“I don’t think there’s been a council around for one very long time,” Mayor George Fontaine told a public forum last year, “who has made as many major changes in the way that we’re doing things as we have, and some of the changes that we’ve applied to make.”
It was no overstatement. Since coming into office four years ago, the current Flin Flon city council has gone where none of its predecessors have ventured.
Now with their term coming to an end ahead of the Oct. 22 civic election, it is time to look back on some of the defining issues for council over the past term.
8. Fair’s fair?
Many people colloquially consider the Flin Flon area to be a single community, but not everyone believes municipal costs should be shared as such.
That’s something this council has learned as its efforts to glean recreational funding from neighbouring communities and cottagers have yet to produce a deal.
Arguably the only success so far has been a non-resident user fee at the Aqua Centre – and that was specifically designed to be revenue-neutral for the city.
7. Taking another route
In the face of calls to scrap public transit altogether, council has instead worked toward a compromise: maintaining the service on a scaled-down basis.
Recognizing a small but compelling need for the service, council has been devising a city-run transit service to replace the one run under a contract with Northern Bus Lines.
What that service will look like has yet to be finalized, but it’s expected the province will continue to foot half of the bill.
6. Rubbish!
The Flin Flon dump was a surprising bone of contention for council, which in 2012 went public with concerns that the province was pushing for landfill regionalization.
Mayor George Fontaine said shipping garbage out of the community would be “totally unaffordable” as the province mandated a costly study of the landfill’s lifespan.
Two years later, Flin Flonners continue to send their trash to the dump near Channing and the aforementioned study found the site has a life expectancy on the order of 30 years.
5. Unsettled science?
The science on water fluoridation wasn’t so settled for council in 2011 when a vote brought an end to the practice in Flin Flon after 22 years.
Supporters and opponents of the move cited conflicting studies. Health care professionals urged a continuation of the status quo, but some residents objected to being “medicated” against their will.
In the end, all but one member of council, the retiring Skip Martin, favoured yanking the cavity-fighting compound (though some natural amounts of fluoride are still in the water).
4. Infrastructure investments
From water treatment and road repairs to rebuilt roofs and new sewer pipes, this council has pumped millions upon millions of dollars into Flin Flon’s outdated infrastructure.
Many of the projects were essentially forced by circumstance. Roof repairs at the Community Hall and RCMP station, for instance, came after tiles began falling from the ceiling of the former building and police temporarily evacuated the latter.
While all of those infrastructure investments bode well for the future of Flin Flon, nervous taxpayers have questioned some of the expenditures.
3. A tax to grind…
A complicated new residential fee for fire and police protection had some accusing council of acting as Robin Hood in reverse.
The special levy, as it is known, came into force in 2014 with the effect of upping taxes on low-end homes (many of which had been paying under $300 a year) while lowering them on high-end homes (many of which pay several thousands of dollars).
Reaction to the levy from Flin Flon’s low- and middle-income residents has been predictably sour. The next council must decide whether to apply for regulatory permission to charge the fee again in 2015.
2. Where there’s smoke…
In mid-2013, council took the unprecedented step of revoking city fire protection for cottagers after cabin owners refused to each pay $300 a year for the service.
It was a move councillors have described as difficult but necessary since Flin Flon residents cannot be expected to subsidize fire protection for non-taxpayers.
Talks have continued on a potential new fire (and recreation) funding deal with cottagers, who will decide tonight how to proceed.
1. The right treatment
When the City of Flin Flon Water Treatment Plant began operating in August 2013, it marked the culmination of the biggest undertaking yet for the municipal works and operations department.
While the plant allowed Flin Flon water to meet provincial health standards after years of subpar test results, it also came with a hefty price tag of $15.2 million (at last report).
The plant also means utility bills will rise 30 per cent starting next month, meaning residents must decide whether safer water is worth the added impact on their wallets.
