Tantramar Treasurer Michael Beal

At their regular council meeting on Tuesday, December 9th, members of Tantramar Town Council will be asked to approve a $1.845 million capital budget with no transfer of money into reserve funds to finance future projects.

“It is actually a reduction if you compare that to last year,” Treasurer Michael Beal said on Wednesday during a special council meeting.

He added the reduction in the total capital budget was necessary because of the provincially imposed freeze on property tax assessments.

Beal said last year’s general capital budget included $1.755 million in spending with an additional $250,000 transfer to reserves for a total of $2.005 million.

“The total capital request from [town] managers in 2026 was $4,478,000,” he added before presenting a series of slides showing which projects town managers were proposing to finance next year and which ones they thought could be deferred.

Public works

Michelle Sherwood, superintendent of public works

Michelle Sherwood, superintendent of public works, commented on a slide showing her department’s plans to spend $1.093 million next year on a variety of projects including $100,000 for resurfacing Woodlawn Road, $60,000 for resurfacing Samantha Court, $50,000 for a sidewalk replacement on King Street and $275,000 to replace the sidewalk plow that broke down last winter in Sackville.

She said public works is also asking for a $75,000 “boom flail mower” with a 13-foot reach that could clear vegetation from road shoulders.

“It will attach to the sidewalk plow and we’re currently paying contractors to mow our shoulders once in the summertime,” she said, adding that the mower could clear the worst spots on a weekly basis if needed.

Sherwood also outlined plans to spend $29,000 to improve the entrance to the Sackville Library that would include making it more accessible.

“Right now if you have a wheel chair and you’re having a hard time, you go in one door and then you have to shift over to go through the second door,” she explained.

Later Sherwood presented another slide showing public works projects that managers are proposing to defer:

Recreation spending

Matt Pryde, director of active living and culture outlined $417,000 in proposed capital spending including:

• $125,000 to replace a condensor that is critical to the proper functioning of the ice plant at the Civic Centre rink;
• $105,000 to replace the flooring upstairs in the Civic Centre mezzanine and lounge area as well as installing proper, skate-friendly flooring at the players’ entrance area;
• $25,000 to improve trails including the TransCanada rails trail if council approves a plan to take control of the 18 kilometres within town boundaries;
• $65,000 to replace the deteriorating Lilas Fawcett Park boat launch;
• $15,000 to remove overgrown shrubs and non-native plants to make Sackville’s Memorial Park more visible from the road;
• $17,000 to modernize the splash pad at Bill Johnstone park that was installed in 2014.

Matt Pryde, director, active living and culture

Pryde is also proposing to spend $10,000 on a mural to improve the look and feel of the Civic Centre rink.

“It would be a large art piece that would cover a big chunk of the wall and the dressing room too,” he said, “so where the banners currently are and the banners would be hung over the ice surface which was our plan all along.”

When Councillor Bruce Phinney asked who would be doing the mural, Pryde said he hasn’t decided yet.

“We talked about potentially sending it out as bit of a contest for kids to develop a concept for the mural and then hire an artist to do the actual implementation,” he said.

“We’ve also talked about involving fine arts students at Mount Allison, but we haven’t gotten that far along yet.”

Visitor Information Centre

Jeff Taylor, director of community and corporate services, is proposing to spend $62,000 on capital projects including $40,000 on digital display signs and $22,000 to replace the flooring in the Visitor Information Centre (VIC).

He said the building’s original flooring is getting old and worn.

“Also it’s problematic for food vendors. For example, the Sackville Farmers Market looked at the Visitor Information Centre as a possible location for the winter this year, but they were unable to use it because of the carpet flooring,” he said.

“It’s something that’s in dire need of a update anyway, but it also gives more flexibility to organizations that would do things like serve food,” he added.

Special capital projects

Council also heard about proposed plans for two special capital projects including a $4 million replacement of the Sackville fire department’s aerial unit.

Chief Craig Bowser said Sackville bought a used 75 foot unit in 2013 that is now 30 years old.

Sackville Fire Chief Craig Bowser

“We are proposing a 100 foot aerial,” he said, “and this would assist the fire department greatly not only for high-rise buildings, but also at the university [and] Dorchester Penitentiary.”

“We would submit an application for borrowing now,” said Michael Beal.

“The plan would be to tender later in 2026 or by early 2027 at the latest,” he added.

Deputy Mayor Matt Estabrooks wondered if the town could buy another used one to save money.

“Yes, there is a realistic picture there that we could look for a good used unit,” Bowser said, “like the one we have currently.”

In the meantime, Beal suggested making an application to the province to borrow the full amount for a new one to keep the town’s options open.

He also said it might be possible to finance it out of reserve funds.

Treasurer Beal showed a slide about the multi purpose building that Sackville town council began talking about in 2021 when the projected cost was $3.6 million.

He said costs have risen sharply and such a project could easily cost $6 to $10 million now or maybe even more.

“It is not being recommended at this time,” he said. “The next large capital project would be the aerial and we would look at [the multi purpose building] either through finding [outside] infrastructure funding or look at it for discussion between 2028 and 2029 as the next large capital project.”

Matt Pryde said that when Sackville held community consultations in 2021, several needs were identified including a theatre, a community space, a kitchen, 7,000 square feet for the Farmers Market and perhaps space for a gymnasium as well.

“I suspect some of this will come up in the Recreation Master Plan and then before you build any large centre like that, you’re going to want to do some community consultation to see what the real needs are,” Pryde said.