The city has a plan to pay for the last steps required to fix a long-standing environmental problem at the Riel Park recreation area.
The city will take $4.5 million from its utility reserves and $4.5 million from the province's Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) to pay for stages three and four of the remediation project.
The utility reserves will be paid back over 15 years by adding $1.25 per month extra on residents' utility bills over that period. The MSI money can be tapped without affecting other city projects, said chief financial officer Dean Screpnek.
Mayor Nolan Crouse called the decision a watershed moment for the current council, which came into being last October with four rookies.
"We've danced on that one now for several years," he said of the Riel project. "I don't think it's been very comfortable for any of us in this room but I think we've got the plan here."
Sitting as standing committee on finance, council members accepted the funding plan, so the project will be listed as funded in the 2012-14 capital budget, which will get council debate and approval in the fall.
Cost increases
The Riel Park redevelopment has experienced several missed cost projections. Council learned Monday that the price tag for the remaining two stages is now $9 million and not the $8 million that was discussed during the last update a few months ago.
"I was a little disturbed by some of the increases here," said Coun. Malcolm Parker, echoing a concern raised by Coun. Wes Brodhead.
"It's escalation in costs," said Guy Boston, general manager of planning and engineering. "We're seeing some interesting inflations occurring over a short period of time."
Long history
The remediation of the Riel Park area has been a thorn in the city's side for years. It began with a 2004 federal order to address leachate seeping toward the Sturgeon River from a former sewage lagoon and landfill. The city has been working ever since to measure and control the situation, spending about $24 million to date.
The first stages of the project included capping and grading the sites occupied by the Kinsmen RV Park and rodeo grounds, Rotary Park, the BMX track and the multi-use sports field.
The $8.47-million second phase is on pace to be completed at the end of this month, slightly under budget, said Tracy Allen, manager of capital projects for the City of St. Albert.
Earlier this year the city asked federal regulators for a one-year delay on the final stages, which had been scheduled to begin in 2011. Regulators accepted that delay but are pressing the city to keep moving forward on fixing the site, reported Boston.
Stages three and four would complete the remediation. They involve stripping the soccer and rugby fields for proper capping and grading.
The project is to include $594,000 for an above-ground irrigation system. Soccer and rugby officials have been pressing council for a below-ground system that administration has pegged at $1.1 million.
Coun. Cam MacKay tried to ease the cash crunch by pitching a two-year delay to a 10-year plan to design and install grit separators at various locations along the Sturgeon River. This would have freed up $2.1 million in capital funding.
"When you have a budget, do you stick to it or do you continually overspend every year?" he said.
Brodhead noted this delay would only save residents 60 cents a month on their utility bills.
"Really what we're doing is we're saying is the river worth 60 cents a month to me? I would say yes it is," he said.
MacKay was alone in supporting the delay.
