Twp. Rd. 594 is getting work done following a funding reallocation vote

At a previous Woodlands County Council meeting, Council directed Administration to find money in the budget for needed repairs to Twp. Rd. 594 west of Blue Ridge, at the cost of $8,000. “Administration recommends that the funds be reallocated from the Culvert Repair Program, which was budgeted at $232,000. At the time of the writing of the report, there was $165,000 committed, leaving a balance of $67,000,” explained Director of Infrastructure Andre Bachand.

Councillor Ron Govenlock didn’t understand why the funds weren’t coming from reserves. “Andre has indicated that we budgeted $232,000 and spent $165,000. The problem I have is, what’s the purpose of a budget? It’s not supposed to be a slush fund where you can take and move money around and spend it how you want. Either the budget had certain projects focused on or otherwise.”

Councillor Govenlock said that the proper process would be to fund unplanned expenditures using the County’s reserves. Mayor John Burrows queried if removing $8,000 from the Culvert Repair Program would bump another project, to which Bachand said no. Then, speaking to Councillor Govenlock’s issue with not using reserves, Mayor Burrows asked Bachand if Administration knows precisely how much everything will cost when preparing a budget.

Bachand said no. “Each budget is prepared based on the last few years and any items we see coming up. We do not get specific quotes on everything.” Mayor Burrows then continued. “The point is, it’s very difficult to budget with a crystal ball because you don’t know how things are going to shake out in the procedures. We have a little bit of money here so that we can do some road repair.”

Councillor Govenlock motioned to speak again. “Andre, in clarifying the budgeting process, said that the budget at best is a guess. If that’s the case, instead of taking money supposedly allocated for culvert repairs, I would suggest that there is probably money in the road repair budget. But, if there isn’t, I would ask Alicia, why are we not taking this money out of reserves?”

Alicia Bourbeau, Director of Corporate Services, said that utilizing reserves as Councillor Govenlock suggested could be brought up in the future. “I know that past practices for myself, not saying it’s right or wrong, but we always try and work within the operating budget for items that are repair and maintenance in nature. We certainly can have those discussions. The software is currently being revamped by our software provider so that our budgeting process and the reports that Council receives are less cumbersome to work with, if you will, and we can bring this forward.”

Councillor Govenlock agreed that working within the operating budget is best practice, but only if the project was budgeted. “This is one of those unplanned expenditures. I didn’t bring the sheet with me today regarding what happened to the $12.5 million in reserves that Council expected was there. But in reviewing it just the other day, I noticed from about 2014 that the actual dollars in the accounts kept going down, down, down because people were requesting approval for projects that weren’t budgeted. This is simply another example that moves us into that area. The reserves are part of the budget. Taking money for unplanned expenditures out of reserves is entirely what reserves are intended to provide for. If the budget were done properly, then this project would have been a budgeted item. To suggest that the budget is a guess at how much we will spend is not good management.”

Bourbeau apologized before disagreeing. “I’m sorry. Personally, I don’t believe that the budget is a guess. It was based on historical numbers. Our best efforts were given to providing that. Reallocating the $8,000 from within the operating budget, as I said in my personal philosophy, is preferential to taking it from reserves. But it is the direction of Council, and we will go with what you desire.”

Changing up the conversation, Councillor Dale McQueen asked if there were any other repairs planned in the Culvert Repair Program budget. “You’ve still got $59,000 in this budget for the culvert repairs. Are there still repairs that are earmarked for that money right now?” Bachand said that the culverts were ordered and that they were part of the $165,000. Councillor McQueen pressed further. “Where I’m coming from is, I know I’ve got some repairs that never got done last year. They are flagged with a barricade and still haven’t been done. I’m just questioning if some of this money is flagged to finish some projects from a year ago.”

Bachand said there were other projects and added that prices had gone up. “I should point out to Council that the price of culverts increased ten percent. Two months ago, we ordered our culverts and were told because of COVID that there was an issue getting the metal to make the culverts.” That backlog caused the culvert timeline to push back. He also said the price would go up again, 18 percent, in the coming weeks.

That revelation sparked Councillor Govenlock. “Those statements serve to reinforce the concern I have with taking money out of planned repairs or contingency for culvert repairs. It may leave culvert repairs short because we are transferring that money onto road repairs. If this project is to go forward, from my perspective, for proper planning, it needs to be taken out of either the reserves or out of the operating budget for road maintenance.”

Mayor Burrows disagreed. “What we are doing here is finding money in the actual operating budget and funding a project that was unforeseen.” The group voted to end the discussion, which passed with Govenlock as the lone opposed vote. They then voted to allocate the funds as recommended by Administration, and it passed with the same result.