City borrowing big for infrastructure upgrades
By Lethbridge Herald on September 13, 2022.
City council on Tuesday gave second and third readings to five borrowing bylaws regarding projects that are said to all have previously approved and will have no impact on utility rates. Herald file photo.Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
Lethbridge city council on Tuesday gave second and third readings to five borrowing bylaws.
The projects were all previously approved by council and will have no impact on utility rates, councillor Jeff Carlson told the meeting.
The first, Bylaw 6369, calls for the city to borrow $4,463,000 for upgrades to aging mechanical and electrical equipment at the Uplands reservoir to improve reliability and reduce maintenance.
The project was included as part of E-21 water reservoir upgrades in the 2018 to 2027 CIP. This particular project has been decoupled as a separate project.
A submission to council states that water utility CIP projects are funded through utility rates but often large projects with a long service life require debenture borrowing to finance them. The payments on the resulting debt then appear as an expense in subsequent operating budgets.
The report says implementation of the upgrades won’t create additional pressure to utility rates within the next four years that encompass the 2022 to 2031 CIP program.
If the upgrades aren’t done, there could be failure of electrical or mechanical systems and service interruptions to customers, says the submission by city solicitor Brian Loewen on behalf of Doug Kaupp, the City’s general manager of Water, Wastewater and Storm Water Services.
Council also gave its blessing to Bylaw 6370 which calls for $3,701,000 to be borrowed for wastewater treatment plant electrical upgrades. Total cost of the project is $5,500,000.
The upgrades include replacement of assets at the end of their lifecycle and construction of new assets to improve reliability of the power supply to the plant and equipment inside.
Bylaw 6371, which was also passed, called for borrowing $2.9 million for wastewater treatment plant UV disinfection upgrades.
Council also gave approval to Bylaw 6372, which calls for the borrowing of $17,249,000 for the Walsh Drive Arterial Road and underground utilities expansion project.
The submission for the bylaw says the interim sanitary sewer connection through West Highlands is reaching capacity and the project is needed to create capacity for continued growth in West Lethbridge. The work will complete the sanitary link between Metis Trail and University Drive along Walsh Drive.
Reconstruction of the existing Walsh Drive paved rural cross-section to an urban arterial road will be needed for construction of the sewer due to the extent of excavation.
Council also gave second and third reading to Bylaw 6373 which authorizes the City to borrow $3 million for water treatment plant UV disinfection upgrades.
16-15
I think they better come up with a plan fast to clean up our streets of addicts and homeless and start enforcing the law. Millions of city taxpayer dollars are spent on this issue annually and it has been allowed to grow.
Time to stop this and take back our city from a 150 deviants that have been allowed to run wild, committing crimes, destroyed property and giving our city a bad name. We have been lulled into accepting this by the non-profits who are making money off of the homeless and addicts!
We already pay the highest property taxes per capita! We need action!
How about some upgrades to the streets in Lethbridge, most of which are in dismal shape. Manhole covers that are 1-1/2 to 2 inches below the road surface, patches that would shake your teeth loose. What a mess!