Capital a challenge after “phenomenal” 2016, mayor says

“When you add everything up, in 2017 going forward we have a billion dollars of announced new investment that’s starting, half of it from the private sector and half of it is government,” he said. “So it’s great to see that level of investment in the city, and I think it bodes well for our future.”

When asked about the challenges Lethbridge faces, the issues are nothing new. Spearman said poverty continues to be a significant problem, affecting 19 per cent of children under the age of 15. But he credited progress made by the Diversion Outreach Team, which responded 6,500 times in 2016 to help people get the help they need.

Spearman said a big issue facing council to begin 2017 is capital spending, with little available to put into projects.

“We have about $5 million of available capital. That’s not going to build anything significant. So we will be looking at the capital improvement process and discussing things, what should be in the capital plan, how we’re going to assess those different opportunities to try to enhance what we already have in the city of Lethbridge,” he explained.”

A recent council decision to move forward with a curbside recycling program continues to generate discussion. Spearman said Lethbridge needs to catch up and reduce the waste going to the landfill, but compares the process to watching “paint dry.”

“(I)t’s going to take two years to build a sorting facility. So the full program won’t be implemented until 2019. But we will have a trial program in 2018, and maybe we can look at other ways to supplement waste diversion in our city.”

The city has been conducting planning and consultations for the population milestone of 100,000. Spearman doesn’t expect the city to reach that number until 2018, noting Lethbridge has fairly consistent annual growth of two per cent, through good times and bad.

by Geoff Smith (@smithco on Twitter)

Capital a challenge after “phenomenal” 2016, mayor says

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