Several streets in Beiseker are in need of repair, according to Village council.
The areas that need to be fixed, according to Beiseker Mayor Ray Courtman are Beacon Heights Road, First Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Seventh Street, Sixth Street and the mud bog on Second Avenue.
“This past winter was especially hard on the streets,” Courtman said. “We had to close down some because of all the snow.”
Courtman said that the Village can look into various options to help improve the streets.
One option would be to apply for the Streets Improvement Plan (SIP) under the Basic Municipal Transportation Grant (BMTG).
If approved, the Alberta government would be expected to pay 75 per cent of the repairs.
Another option would be try to use money from the Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI). This grant is guaranteed to all municipalities in Alberta to provide money towards infrastructure. In 2014, Beiseker received around $300,000 in funding from MSI.
“We used some of it to improve Main Street,” Courtman said.
“We might have to take another look at (spending the grant), if we need that money for the other streets.”
According to the Village Office, around $750,000 from MSI has been spent in a three-year process to upgrade Main Street.
A unique option would be assigning a frontage tax to the areas directly affected by the improvements.
According to Courtman, the areas that would be assigned a frontage tax would be named a local improvement project. A payout-like-loan would be given to the property to fix the area, while the property owners would be expected to pay the money back through a tax.
For example, if the cost to fix the area in front of the property tallies $2,500, the owner would be given two options. The options would be to pay back that money in full, or in increments over a period of time. For Courtman, the fourth and least attractive option is an increase in property taxes.
“The last thing I want to do would be to raise property tax,” Courtman said. “We’ve been pretty good about keeping the taxes level the past few years.”
Courtman will meet with Village council this week to help determine the best option.
