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Town of Hudson Bay to spend $200,000 surplus

Jan 25, 2018 | 11:00 AM

While many communities are dealing with deficits, Hudson Bay Town Council is enjoying a big surplus.

During Tuesday night’s town council meeting, the December 2017 financial statement was reviewed and council learned they had an operating surplus of just over $200,000.

Chief Administrative Officer Richard Dolezsar said council decided to set some money aside for some upcoming projects.

“There will be an additional $100,000 for building infrastructure replacement. The upcoming project there is the roof on our arena,” Dolezsar said.

Another $100,000 was set aside for the town’s utility reserves to help pay for the replacement of the lift station at the water treatment plant. It’s part of a much bigger project that involves the renewal of the town’s raw water reservoir and weir on the Fir River, along with a new raw water pumphouse and backup power supply in the water treatment plant. 

Dolezsar said the total cost of the project is about $1.8 million dollars, which the town has been approved for under the province’s Clear Water and Waste Water Fund.

“It’s about one-third complete and should be substantially complete by the end of 2018,” he said.

In addition to the arena and lift station, council also set aside $7,000 for some capital repairs at the Hudson Bay swimming pool.

Dolezsar some of the attributing factors to the operating surplus were good returns on the town’s investments and each of their department all had some form of operating surplus due to lower levels of repairs. While happy to have the extra money, Dolezsar said there is never really any extra money in municipal infrastructure services,

“There’s always a waiting list for things that need to be repaired as everything ages and time passes much faster than we realize,” he said.

 

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell