The exterior of Saint John City Hall is pictured in this file photo. (Staff photo)
Saint John council has signed off on more than $43 million worth of capital projects next year.
Common Council unanimously approved the 2022 general and utility capital budgets on Monday night.
Coun. Gary Sullivan, who chairs the city’s finance committee, said they plan to borrow around $9 million for the projects.
Budget documents show the city plans to leverage more than $20 million from other levels of government toward the projects.
“The budgets follow our long-term financial plan and our suite of financial policies, including the policy relating to borrowing and debt reduction, along with the policy allocating 85 per cent of the budget to renewal of infrastructure and 15 per cent to new infrastructure,” said Sullivan.
Nearly $13 million has been earmarked for transportation and storm sewer renewal projects. The city hopes to completely reconstruct about 4.8 lane kilometres of streets and rehabilitate four to five kilometres of sidewalks.
There is also $6.3 million for “quality of life” projects that were previously endorsed by the finance and growth committees.
The projects include creating a protected bike lane on Main Street North, extending Harbour Passage, renewing Loyalist Plaza, implementing phase three of the Rockwood Park master plan, and upgrading several parks, playgrounds and fields.
Coun. Paula Radwan admitted she was a bit on the fence about approving the budgets at first, but is excited by the one-time boost in Gas Tax Funding from Ottawa.
“There are pockets of money going out there for sidewalks, for roads, for parks, for playgrounds, a little bit of money here and there,” said Radwan. “I think everybody’s going to see a little bit of things in their areas that they like and that’s the biggest reason why I’m supporting it.”
Radwan said she is still not fully on board with the new proposed solid waste collection model set to come before council but noted that the $1.6 million set aside to buy carts and recycling totes can always be reallocated if council decides against it.
Coun. Brent Harris said staff put forward a good effort to ensure as many of the bases as possible are covered.
“I’m going to get emails saying ‘how could you support that, it doesn’t have A, B and C.’ But I would just say ‘look, A, B and C are going to come.’ It’s not that we’re missing it, it’s just that it takes time to move the needle,” said Harris.
You can view the budgets online.
Common Council approves General Fund and Utility Fund capital budgets for 2022. For details, visit https://t.co/U2o6xEcwso
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Le Conseil municipal approuve les budgets d’immobilisations du Fonds général et du Fonds des services publics pour 2022.— City of Saint John (@cityofsaintjohn) November 16, 2021
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