Construction delays at St. Albert’s transit yard in Campbell Business Park and paying off debt at Servus Credit Union Place will consume the lion’s share of the city’s $1.2-million surplus.
Council gave initial support for the final year-end transfers needed to clear off the 2009 books, during a finance and audit committee meeting on Monday. The surplus is partly the result of an increase in revenue from development activity, improved financials at Servus Place, and extra dollars from emergency dispatch.
The committee agreed with plans to channel the extra money into several projects, including the transit facility expansion that’s under way in Campbell Park. The project needs an extra $300,000 over its original $3.5-million budget.
Neil Jamieson, general manager of planning and engineering, said the project ran into a problem in late 2009 when an unknown gas line was discovered during construction. He said the crews were forced to stop work while the line was re-routed to another location, causing a two-month construction delay.
Jamieson said moving the gas line would have been built into the budget had the city known it was there.
“It wasn’t on the drawings. The gas company didn’t tell us it was there,” he said.
Some $878,500 of the surplus will be used to pay off money Servus Place internally borrowed from the corporation to purchase new equipment.
Chief financial officer Dean Screpnek said the funds would essentially cover part of what is owed to the city by the complex, and likened the fund to an internal bank for the city.
“We turn around and repay the interest to ourselves.”
Coun. Roger Lemieux was opposed to using the surplus for Servus Place, arguing the athletic complex needs to stop depending on the city and taxpayers and instead improve marketing and sales to raise its own funds.
“They never became accountable,” he said. “We’re making it easier for the business to operate and the taxpayer has to pay for it.”
Mayor Nolan Crouse disagreed, reminding him Servus Place is not an enterprise but is now a city department that council is responsible for and should help.
“Otherwise we perpetuate what was happening, and not what we are trying to change.”
During the meeting Crouse questioned why none of the surplus was set aside to fix public art, an idea council requested last year. Chris Jardine, general manager of community and protective services, said that while council gave the directive to create the account, there was no clarification about how funding should work.
Crouse said creating the reserve, which is little more than a bank account, is paperwork. “Funding the reserve is another issue you need to figure out,” he said.
The committee also approved recommendations to carry funding for incomplete capital projects into the 2010 budget.
City manager Bill Holtby noted the final surplus amount equals less than one per cent of the operating budget for the year.
Council still needs to formalize the recommendations at a regular meeting.
