Capital additions over budget approved

Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter

 

At the March 4 town council meeting Mel Tiede, director of corporate services, brought a recommendation before council for the approval of additional spending to complete projects outlined in the 2014 capital budget.
“The 2014 capital budget was a total of $5,120,000 and originally contained 30 projects. Council has authority over the utilization or reserves, grants and authorizes the use of reserves and grants in the annual operating and capital budget,” said Tiede.
Six projects were presented that required additional funding. Any additional spending above and beyond the budget must have council approval.
The first on the list was the sidewalk on Lakeside Blvd. The roadway was originally supposed to be reconstructed and the sidewalk project was to be part of that.
“The road construction was deferred as we know, however, the decision was made to complete the sidewalk portion, thus the sidewalk was more than anticipated because the whole project was not completed at the same time,” said Tiede.
The budget for the project was $15,000. The actual costs ended up being $19,651. Thomas Drive spanned two years and was paid entirely by grant funding, said Tiede.
The construction of the Wildflower reservoir spanned both the 2013 and 2014 years and it was originally estimated to be in excess of $9 million. The project was tendered and ended up costing significantly less, approximately $7.2 million.
“The amount in the 2014 budget was to finalize construction and as we are all aware this project met with many challenges. It is anticipated that grant funding be used for this expenditure,” said Tiede.
The purchase of tents for various events around the town was budgeted at $15,000.
They ended up costing more than anticipated, coming in at $17,673.03. The additional was covered by the equipment reserve.
The highway entrance signs were originally budgeted for in 2013, however, not budgeted in 2014; the signs were expensed in the operating budget, pending council approval.
Construction in Lakewood Meadows was not anticipated in the 2014 budget, but had to be completed before the project could move forward.
In general projects that cover two budget years, when they go through the budget process in the fall they are dealing with estimates and don’t actually know how much they will get billed for in the current year, which makes it difficult to put an exact amount on the future year, explained Tiede about the variances.
Council voted to authorize the utilization of grants, reserves and operating budget to complete funding for the listed 2014 projects exceeding budget in the amount of $139,210.70.