COUNCIL: Stolz doesn’t support Frizzell election bid A3 Wednesday, June 13, 2012 Good turnout for annual Multiple Sclerosis walk in Prince George A18
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Council adds $2 million to paving plan ■ City Streets
The Chili
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Four streets set for new blacktop DeLynda Pilon newsroom@pgfreepress.com
Almost $2 million will be added to the road rehabilitation budget this year after city staff, following a recommendation from council, researched reserve funds to find money to transfer so more of the worst of city streets can be repaired. Council has been looking at both short and long term strategies to find money to dump into road repair, an issue that has been of great concern to citizens. However, during a previous council meeting, it was agreed that something, if possible, must be done immediately to plump up a budget that is only half, at $3.5 million, of what it needs to be just to maintain city streets. The money is coming from a local area service reserve fund in the 2012 capital expenditure plan called Fourth Ave. reconstruction. The opening balance of the fund is $2,323,280. Since the city doesn’t have a funding source for its portion of the of the project’s cost, the project is unfunded. Coun. Dave Wilbur, who expressed concern over taking money from a reserve fund and transferring it to road rehabilita-
tion when the idea was brought up previously, since the money needs to be paid back or another project will go undone, said he was impressed by the work of administration. “I was concerned about the consequences. With this fund there is just a loose attachment to some unfunded project,” he said. However, though there is no requirement to pay the funds back, Coun. Cameron Stolz added it is prudent to do so. “This is not sustainable. It is a one off,” he said, adding the finance and audit committee will continue to look into more permanent solutions to the funding issue. Mayor Shari Green added the extra funding is a short term solution for an emergency situation. Coun. Lyn Hall, who made the motion to go forward with transferring the money, also expressed concern about the impact. “This is unprecedented. We are borrowing from reserves,” he said. The money will be used to fix Ospika Blvd. from Range to Davis ($453,000), Ospika Blvd from Davis to Tyner ($473,000), Foothills Blvd. from North Nechako to the Foothills bridge ($550,000) and Tabor Blvd. from First to Fifth ($417,000).
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Free Press sales manager Roy Spooner mixes up his wonderful batch of chili for annual Prince George Arts Council and Potter’s Guild chili cook-off Saturday. MLAs Pat Bell and Shirley Bond were voted with the best chili. “As has been said before, ‘when you are No. 2 you just have to try harder,” said Spooner. “Our current champion taught us a lesson about crafting great chile and even more about ‘getting out the vote.’” See story on Page 19.