Council discusses future paving of Wright Road
October 19, 2017, 4:44 am
Kevin Weedmark
Councillor Jason Miller brought a proposal to Moosomin town council Wednesday to pave Wright Road.
The majority of Wright Road, a main east-west road and access to the Southeast Integrated Care Centre, remains unpaved.
Over the years council has discussed paving the road, but has always been held up by several factors—the poor state of the roadbed, the large size of the paving job, and the fact that agricultural land, a health facility, and Bradley Park take up most of the south side of the road, making charging the cost of pavement to homeowners difficult if not impossible.
The idea of paving the road in sections over a number of years has been proposed in the past, and the town has tried a number of solutions for dust control on the road, as the gravel road is the main access to Moosomin’s health care facility.
The state of the road has been a recurring topic for Moosomin town council since the SEICC opened in 2008.
Miller brought a proposal to council to pave the road in one project next year, borrow the cost of construction, and pay it off over five or seven years.
The proposal is based on a rough estimate of $1 million from the town’s paving contractor.
Miller provided figures showing the project could be completed for annual payments of $228,000 a year for five years, or $170,000 a year for seven years. Those payments would fit well within the town’s annual budget for paving.
“A loan offers price protection on further delays into the future,” Miller pointed out in his proposal.
“It will spur development on existing lots for sale, and potential to the south.”
He pointed out that Wright Road is one of the busiest routes in town and, if the town paves Wright Road next year both Main Street and Wright Road would be newly paved, as Saskatchewan Highways plans to pave Main Street as part of its maintenance agreement with the town.
“Our annual allocation to paving has been $200,000 to $400,000 each year,” he said. “We can do this, it’s just a matter of prioritizing and realizing at some point it’s got to get done.”
Councillor Teddi Taylor said that a lot of people would like to see the work done, and even if it’s not done immediately, having a plan should satisfy many people.
“I think it would satisfy a lot of residents if we had a date,” she said, “if we could give them a start date.”
Councillor Ron Fisk noted that the rough quote that the town does have is for a 40-foot wide street with curbs. He wondered if the pavement could be narrower, and said “at the present time I can’t see any need to be spending money on concrete curbs.”
Councillor Chris Davidson said the effort to replace the town’s water treatment plant is a high priority, and he suggested there may not be money for both projects, depending on what the cost of the water treatment plant turns out to be. The town is just in the early stages of planning for a new water treatment plant.
“We have a water treatment plant that has reached its capacity, and that has reached its life expectancy,” he said.
As of Dec. 31, the town owed $1.3 million for its share of building the SEICC and $502,000 for the sewage lagoon for a total of $1.8 million. Those two loans will be paid off in 2022. The town has a $4.3 million debt limit.
Council decided to check with their paving contractor for a quote on paving Wright Road without installing concrete curbs.
