Council postpones decision on proposed capital spending
By Tim Kalinowski on May 19, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com City council began debating the 2022-2032 Capital Improvement Program recommendations forwarded from the Economic Standing Policy Committee, but voted to postpone any final decisions for two weeks to allow for more community feedback on the proposed capital spending.Before the postponement, a majority of councillors voted to accept two amendments which added about $15.6 million to the overall capital spend in the 2022-2031 CIP budget cycle. Councillors voted to amend the main motion to fund a new organics processing facility directly through grant funding from the CIP instead of through borrowing. This would likely reduce the monthly charge to Lethbridge residents from $7 per month to $5 per month if adopted in two weeks. The amendment was sponsored by Coun. Jeffrey Carlson and passed 6-3, with Councillors Joe Mauro, Blaine Hyggen and Ryan Parker opposed.
A second amendment, proposed by Coun. Rob Miyashiro, was to set aside $5 million from the CIP to help fund affordable housing in the community. The amendment passed by a vote of 7-2, with Mauro and Hyggen opposed.
Hyggen acknowledged the need, but said he was concerned council was prematurely setting aside money without a plan of how to address the housing issues in the community.
These two amendments reduced the available unallocated funding for the next council from $31 million to about $14.4 million.
After these amendments passed, Hyggen then made a motion to postpone any final votes on the Economic SPC recommendations for two weeks to give the community more time to provide feedback on these capital spending proposals. This passed by a vote of 8-1, with Miyashiro opposed.
Council will now vote on the Economic SPC recommendations at the June 1 meeting. Follow @TimKalHerald on Twitter 4
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