Redcliff town council this week adopted budgets for the coming year. Highlights include the Eastside school project, road upgrades and scheduled maintenance to the local pond.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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The Town of Redcliff adopted budgets for the 2026 year and beyond at a council meeting Monday.
The 2026 Capital Budget outlines a number of major initiatives coming up next year for the township.
Major investments include almost $4 million for the Eastside school project, including design, engineering and construction.
“The highlight is probably the $3.8 million that we are putting towards getting the school site ready, getting all the infrastructure in the ground, getting the road ready, so that way the school can be built,” said Mayor Chris Czember.
Czember says the site has been approved in principle, but the town is still waiting for official notice from Alberta Infrastructure.
An additional $200,000 is budgeted for Phase Two design and engineering related to the school.
“Phase Two is just developing some more lots around where that school is going to go, so that way we can have potential for some growth,” said Czember.
Other major investments outlined in the budget include $3.5 million for infrastructural upgrades to Fifth Street SE, $200,000 for scheduled pond dredging and $500,000 for a new garbage truck.
The budget also includes $900,000 for the new ice plant at Rec-Tangle Arena. The town received grant funding from the province to proceed with this project earlier this year, but the timeline for installation of the new ice was delayed to accommodate Redcliff Minor Hockey’s schedule.
Czember says the plant is expected to produce more reliable and better quality ice, as well as improving energy efficiency. Installation of the ice plant is slated to take place in the spring when the hockey season wraps.
The five-year plan identifies future major projects for consideration through 2030. While those projects aren’t set in stone, Czember says council laid out some priorities for the term ahead.
“The South Highway Drive project is certainly a priority, and we have it on there. We want to get that handled,” said Czember. “And then another big ticket item on there is the additional raw water intake, which is something we certainly want to get done during this term, so that we have some redundancy for a raw water intake in case our old one goes down.”
Council also adopted an interim operational budget for 2026. The final operating budget won’t be confirmed until spring 2026, when the town receives the school requisition from the government.
