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 Flin Flon City Council is pondering 'a whole pile' of spending cuts, but it's not clear which ones will be enacted. Mayor George Fontaine made that announcement last week during a wide-ranging address to the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce. 'We're talking about a whole pile of things,' he said when the topic of spending cuts surfaced. 'Which ones will actually come to fruition? I guess over the next probably one to two months, as we finish our budget, we'll know which ones will come to fruition.' Mayor Fontaine said council has looked at reducing snow removal, for instance, but keeps returning to the problem of what happens when snow is allowed to build up on streets and then melt. This scenario will 'create flooding' in low-lying areas, he said, adding 'there are some very dire consequences that have been seen from that in this community before.' The mayor said even small events, such as recognition ceremonies for city employees, have been looked at, as have other things sponsored by the city. Some have suggested public transit be trimmed or eliminated. In the two days before his address, Mayor Fontaine said he had heard from one resident who sees bussing as a waste and another who considers it an essential service. He himself favours keeping public transit, noting that at least half of the cost is funded by government and that it's not clear whether changing systems would be cheaper. The most significant impact from the city's fiscal crunch may be not what it cuts, but what it is never able to do in the first place. 'I guess (one) of the biggest things is, we just keep not doing certain projects that need doing because we don't have the money in the bank,' Mayor Fontaine said. 'You can call that cutting, you can call that whatever.' See 'How...' on pg. 9 Continued from pg. 3 Aside from spending cuts, council has also discussed ways to boost revenue, including a one per cent 'municipal tax' similar to the PST or GST. While there have been 'conversations on that,' the mayor said 'we aren't anywhere concrete on that, so I wouldn't be jumping the gun thinking you're going to have to worry about that in the near future.' Council has also tossed around the idea of a tax for visitors who stay at local hotels, as is done in Thompson, but it has not been approved. Part of the reluctance, Mayor Fontaine said, is that such a tax could put Flin Flon hotels at a disadvantage unless such a tax was also applied to hotels just across the border in Saskatchewan. Of course economic growth would also augment city revenues. On that front, Mayor Fontaine voiced council's openness to economic development projects and its willingness 'to help any new companies come in.' He said council has made a point of being open to economic development ideas that 'are a little more off the wall than we're used to,' such as the concept of nuclear waste storage in Creighton. 'It should be that if Creighton can develop some industry, then we should not be trying to kibosh them,' the mayor said. '...so we should look very seriously at any of their attempts.' Asked what factors have bred Flin Flon's budgetary shortfall, Mayor Fontaine pointed first to the aging municipal infrastructure. '...we've been here a long time with not enough repairs being done as time has gone (on),' he said. Since it has taken many years for some of the infrastructure to deteriorate, the mayor said, it will also take time to complete the necessary repairs. He said the shrinking population is an additional challenge, as 'there are less people paying the bills.' Mayor Fontaine then mentioned Flin Flon's sewage treatment plant, which was mandated _ but not funded on an operational basis _ by the Manitoba government. 'Major affect' He said the sewage plant has had 'a major affect' on utility bills _ they've risen _ and that the new water treatment plant, also mandated by the province, will 'have a similar affect.' On the issue of panhandling and loitering on Main Street, Mayor Fontaine said the RCMP are taking a 'targetted approach' in terms of their patrols. He said the police will not set a regular time for patrols, as that would be all too handy for people who misbehave, but will instead target patrols to be the most effective. Mayor Fontaine mentioned council's plan to seal off the 'Hong Kong alley,' a site of public drunkenness and other concerns, and talk of closing walkways that stretch between certain downtown homes. '...a lot of residents in the areas are finding that there (are) some transients in there and there's a lot of discomfort in being in an area where they're hanging around at night in the dark and so on,' he said.
