St. Albert city council passed the 10 year repair, maintenance, and renewal (RMR) capital plans. Between municipal and utility projects, a total of $56.4 million is being committed for 2026.
Two reports available on St. Albert city council's June 3 meeting agenda details projects for the 10 year RMR plans for both municipal and utility projects. The cost of the municipal RMR capital plan for 2026 sees a total of $37.9 million. The remaining projects are utility programs with a total of $18.4 million in 2026.
Councillors had until May 23 to propose amendments to administration. Both plans were passed on consent during the June 3 council meeting.
Coun. Mike Killick likened the long term RMR capital plan to owning a home.
"You know the roof is going to need to be replaced in a couple years so you start thinking about 'Do I start putting money away in the bank and save up for that? And in the meantime my hot water tank needs to be replaced,'" Killick said. "It allows us to prioritize the work because if you don't have a 10 year view of it and nothing becomes a priority then everything all of a sudden becomes a priority. This allows us to maintain our aging infrastructure."
The three largest line items include the Transit Bus Lifecycle Replace program, which comes in at $9.2 million for 2026. The report says that this specific plan was approved by council in August 2023 and a 2025 addition in May 2024.
The charter says the program "requires the replacement of transit buses, major bus components, shop and support equipment replacement after reaching the end of their individual prescribed economic and useful life."
Based on seven electric buses, 20 60-foot clean diesel buses, 35 40-foot clean diesel buses, and seven handibuses, the $9.2 million investment in 2026 sees an increase to $13.3 million in 2027 and $12.4 million in 2028.
For Killick, the program exemplifies the need to have a long-term plan when it comes to RMR.
"We know buses are going to wear out just like people know that their car is going to wear out and need to be replaced. The difference is that I can go out and buy a car, maybe even get one right off the lot," Killick said. The wait time for bus replacements is around two to three years for St. Albert, he said, with the municipality potentially competing with much larger cities like Edmonton and Calgary for replacement transit buses.
The other largest line items are the Municipal Facilities - Repairs and Renewal program at $8.7 million in 2026, 2027 and 2028, and the Roadway Rehabilitation Program, which comes in at $3.3 million for 2026, $2.2 million in 2027, and $3.3 million in 2028.
The project charter for the Roadway Rehab Program says the funding "addresses resources and actions associated to completing engineering and analysis for both planned and responsive (emergent) rehabilitation of all classes of roadway to address structural deficiencies and is inclusive of auxiliary work on curb and gutter assets and incidental scope for the roadway."
Hebert Road was pointed out specifically as in need of extensive rehabilitation. Specific municipal facilities identified as a priority for repair and renewal were Kinex Arena, Liggett Place and Jack Kraft Facility.
Although the total cost may seem staggering, Coun. Ken MacKay said it's important to have a long-term RMR plan.
"We have to maintain a functioning infrastructure that's necessary for roads, sewer, utilities," MacKay said.
