Following the news that their application for a Towns for Tomorrow grant was denied, Smithers council re-thought the proposed Second Avenue Paving project last week.
The request to pave the street came from the people on the street last year, Mayor Cress Farrow said. At the time council had decided to try to fund roughly half their portion of the local area service (LAS) with the $375,000 grant that they just recently found out was denied.
“That whole project was contingent on finding the funding through the grant process for that project to move forward,” Farrow said.
As council reviewed and changed the LAS policy to reflect concerns with how much corner lots pay, this project is once again contingent on the residents of the 4100 and 4200 blocks of Second Avenue approving the project.
Should this happen, council will now have to find the funding from its 2012 budget, Farrow said.
Some members of council questioned putting taxpayer funds forward for a project not wholly accepted by those it benefits.
“The [financial] numbers are large, so our biggest question is, is this our largest priority?” asked Councillor and Finance Chair Mark Bandstra.
An example of how else that $375,000 could be used is to re-pave Railway Avenue, a road in a state of disrepair, the entire way instead of just from Toronto to King, as budgeted for this year.
“I think it’s important to pave the streets we have,” Councillor Jo Ann Groves said, who was in favour of re-petitioning to move the project forward.
Having paved streets throughout town is also important to council, Farrow said. Council chose to authorize the re-petitioning of Second Avenue and to look for funding in the 2012 budget should the project be authorized.
