City council is barrelling toward second and third reading Aug. 30 of a borrowing bylaw that would clear the city to obtain a loan for $33.75 million for the Badger Lands solar farm.
The estimated cost of the solar farm is $26.1 million, plus a 25-per-cent contingency.
It's a lot of money to borrow, without a solid plan in place, and could seriously affect our taxes for many years ahead.
The city's proposal is rife with missing information, including accurate projections based on current power-price data on how the solar farm will pay for itself, or even turn a profit.
Multiple requests by The Gazette for clarity have been met with vague responses.
St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron is refusing to answer questions until after the borrowing bylaw is passed.
Disappointingly, councillors have fallen short in their duty to act as checks and balances on the city's spending, as few have weighed in or questioned the project in recent council meetings.
Requests for interviews from city administration have also been met with a curious quiet.
The biggest question still looming over this solar farm is how or if the city will make its money back, and no one seems to want to answer it.
This shows an alarming lack of transparency by our municipal government.
City council works for the taxpayers of St. Albert, and has a responsibility to show accountability when borrowing and spending large amounts of cash.
It is reckless and irresponsible to pass a borrowing bylaw before the detailed business plan for the municipal energy corporation the city plans to create to act as the umbrella over the solar farm and other energy initiatives has been completed and thoroughly vetted by the public.
Council is most certainly jumping the gun trying to hammer through the borrowing bylaw for a solar farm before the details of the city-owned energy corporation in its entirety are known.
The real question is why?
Why, at a time when the city is reaching out to residents asking for innovation to solve its looming RMR (money to repair, maintain, and replace existing infrastructure) shortfall of about $16 million, is it looking to borrow tens of millions of dollars for a project that, to-date, doesn't show a clear return on investment?
On June 8, council voted to have administration prepare a package that would entrench annual 1.5 per cent property-tax increases for 20 consecutive years to close the RMR gap. The tax plan will come forward again for a vote at a future council meeting.
Now is not the time for risky spending on solar farms and such — not until the city addresses existing deficits with a clear plan.
It's also not the time for any parts of this discussion to be happening behind closed doors.
Given the curious amounts of time council is going in-camera for discussions with the chief administrative officer, whom we rarely here from publicly, if at all, perhaps this is the reason the city has been mum on the details.
If it is, it's a clear sign to taxpayers that our current council and administration are no longer working for us.
The thought is a disturbing one, as $33.75 million is a lot of money to be playing with, especially without a public hearing — the absolute bare minimum for a project of this magnitude.
Residents deserve full and transparent public disclosure of the city’s revamped plan for a utility corporation, now called a Municipal Energy Corporation.
Thorough public engagement should precede all pricey ventures taxpayers will be footing the bill for long after current councillors have finished serving their terms.
It is an election year, after all.
If council refuses to listen, or respond, voters may have the final say Oct. 18.
Editorials are the consensus view of the St. Albert Gazette's editorial board.
