City council look ahead: Dryden

Several reports will be presented to council in Dryden tonight.

Administration will be presenting its wish list of ministerial meetings for the next Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference.

They include discussions on:

• Policing costs
• Provincial land tax reform
• Surplus provincial lands
• Connecting Link funding
• Long term care funding

Both Chief Administrative Officer Roger Nesbitt and Councillor Michelle Price are slated to attend that conference which will occur at the end of January.

A request for reallocation of funding for a capital project fund will also be before the municipal body.

The ask is to allow staff to proceed with the reallocation to fund the installation of an emergency exit canopy, which is part of the arena expansion project, at a total cost of up to $55,400.

During the design of the expansion two emergency exits for Arena 2 were eliminated, staff say in order to maintain current occupancy levels for that rink the two exits had to be moved, including one to an area which must contend with heavy snowfall and shedding from the roof.

The canopy would protect staff and patrons from snow falling off from the roof.

Three projects, the brine pump replacement, flooring retrofit and solar panel collections are all being deferred with the funds, with a combined total of $67,000, being used to fund the installation, leaving a 20% contingency.

An application to the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) has been made, which if approved, would fund the project up to 75% and as a result reduce the total cost of the project to $14,8050.

Council will also be presented with its 3rd Quarter financial report.

It shows revenues are slightly up, with a $550k positive variance and expenses are slightly down, by approximately $380k from what was budgeted.

Additionally debt is on budget and capital spending is under budget.

It also notes two capital projects planned for 2023 will not happen:

• Van Horne Landing dock repairs, this is due to late timing of NOHFC funding approval.
• Work on Highway 17 from Cecil Avenue to the West limit, this comes due to the late timing of Connecting Link funding approval.

Both projects will be completed however in 2024, additionally the deferral of the highway work saves $270K of funding out of taxation.

Tonight’s meeting gets underway at 6:00 p.m.