West Nipissing Council has participated in its first-ever electronic meeting.
“We’re hoping the next one will be virtual, where we can see everyone,” Mayor Joanne Savage said.
With ongoing COVID-19 concerns, any thoughts on the 2020 budget had been put on hold. The meetings, up until the pandemic was called, had been gaining momentum and a decision looked to be near.
“Our priorities have shifted, for the right reasons,” Savage said at the time. “We should be concerned; we should be alarmed and we need to take this very seriously if we want to keep our area low-risk.”
However, with the last meeting under their belts, it seems as if there is some momentum in budget talks once again.
“The meeting that we had readopted the budget for water and sewer,” said Savage. “That’s a 1.58 per cent increase. It represents roughly $21 per household. We also adopted a solid waste budget at 2.8 per cent. The range is from $3 to $7 per household depending on the location of the residence.”
“Council also adopted the public works capital projects in excess of $2.9 million,” she added. “There will be investments in many roads, sidewalks, and other work that needs to get done pertaining to ditching and so on. We are fortunate that we had $1.5 million of gas tax funding that will help pay for the projects that were approved.”
As for when the final budget will be approved, Savage is optimistic it will be at the next scheduled council meeting on May 4.
“I know the staff is working on many adjustments because of revenues that have been affected, as well as expenditures,” she said.
