The Village of Glendon council has passed their 2018 interim budget with two major projects included.
Council voted to approve the balanced budget during their Monday, Dec. 11, meeting with a total of just over $2.1-million in revenue.
This includes $414,069 in tax revenue, with $301,955 attributed to residential tax.
The village will also take on $2.31-million in expenses, however, the addition of the $248,000 non-cash amortization, council is left with $38,067. Excess funds will be transferred to reserves, balancing the budget.
Thanks to funding from the MD of Bonnyville, Glendon council will look to have water and sewer systems installed on 52 St. and 53 St. This comes after a needs assessment identified the roads as problem areas in 2017.
“We have slated a few critical infrastructure projects in the spring, which we have looked at with previous council. Now, with MD funding, we can definitely move forward with that in spring. With possible ID 349 money we can continue with that,” explained Glendon Mayor Laura Papirny.
Funding from ID 349 has not yet been included in the budget, because village administration hasn't received any word from the province on when they'll receive it. When the money is released, it will likely be used to finish 52 St. and 53 St.
While they'll take care of the underground work, council elected to follow the needs assessment's suggestion to put off paving the road until 2019.
“The engineer recommended to leave it for a year because there is going to have to be some settling. We were told to leave it and let it set before we do the hardtop,” said CAO Melody Kwiatkowski.
In total, the MD will contribute $667,778 to the village's capital plans and $230,000 in operating grants.
“Infrastructure costs an extreme amount of money. Now we can definitely have those two roads done, and possibly look at doing one road per year afterward,” said Papirny.
Without grants from the MD, it wouldn't be possible for the village to move ahead with their critical infrastructure. Going forward, Papirny expects to see further collaboration between the two municipalities.
“We're extremely grateful for the MD's support through their grants, and we look forward to working with them on projects in the future. Without their contribution, a lot of these projects wouldn't be financially feasible for us,” Papirny expressed.
