At Crossfield’s regular meeting of council on Jan. 20, council voted to update a pre-existing policy to limit the spending authority of the Chief Administrative Officer’s (CAO) during emergency situations.
“It’s a housekeeping change,” CAO Ken Bosman said. “It has always been in place but now there’s more review in the processes.”
Before the change, the policy stated CAOs could spend up to $50,000 without council permission during emergencies like natural disasters, public health crises or acts of God.
“Say there’s a train derailment near town, we have the capacity to deal with it fund-wise,” Bosman said.
With the introduction of the amended policy, CAOs need council’s approval to spend any money, though there is no longer a maximum dollar amount.
Though Bosman said the previous version of the policy was in-line with the Municipal Government Act (MGA) originally, the only reason council changed the Unbudgeted Expenditures Policy is to align it with MGA’s updated policy, which was updated earlier this year.
Council additionally approved a policy that said administration is now charged with quarterly budget reports to inform council of budgetary changes.
“In 2014 we were lucky that we didn’t get much snow so the budget for that was low,” Bosman said.
“Now when we get bad news, we can deal with it (quickly).”
Wastewater updates
Council is taking the first step in Phase 2 of Crossfield’s infrastructure upgrades for the town by applying for a provincial grant to pave the way for future wastewater development.
“If we weren’t growing, (our wastewater system) would be fine,” Bosman said.
“We have enough capacity in the system to get the town to roughly 3,200 to 3,500 people, but (with our growth) we could be dramatically beyond that number eventually.”
Bosman said the first step is a wastewater study, but the newer system will accommodate almost 16,000 people. The current population is sitting at more than 2,800.
The grant, if successfully awarded to the Town, will provide $48.8 million in infrastructure upgrades, including wastewater studies and actual construction.
Spending that exceeds the $48.8 million will also be covered by up to 50 per cent.
Bosman said the money would likely take a few years to come in, as the program is two years behind rewarding funds.
“With oil being where it is, all funding is up in the air,” Bosman said.
Most of the changes, Bosman said, would occur underground in the actual piping system, however lift stations and pump houses would also be built to handle a heavier load. Phase 1 of the infrastructure upgrades was the fresh water system, which was started in 2004 and completed in 2010.
