Mountain View County councillors have reviewed proposed capital projects in the 2019 budget. The update came during the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
The review of the capital budget projects was undertaken to give direction to administration as part of the budget process.
The 2019 capital bridge program has a proposed budget of $3.4 million and the re-gravelling program has a proposed budget of $2 million.
Other projects being considered in the 2019 capital budget include the following:
The cloud-based disaster recovery project has a budget of $17,000.
“The intent of this project is to be able to bring our systems back up much quicker, with significantly less downtime and lost data in the event of a major or minor loss. Our current recovery point in the event of a major loss is a minimum of a few days to a maximum of just over one week. This project will fund the recurring costs of using cloud services as an alternative to tapes.”
Business services hardware and software project has a budget of $175,500.
“The intent of this project is to keep our office software and hardware current. There will be fluctuations in the yearly purchases based on life cycles of the products purchased and the changing demands of the organization and outside stakeholders. Refreshing this front-line technology minimizes the impact on staff productivity that a non-working computer would cause.”
The agricultural services shop camera system has a budget of $10,000.
“The shop does not currently have a camera system. This project will install that system. The intent is to ensure employees responding to a potential break-in are safe by checking the site visually before arriving at the site and also detecting false alarms to avoid unnecessary responses. The camera will also assist in sharing information relating to rural crime with our community partners.”
The council chambers audio-visual upgrade has a budget of $100,000.
“The AV system is a key tool in meetings. Parts of the system are up to 14 years old and the system has had a number of tweaks and upgrades over the year. The system will only be replaced in 2019 if the existing system no longer functions. The project will proceed in 2020 no matter the condition of the system.”
The crime prevention initiative workshops project has a budget of $15,000.
“In 2018, $10,000 was allocated to the workshop series with four workshops organized. In 2019, an additional $5,000 would allow for the workshop series to be enhanced with flexibility around the number of workshops and content delivered.”
The Water Valley Campground improvements project has a budget of $31,200.
“It is proposed that the campground could benefit from some alterations and upgrades post bridge construction. Possible upgrades may include re-gravelling some of the site, re-establishing the site layout to create more sites and to determine feasibility of creating a day use area within the campground.”
In a briefing note to council, Robert Beaupertuis, director of corporate services said, in part, that, “Mountain View County is a county that currently has a strong financial position and is providing a high level of service to its ratepayers relative to its population and building density. In determining the future of service levels, it is important to take into consideration a multitude of factors.”
Councillors are expected to vote on the 2019 capital budget next week, followed by the operational budget in the spring.
