trail links around The Lakes region, council heard.
Bushell said The Lakes already had shale trails and the splash park, although partially broken, could work for another year.
Councillors steamed
Coun. Scott Richardson criticized administration for assuming they could tap into a privately-owned stormwater line and for proposing a second delay to the splash park, which was supposed to be replaced last year. Council had made it a priority to start work on the splash park this April, and he was incensed to hear that nothing had happened.
“This project should have been started before you knew about this (pavilion problem),” he fumed, arguing that administration had not followed council’s directions.
Coun. Stephen Dafoe said he was “trying to contain the level of anger” he felt upon receiving this news out of the blue, and was bemused that a report to council said the town was not in a position to tap loans or reserves to cover these costs.
“We keep finding new ways of saying ‘We are broke.’ ”
Coun. Nicole Boutestein said council should cancel the pavilion and redirect the funds for it elsewhere, potentially toward the splash park.
“We’re in the middle of a pandemic right now and we are going to construct a building we can’t open anyways,” she said, given current health restrictions.
Council moved to refer this matter to the May 18 committee of the whole meeting to discuss its options, and directed administration to ask the province if it could reallocate its Municipal Stimulus Program money.
