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M.D. council outlines 2016 capital projects
Posted on October 21, 2015 by Taber TimesPoll
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By Nikki Jamieson
Taber Times
njamieson@tabertimes.com
The M.D. of Taber council discussed their draft 2016 Capital Project List and Operational Plan during council on Oct. 13, along with a draft proposal to implement said plan.
The draft comes from earlier this year, when council had formed a plan of what projects and purchases will be needed for the next several years. Due to the plan’s ambitiousness, as well as economic and environmental factors, the resulting lists are being used as guidelines.
“What we did in early 2015, was develop a 2015, 2016, 2017, 18 and 19 capital plan, knowing that that it was probably going to extend into 2021, based upon the list of projects,” said Derrick Krizsan, CAO for the Municipal District of Taber. “It was a very aggressive plan.”
For example, for the 2015 year, council had raced to purchase all of the needed equipment for the year, because of the high Canadian dollar. This resulted in savings of about $300,000.
This year, largely due to low oil prices and a low Canadian dollar, there is no such rush, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t saving money – or spending it.
For the 2016 year, total net capital equipment purchases will range from $1,365,000-$1,515,000, postponing the purchase of $800,000 worth of equipment until next year when the dollar is better.
Compared to equipment purchases for the 2015 year – $2,453,000 – council will be saving almost $1,000,000 on equipment.
“But we spent $3 million on a gravel pit. So, it all balances out, just in different ways,” said M.D. of Taber Reeve Brian Brewin, referring to a joint purchase with Vulcan County, which will provide the M.D. with 2.4 million cubic yards of gravel. “We’ve probably done some changes in our budgeting this year, we cut back a little on capital purchases. But we felt that it was important for the gravel pit.”
Projects for 2016 year are:
* Roadways construction: TWPR 8-4 from Hwy 36 to RR17-2; TWPR 8-2 from Hwy 36 to RR 17-2; RR 17-2 from TWPR 8-2 to 8-4; RR 16-2 from TWPR 9-4 to 9-3; RR 17-5 from Hwy 3 to TWPR 10-0; RR 18-1 from Hwy 526 to TWPR 14-0; RR 16-0 from TWPR 11-4 to 11-2
* Road rehabs:
RR 18-1 from Hwy 3 to TWPR 9-0; TWPR 10-2 from RR 19-0 to 18-2;
o TWPR 11-0 from RR 15-3 to 15-0; RR 15-1 from TWPR 11-0 to 11-2; RR 15-0 from TWPR 11-0 to 11-2; TWPR 11-2 from RR 15-1 to 14-4; RR 18-3 from TWPR 15-0 to 15-2; RR 18-1 from Hwy 526 to TWPR 15-4;
RR 16-0 from Hwy 875 to TWPR 13-1A.
* Other:
Custom crush gravel stockpile 100,00 yards; TWPR 10-0 from RR 17-3 to 19-0 single chip seal; TWPR 9-4A from Barnwell to RR 17-5 soil/cement chip seal; Grassy Lake 1st St North upgrades, drainage and resurfacing; Vauxhall airport apron extension; Municipal Shop – Taber (60 per cent complete in 2016); West Township eight range 16 Stormwater Project.
In total, this amount to about 70 km of road rehabs and construction, with 43 weeks worth of construction.
There are also projects that are being carried over to next year; road rehabs on RR 15-4 from highway 524 to TWPR 14-4, RR 15-2 from TWPR 14-0 to 14-2, RR 15-5 from TWPR 14-0 to 14-2 and construction on TWPR 9-4 from RR 14-3 to 14-2.
“There’s two ways of budgeting; one is the time budget, one is the money budget,” said Brewin. “Most of the rehab is time budgeting. So if we get a week of rainy weather, or if we decide to do another road, it means we have to take some time off another budget.”
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