The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Town council is pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into Creighton's infrastructure without gleaning an extra cent from property owners. The town's 2012-13 budget, finalized last month, sets aside $634,000 for a municipal shop, a columbarium and an eventual new fire truck, among other projects. 'We're all very happy with it,' said Mayor Bruce Fidler. 'When we can bring new things...to the community and not have to increase taxes, it's excellent.' In terms of capital projects, the costliest item is $400,000 for a new metal-frame shop to be built beside the existing town garage on Bereskin Avenue. The shell of the 3,600 sq. ft. building is expected to go up this year with other work likely to be done next year. Council also makes a $100,000 deposit into a fund for a new fire truck that will be required in the coming years. This was the second straight year that amount has gone into the fund. A new fire truck will cost between $500,000 and $600,000. Station upgrade Another $50,000 has been set aside to upgrade the sewage lift station on 'old' Creighton Avenue, at the northeast end of the street. Council allots $26,000 as the final payment for a columbarium and 'memory wall' being erected at the corner of Elander Avenue and Nejedly Street. See 'Memor...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 There is also $20,000 to enhance the Tom Creighton memorial cairn site on Main Street. The fence will be moved back toward the school, paving stones will be put down and a planter will be installed. The idea is to improve the look of the historical site and make it maintenance-free going forward. Council will also spend $15,000 on new playground equipment and another $15,000 to landscape the future site of the columbarium, work now underway. The columbarium will store the ashes of late residents. The adjacent memory wall will feature the engraved names of departed citizens. Both are expected to be in place by the end of summer. The playground equipment, meanwhile, is destined for the popular children's park on Bereskin Avenue. A further $8,000 will go toward perhaps the most visible of the capital projects _ two roadside signs welcoming motorists to the community. Council hopes to see the signs, each measuring 12 ft. by seven ft., in place by the end of the month at the town's northern and eastern entrances. Absent from the budget is paving after council spent $300,000 on such projects last year. Paving was ruled out this year given the cost of the new municipal shop. Council is set to spend $3.3 million on total expenses, down by more than $400,000 over last year. That's because council received a one-time grant for a specific capital project last year. The budget comes in balanced. Town council has not raised the mill rate since 2007. Council decreased the rate in 2009 in recognition of the fact that property values increased. Final budget With an election looming, this marks the final budget for the current crop of councillors. This October, Creightonites will for the first time elect a mayor and council to a four-year term as Saskatchewan has done away with three-year terms. The dominant issue promises to be nuclear waste storage, a controversial concept that the present council has been actively exploring for the past two years. Supporters of the concept see it as a safe means to bolster the local economy, while opponents fear nuclear waste is hazardous and could drive residents and tourists away from the area. An election will also take place in Denare Beach, where a whole host of issues _ from taxes to crime _ promise to factor into the campaign.
