HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-01-25, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018. PAGE 9.
M -T Council wants $100,000 cut from works budget
Continued from page 1
Livingston suggested $32,000 be
spent on the new vehicle.
Mayor Paul Gowing explained
that the surplus was in a department
that should be aiming for cost
recovery, so it needed to be spent on
Building Department projects,
however other councillors felt the
money should be put in reserves.
Councillor Sharen Zinn asked if
Livingston was originally hired with
the knowledge he would be driving
his own vehicle and getting mileage.
Livingston said he was, prompting
Stretching for every last inch
The Blyth Brussels Minor Hockey Association (BBMHA) Juvenile Crusaders faced off against
the Goderich Sailors at the Blyth and District Community Centre on Sunday afternoon. The
match was the third of the Western Ontario Athletic Association (WOAA) Juvenile CC
Playdowns. The Sailors claimed a 6-1 victory over the Crusaders, jumping to a 2-1 lead in the
best -of -five series. The Juvenile squad travels to Goderich on Jan. 28 for their next match to
try and stay alive in the series. (Denny Scott photo)
Zinn to say she would like to see it
remain that way at least for another
year.
Council decided to put the money
in reserves and have Livingston
provide a report at the end of the
year outlining how much his mileage
cost the municipality versus the
savings of buying the new vehicle
for next year's budget process.
The public works, cemeteries,
landfill and Belgrave water systems
budgets were all presented by Public
Works Director Mike Alcock.
In the public works budget,
Alcock had provided a three-year
average for individual expenses and
council members, seeing that
expenses were expected to be over
those three-year averages for some
items, told Alcock to reduce his
over-all budget by $100,000.
Council felt that, while the 2017
and 2018 budgets were comparable,
the 2017 actual expenses were
significantly lower than the 2018
budget, and wanted Alcock to bring
those two numbers closer.
Alcock tried to explain that
efficiencies were realized in 2017
and some projects didn't happen due
to factors that limited the amount of
work the public works staff could
do. However council felt that
shaving $100,000 from a $4 million
budget was feasible.
Major expenditures in the roads
budget included:
• $150,000 for dust control.
• $385,000 for gravel resurfacing.
• $175,000 for snow removal.
• $500,000 for maintenance
overhead (incl. wages and benefits).
• $150,000 in municipal drain
work.
• $250,000 for construction related
to the first phase of the Industrial
Land Strategy
• $220,000 for Bluevale storm
drainage engineering
• $150,000 for work on Brandon
Road from Clyde Line to Belgrave
Street.
• $225,000 for work on B Line
Road from Gilmour Line to
Harriston Road.
• $446,000 for bridge work
throughout the municipality.
• $150,000 for a backhoe
replacement.
• $275,000 for a tandem snow
plow replacement
• $100,000 for a cold storage
addition at the Morris municipal
building.
The landfill budget also inspired
discussion within council as the
need to replace the scale house was
brought to council's attention.
Upon reviewing the budget,
Councillor John Smuck said that
each budget was coming in between
eight and 10 per cent higher than the
2017 actual costs, which he didn't
feel was necessary. Alcock pointed
out that was due to some new
expenses, including the scale house.
He said the structure, which was
purchased used 15 years ago, was in
need of replacement and was
proposing to put $10,000 in reserves
to prepare for that.
Smuck also asked what impact
wheelie bin collection had on the
landfill. Administrator Clerk -
Treasurer Nancy Michie reported
that, over the past several years,
collection had increased from
1,200 tonnes to 1,500 tonnes
annually, which would have
implications on the life cycle of the
landfill.
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