Champlain Township’s fire department needs are at the top of the list when it comes to capital expenditures in 2024.
Champlain Township councillors reviewed the capital expenditures slated for 2024 as part of their budget planning process at a January meeting.
Two new pumper trucks, at a cost of $675,000 each, will be ordered in 2024, with expected delivery in 2025. According to the draft capital budget document, the township will borrow money to purchase these vehicles, creating new debt for Champlain Township.
A compressor for the Vankleek Hill fire station was received in 2023 and will be paid for in 2024 from the township’s accumulated surplus (the item was not paid for in 2023). The cost of the compressor is $79,831.
Extrication equipment for the Vankleek Hill fire station will be purchased at a cost of $75,000; this cost will be added to the tax rate, to be paid in the 2024 calendar year.
An emergency generator at a cost of $65,000 will be paid for thanks to a $20,000 provincial grant, with the remaining $45,000 to be taken from the fire department reserves.
A few paving projects will take place in Aloha Estates. A 270-metre length of Gilles Street will be pulverized and paved at a cost of $66,300. A 550-metre stretch of Lucien Street will receive similar treatment at a cost of $148,700. A 250-metre length of Maurice Street will also be pulverized and paved at a cost of $62,750 and a similar treatment will be done on a 260-metre stretch of Valois Street at a cost of $74,450. These projects will be completed thanks to provincial grants, meaning that there is no impact on the tax rate.
The 570-metre stretch of Pattee Road from Highway 34 to 779 Pattee Road will be paved at a cost of $137,500, with $18,259 paid for by provincial grants and the remaining $119,241 coming from provincial gas tax funding.
An overlay will be applied to Pattee Road from 779 to 668 civic addresses at a cost of $109,500. On Eldemer Street, 190 metres will be pulverized and paved at a cost of $47,500. Paving of 230 metres of Deslauriers Street at a cost of $56,970 will take place in 2024. These projects are being paid for with revenues from provincial gas tax funding.
Paving on Maplewood Drive, Menard Street and Bedard Street is being postponed. Those projects would have cost $265,870, $61,150 and $170,825 respectively.
West Hawkesbury Councillor Sarah Bigelow asked if these projects would be deferred to 2025 but Public Works Director Sebastien Levesque said there could be a longer wait. Levesque said that a lot of work had taken place in L’Orignal in recent years and that there was work that needed to be completed in Vankleek Hill in 2025.
A culvert replacement on Borris Road at $75,000 was removed from the capital works list.
Debt repayment for the township’s share of the King Street infrastructure work will begin in 2024. The annual repayment amount is $109,715 (for design, storm sewer, paving, sidewalk and contract administration) for the next 20 years. King Street water and sewage infrastructure and repaving work took place in 2023, with about two thirds of the cost being paid for thanks to federal and provincial grants. The United Counties of Prescott and Russell kicked in $277,573.
A new snowplow will be purchased for the Public Works department, at a cost of $390,000. This item is carried over from 2023, with $212,000 coming from reserves and $178,000 subsidized by the United Counties of Prescott and Russell.
Purchase of a backhoe at $235,000, was removed from the capital projects list.
Champlain Township will also begin 20 years of debt repayment ($839,552) to finance improvements which were done at the Vankleek Hill Community Centre in 2023. The annual debt repayment for this project is $78,108.
A $12,000 project to improve the network improvement at Champlain Library will take place in 2024 and will be paid for from the accumulated surplus from 2023. Reconstruction of the brick wall on the front facade of the library is planned for 2024, pending grant approval. The estimated cost of the work is $75,000. Champlain Township has applied to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for funding for this project.
In addition, the township is seeking funding for a $25,000 roof rebuild.
Rehabilitation of the L’Orignal standpipe (water tower) is also scheduled for 2024. That total project cost is $1,850,000, with $508,001 to be financed as new debt. The balance of the cost is covered by federal and provincial grant monies. The debt repayment will be $55,775 per year for 15 years, according to the capital budget summary.
In addition, the water and sewer portion of the King Street improvements in L’Orignal debt repayment will begin in 2024 at an annual cost of $66,631. The total amount being financed is $820,580.
