A plan could be produced next year that would address the issue of soil slumping in the river valley area, a problem that forced city hall to rezone property in the affected areas.
The zoning has been in place for a while and serves as an informational tool to ensure citizens are aware of the risks, a report from the engineering department explained. Over time, the best practices for municipalities have changed in how they conduct due diligence on the oversight, management and communication of slumping areas.
Efforts have been made during the last few years to monitor the four slumping areas, the report added. These efforts include regular photographs of the areas to monitor for movement, while also surveying the edge of the slumping areas.
To ensure this problem is addressed properly, during its budget discussions, city council voted 5-2 to engage an expert consultant to evaluate slumping areas and formulate a plan for the municipality about how to manage these areas that is consistent with best practices. The cost to hire this consultant is $110,000, with $70,537 to come from the former flood reserve account and $39,463 to come from the general operating fund.
Councillors Dawn Luhning and Brian Swanson were opposed.
Slumping can cause safety issues and concerns about the protection of property, said city manager Jim Puffalt. The goal of the plan is to determine potential courses of action to manage the risk and optimize any potential investment.
“I think this is an important initiative to have a look at in the city, especially in the southern area,” said Coun. Crystal Froese. “I think there are some other areas that need to be addressed (as well).”
The original intention of the flood-prone reserve account was for the municipality to put money into it every year for a flood program in the river valley, explained finance director Brian Acker. Some of that money was used to purchased affected property and demolish it, before giving it to the Wakamow Valley Authority.
The program was discontinued seven years ago, but there is still some money left in the account, he added.
Sometimes with one-time expenses, any leftover money is placed into an accumulated surplus, noted Coun. Chris Warren. He wondered what the balance of that account was and what city administration forecasted the balance to be at the end of 2019.
There is $1.26 million in that surplus account, but it’s difficult to predict how much will be left since one major expenditure could be snow removal, said Acker. A “major snow event” could cost a couple hundred thousand dollars.
City administration anticipates a surplus of possibly $200,000, with the best estimate being a break-even on that account, he added. The guideline is to five per cent of the operating budget placed into the accumulated surplus, which translates to $2.5 million.
The accumulated surplus indicates the municipality took in more taxes than was needed, said Warren. He didn’t agree with having that much money in the bank all the time, especially when it was being used as a buffer for certain needs.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Jan. 13, 2020.
