Mayoral Question of the Week — Infrastructure

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/09/2014 (4305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Leading up to Brandon’s civic election, the Brandon Sun will pose a weekly question to all four mayoral candidates. The goal is to address issues facing the City of Brandon, and allow readers to get to know their candidates so they can make an informed decision when they cast their vote for the city’s next mayor on Oct. 22.

But what’s your take?

These are the candidates’ answers — but we thought we’d ask you, too. Try our new, interactive quiz and give us your take on infrastructure.

Later, we’ll analyze the responses (anonymously) to see which positions have the most — and least — support.

Question 1: Infrastructure

We have a great number of roads that need repair in this city, as well as aging sewer lines and lead water pipes in older homes. There is still no concrete plan for the Eighth Street bridge, which continues to crumble and needs attention.

If elected mayor, how do you propose the city should address the pressing infrastructure needs?

Rick Chrest

There is growing interest and frustration on the topic of infrastructure, and the very word is becoming a buzzword or punchline. Local residents are well aware that Brandon, akin to every municipality, has a significant infrastructure deficit and a major need to accelerate work on the renewal of our sewer and water systems, streets and sidewalks. Attempts to justify large tax escalations by declaring them “infrastructure budgets” were revealed to have little infrastructure spending at all.

Often “capital spending” is confused for infrastructure spending. I have carefully studied the current 2014 Budget/Financial Plan. There are two batches of capital spending for the city. The general budget, which is borne by your property tax dollars, and the utility budget, which is borne by revenues from our sewer and water bills. This year the general, tax-supported capital spending will be $15.5 million. Of that, I determined that $3.1 million, or 20 per cent, is for actual infrastructure. The remaining $12 million is for equipment, furnishings, vehicles, technology, office equipment and similar capital needs. I’m not suggesting these other capital items may not be necessary, however let’s not fool ourselves that spending $15 million on capital is really addressing infrastructure. To be fair, the utility capital spending borne by our water bills will spend $5 million, of which I would determine $4.6 million to be infrastructure.

If elected mayor, I would ask council and staff to re-examine every capital expense we are considering with a view to channelling as much as possible toward actual infrastructure. Our top priorities should focus on the most aging and unreliable areas with additional attention paid to neighbourhoods suffering ongoing shortcomings such as storm water capacity. Where partnering with senior levels of government is possible, we must accelerate our investment to take advantage of these cost-shared opportunities.

Shari Decter Hirst

The city uses Asset Management software to record installation, repair, and maintenance of all its infrastructure. Public Works and Engineering flag trouble spots and get them on the list for repairs and upgrades as part of the annual budgeting process. Council has added $1.5 million to this budget line during the past four years, although most residents in Brandon would admit that it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the need.

Much like we did with potholes, I would like to see an annual targeted blitz on sidewalk repair. We have certain areas in Brandon where the condition of the sidewalk is vital to residents’ mobility. These should be red-circled and receive special attention by our sidewalk and snow clearing crews.

As I’ve announced in this campaign, my top infrastructure projects for the federal Building Canada Fund (30-cent dollars) are the raising of First Street for flood protection, the widening of 18th Street as a major commercial corridor, and the expansion of infrastructure into our industrial park to attract new business to Brandon. The expansion of the airport terminal and the water treatment plant proposal are already in the works.

It’s not easy bringing other levels of government to the table, but with both federal and provincial elections on the horizon, I would think our opportunity to showcase how they can work for Brandon is enhanced.

Finally, Brandon is in a “wet-cycle.” We need a storm water plan for the city that takes into account extreme weather events. Culverts need to be bigger, we need more ability to “hold” storm water such as bigger retention ponds, so that it can be slowly released into the system. We need to separate our sanitation and storm water systems so that basements are not flooded by dirty water.

John Paul Jacobson

When I assume office I will restructure my duties and assignments to be able to address the constant demands of keeping our streets and personal passageways in top repair.

I would establish civic contact and two-way information passages to our city’s paving contractors, as well as our out-of-town contractors, to test and confirm their availability to handle crises and ensure any critical timetabled work-in-progress.

Seasonal transitions and our city’s global warming repercussions will be one of my office’s ever-expanding mindmaps.

The Eighth Street bridge is Brandon’s “Dinosaur in the Driveway.” Its removal must not compound the already existing difficulties of safe and convenient access and egress to and from North Brandon.

It is my hope that an evolving larger plan for Brandon would point the way to a complete and satisfactory solution.

To address the pressing infrastructure needs of Brandon, we must have a series of citizen roundtable sessions to illuminate the best ways to gradually emerge from the financial mess we are in.

There are answers to these questions and that route requires that every citizen has a turn at exploring viable solutions. With the city’s solicitor reviewing the process, I would expect city council to demand the removal of all lead pipes supplying water to any household and business in Brandon.

Lead is a soft metal and can easily be scratched to differentiate it from copper and other metal piping.

We have city water meter readers who could help to push us on to a final solution.

Mark Kovatch

I like the Eighth Street bridge, but the economic reality is that it will end up being used for pedestrians, bikes and ultralight vehicles. So I will focus this short article on municipal service infrastructure. There is a saying that goes, “The definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” This describes our handling of infrastructure up to this point quite accurately.

Cities and developers pass the upfront cost of building services for new subdivisions on to the homebuyer. The price of things like roads, sewer lines and city building permits are built into the cost of a lot and home. Last year, the city collected $77,017,504 for 624 residential building permits which then disappears into general revenue. Is it any wonder the average cost of a home in Brandon is now $265,000, up from $100,000 just 11 years ago? So the subdivision is built, the city and developers take their cut and the never-ending, ever-rising maintenance costs are passed on to all of us.

They call it “urban sprawl,” expensive houses that very few people can afford, being built further and further away from water and sewer treatment plants and hydro stations. The only way most people can afford to buy these homes now is with a 35-year mortgage and demanding higher wages or raising profits, which increases the cost of goods and services for all of us, and on and on it goes.

Large businesses do not adapt well to change and as long as they are making money they have no need to. The construction industry is no different. Every residence must be supplied with water, sewer, power and a road to get there. Our unavoidable challenge is to find more affordable ways to do it. We need to “fill in” our city and look at every opportunity to use sustainable planning, building, and utility methods to do it.

But let’s not forget it is the construction industry that will ultimately have to do the work. They are our friends and neighbours and depend on their jobs like the rest of us. We need to work with those involved and ensure they have the direction, time and incentive needed to make changes without having an adverse effect on the economy.