ST. PAUL – The Town of St. Paul approved its 2025 capital budget on May 12, which includes several projects to be carried out this year, including infrastructure replacements and service upgrades.
Council also discussed its five-year capital plan, where some of the approved 2025 projects are categorized.
Key projects
CAO Steven Jeffery outlined some of the key projects approved this year, including two road projects, one of which is the $550,000 paving of 54th Avenue between 57th and 56th Street.
Also, 43rd Avenue will be paved at a cost of $350,000.
“The other project we provided priority to was the replacement of the sewer main between 46th Street and 47th Street,” said Jeffery. The project will cost $150,000. Actual costs to the Town will be $20,000, as the rest is covered through the Canada Community Building Fund (CCBF).
“This is a section of sewer main that has all but completely failed.”
St. Paul Airport mill and pave
The $1.6 million project to mill and pave the St. Paul Airport, primarily funded by Alberta Transportation with $204,510 in municipal contributions, is also now ready to go.
“We received bids last fall but opted to delay construction until 2025 to allow for the best weather possible,” Jeffery told council.
Multi-Purpose outdoor recreation facility
Design work for an outdoor recreation facility project will also proceed in 2025, at a total cost of about $135,000. The design work will cost the municipality $60,000, while the remaining $75,000 has been secured through the Community Facility Enhancement Program. Construction of the potential project is deferred to 2026, pending further funding.
The recreation facility would include an outdoor hockey rink for winter use, and could then be converted to a surface where other sports, such as basketball, could be played in the warmer months.
The multi-season outdoor recreation facility is being proposed to be located near Racette Jr. High School, where the OTJ was once located – an outdoor ice rink that previously existed, dating back to the mid-1900s. The wooden boards eventually were taken down and the land became part of the school yard for the nearby junior high school.
“Even if we were able to receive construction dollars in another grant proposal or another grant application, we wouldn't actually start any construction until 2026,” explained Jeffery. “So, further dollars spent on that project are likely going to be deferred to 2026.”
Raw water supply
The raw water supply system upgrade, which involves upgrades to the Town’s water reservoir and the Lac St. Cyr intake, is also now ready to go. Jeffery said project costs have increased from $3.2 million to $4.3 million.
But with an additional $800,000 funding secured through the Water for Life program, the Town now has $2 million in funding.
The remaining $2.281 million will be covered by a debenture, the first payment of which has already been accounted for in the 2025 operating budget. “So, we are feeling we are ready to move on [with the] project given the extra funds.”
Stormwater pond
The Town of St. Paul is also looking to expand an existing pond located west of town, specifically the pond west of Kal Tire and south of Highway 29. Jeffery said the Stormwater Pond project will cost over $2 million.
In a follow-up with Lakeland This Week, Chief Financial Officer Mitchel Bachelet said a larger stormwater pond “will allow the Town to control run off water better and potentially support some dryer years at the golf course.”
“Also, the space may get used for something else as not the entire location would be pond. Future uses of the unused land are up for debate still,” he added.
During the meeting, Jeffery said the province committed $1.43 million toward the project. The project is 70/30 funding split between the Town and the province, he said, with the province taking on 70 per cent of the costs.
“I do expect we will incur some expenses in 2025 for design and engineering, however, the bulk of the construction will be split up between [2026] and [2027],” he said. “[We] had some good [and] positive negotiations with the province in that remaining 30 per cent matching grant not necessarily needing to be cash from our municipality, but [covered through] a previous purchase that we've made.”
Meaning, the Town will not need to spend money on the project this year, said Jeffery.
Projects advancing with conditions
There are some projects that remain in the budget but are not expected to break ground in 2025, including a dog park project that has been discussed for several years.
The dog park was labeled as a 2025 priority allocated with $150,000 under the 2025 capital budget. “But we have not been able to move the needle much further than we have previously,” said Jeffery, due in part to the delay in adopting the North Area Structure Plan.
Discussions around location have led to a decision to place the park away from residential areas, and toward trails and recreation amenities, said Jeffery. But no specific location has been identified yet as to where to best locate the dog park.
No decision was made during the meeting, and council considered transferring the $150,000 toward other projects, if needed. More discussions will take place in the future on the matter.
Arena retrofit and lodge projects
The Town is also seeking to upgrade and repair the Clancy Richard Arena as it ages.
Crumbling concrete, an outdated ice plant, a slab floor that has exceeded its 50-year lifespan, as well as numerous building code violations that leave the facility out of compliance with today’s safety standards has created the need for upgrades to ensure the busy arena remains operational for the community.
But millions of dollars are required, and the Town submitted an application for an $8.3 million matching federal grant last year.
The Town is still awaiting a response on the application. If approved, the town would be responsible for about $3 million to match the grant, as well as other ineligible expenses. The project will likely cost the Town about $4 million in total.
No decision is expected until fall.
The MD Foundation’s $50 million Lodge Project is also still waiting for provincial commitment.
The project did receive an $8 million conditional approval from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in late 2024, but provincial funding is required to move forward with the actual construction phase of the project.
Replacement versus new services
During the discussion around the budget, Coun. Nathan Taylor suggested clearer distinctions between projects that replace failing infrastructure and those that offer new or expanded services.
“In my mind, the capital budget should be divided into two sections – replacement and higher levels of service,” Taylor said. He noted that current plans dedicate approximately $3.3 million to service upgrades, including the dog park, stormwater pond, and outdoor rink, compared to less than $2 million for critical replacements like roads and sewer mains.
While acknowledging the necessity of some upgrades, particularly the raw water intake and stormwater project, Taylor argued that non-essential amenities should be deferred in favour of addressing decaying core infrastructure.
“I believe we need to do better long-term planning,” Taylor said. “Things like the dog park, unless you can give us a reason why these higher levels of service are necessary, I’m inclined to hold off and put more money into replacing things that are failing.”
Jeffery responded that funding studies and planning documents for projects like main street infrastructure could potentially come from reserves already set aside under the Utility Rate Bylaw. He did agree with the principle of being ready for replacement projects, due to increasing project costs.
“It would be nice to have a construction document of what it would cost in today's dollars,” Jeffery said.
Tax rate bylaw
As council approved the capital budget, they were also able to pass the third reading of the tax rate bylaw.
Residents of the Town will still see about 1.5 per cent mill rate increase but might see higher increases in their tax notices, due to increases in provincial requisitions, particularly the increases in the Alberta School Foundation Fund (ASFF) and municipal seniors' housing requisitions by the MD Foundation.
This year, the Alberta School Foundation Fund (ASFF) rate increased by 6.9 per cent, or 2.57 to 2.75 for residential properties, while the rate increased by 18.75 per cent for non-residential properties or 3.67 to 4.36.
Meanwhile, the MD Foundation rate increased by 45.8 per cent from 0.49 to 0.72 for both residential and non-residential properties.
