NEWS FILE PHOTO City council meets on Oct. 7 in chambers at Medicine Hat city hall. Closed-door sessions were a topic of discussion at council on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Medicine Hat’s mayor expects more of the same in 2020 – more cost control at the city’s budget and natural gas interests, and more effort to attract business investment in the coming year – as well as something about “pickleball”
Ted Clugston told the News in a year-end interview that the city’s own construction spending will stay in check this year, and that 2019 had positives and negatives.
“It’s been a little bit like cruise control – it seemed like we were building and cutting ribbons all the time,” said Clugston about a lack of marquee civic projects on the horizon.
“Highlights are that electric generation (department) has had a fantastic year. It will make millions. That’s offset by the fact hat no mayor or council member has ever wanted the announced that the City of Medicine Hat is going to cap 2,000 wells.”
This fall, officials announced a plan to close the city’s most uneconomical wells over the next three years beginning this spring.
Recent financial statements predict a second year of near $40-million profits for the city’s power plant.
That will leave about 500 in operation for the century-old production company that is now losing about $100,000 per day as prices remain low and long-term, hedged contracts expire.
Council has appeared hungry to discuss how to better manage dividends to promote the overall health of the city’s business interests, as well as decide how to pay to retire gas well liabilities.
A revised dividend policy and a report on cost containment measures are two key items on the agenda.
“We’ll be talking more about electric generation in 2020, the seniors’ centre operating model – and pickleball, there may be something interesting happening,” said Clugston.
“But there won’t be the announcement of any major new (municipal) capital projects.”
That might not extend to utility projects, though.
Council is expected to decide on how to move ahead with a proposed $45-million expansion at the north-end power plant, seen as a potential money maker as well as economic development tool.
As well the utility division will need to advance a required and budgeted $23-million upgrade at the water treatment plant.
On the municipal side, 2019 marked the first year of the city’s set four-year budget that keeps a tight lid on new municipal construction projects.
That came after a five-year bonanza of capital construction, but now only outlines mostly maintenance, required upgrades or staged renewal of roadways and sewers.
In more day-to-day matters, a permanent replacement for the city’s curbside recycling contract is expected in mid-January.
Late-year budget amendments absorb the effects of the fall provincial budget, while council set local tax increases next year to 3.5 per cent. Another provincial budget is due in March, and this year the city will begin talks with five unions whose contracts expired at the end of 2019.
The city’s updated economic development plan, dubbed Invest Medicine Hat 2.0, is expected early in the new year, along with a report and action plan stemming from a labour force development study late in 2019.
“There will be a lot more information coming,” said Clugston. “It will all be concrete early in the year … and there could be something at the State of the City address”
Last year, Clugston used the late-January luncheon to help announce that Folium Biosciences would locate its Canadian hemp oil extraction plant in the Hat.
This year, economic observers will be watching to see how that project advances, along with the partial opening of the Aurora Sun cannabis growing facility.
Also on the business front, an expansion at Cancarb is expected to be completed that will add a 20-per-cent boost to production capacity for the carbon black producer and result in nine new operating positions.
In the region, construction of the EDF Cypress Wind farm will proceed south of Irvine.
