(Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Funding maintained for pathway maintenance & connections in Lethbridge

Mar 11, 2020 | 6:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City of Lethbridge will continue to ensure pathways are maintained.

A motion came to council this week to potentially discontinue the Pathway System Connections and Extensions (PSCE) initiative.

City Councillor Jeffrey Coffman says he was pleased to see the motion defeated.

“I think one of the things people talk about in this community is we have such a wonderfully-diverse pathway network – you can travel around the city very easily on the pathway system.”

“This is about filling in some of the gaps we have. As we’re expanding as a city, we’re expanding in pathways as well and we need to make these connections.”

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PSCE is one of four community capital projects that recently came back to council about a theoretical cancellation of funding. Another is for a facility expansion at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens.

Especially as the provincial government has signalled that there may be further budget restraint in the future, the municipality has been carefully reviewing some of its planned community capital projects out of concerns that Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) might eventually be clawed back.

For this one, however, it is primarily funded through the Federal Gas Tax Fund and the Pay-As-You-Go program, meaning that MSI grants would not be impacted by this.

It is for this reason that Coffman has become less supportive in recent weeks of discontinuing PSCE.

“Cancelling it wouldn’t have saved money in relationship to MSI funding that’s going to end in 2022,” says Coffman. “Certainly, you can have the conversation about resource allocation that you could’ve used it elsewhere, but this is something that we hear feedback from our community. This is about being outside, being outdoors, making those connections, and it is important to continue.”

Despite being a frequent user of the city’s trails, Councillor Blaine Hyggen believed this funding could have gone to higher-priority initiatives.

The PSCE is considered by the city to be an “ongoing project” with around $62,000 allocated to maintenance annually.