Airdrie City council gave third and final reading Feb. 1, to three bylaws that will allow for planning on three major infrastructure projects to move forward.
Council had previously approved first reading of the three debenture bylaws at its Dec. 21, 2015 meeting.
Bylaw B-60/2015 will allow staff to begin investigating options to purchase land to build a new civic building or buildings.
The approved debenture amount is $10 million and the land purchase was approved as part of the 2016 Operating Budget.
“We’re coming forward tonight to complete the debenture process bylaw in order to have more flexibility later in the year to be able to act on opportunities that may come about for land purchases,” said Monica Labait, senior accountant at the City of Airdrie.
Mayor Peter Brown emphasized that before any land is actually purchased, the proposal will need to come to council for approval.
“This is a debenture that we’re holding so we’re good to go and (ready to) pull the trigger but that decision has not been made to spend any money whatsoever,” he said.
The bylaw was approved by a vote of six to one with Councillor Allan Hunter voting against it. Hunter said his reason for voting against the bylaw was because he didn’t feel taking on the debt in the current environmental climate was a good idea.
A second bylaw was approved unanimously for a debenture in the amount of $933,625 to make upgrades to the Main Street lift station. The total project is estimated at $1,280,400 with the remaining $346,775 coming from reserves.
“These projects involve an upgrade due to growth pressures as well as life-cycle components,” Labait said. “The life cycle components is funded through the general sewer reserve which is funded through the utility and the growth pressure portion is paid through offsite sewer levies. This means the debenture payments will be paid through offsite levies and not impact tax rates.”
The final debenture bylaw in the amount of $8,237,240 to complete major roadwork projects was also approved unanimously. The total project cost is estimated at $16,474,480 with the other $8,237,240 coming from reserves. As with the lift station upgrades, the debenture payments will be funded through offsite levies and not affect the tax base.
