Council outlines budget spending

Friday, March 15, 2013   by: Jamie LyleNorth Bay City Council had a busy meeting last week.

Council approved numerous budget items, allocating funds to the North Bay Public Library, Police Services, The Capital Center and the Mattawa Conservation Authority, all who received more than a half million of the $1.3 million that was distributed at Monday’s meeting.

The Conservation Authority had their funds earmarked for everything from water and erosion control to the maintenance of area parks right down to the replacement of individual picnic tables and refuse containers.
North Bay Public Library will see funds going into their coffers for upgrades in their facility mostly to do with a new roof and HVAC units as well as the furniture at the building that was deemed unacceptable by the Ministry of Labour.

The work was slated for a cost of over $260,000 and is seen as good value for the upgrades however, it is yet to be seen if cost overruns will initiate concerns.

The North Bay City Police Department will receive approximately $360,000 being allotted to upgrades in their fleet vehicles otherwise known as police cars and computer hardware and software equipment for the tracking and cataloguing of criminal records and identification such as finger prints and mug shots.

Rounding off the major funding announcements was the Capital Centre who received approximately $180,000 dollars for upgrades, mainly to do with accessibility, lighting and mechanical issues.