Like throwing a bucket of water on a house fire, staff say financing Chatham-Kent's infrastructure is an uphill battle.
Engineering officials hope council will approve their $50,635,777 budget, which is part of a ten-year plan to have CK infrastructure fully funded. The 2016 outlook includes a 0.33% increase for their asset management plan, and a 0.67% increase for life cycle phase-ins.
General Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Services Thomas Kelly says maintaining their infrastructure life cycle is a big part of the battle: they need to manage weather conditions, changing material prices, and expanding technologies to maintain CK's roads, bridges, etc.
"You have to wait many years to determine if it really is effective. We also use some new technologies out on the road to the airport," says Kelly. "But we need some time to know if it will hold up."
Even with the 1% increase, only 61% of CK's infrastructure is fully funded. But Kelly says their ten-year plan, started in 2014, will see them through.
"It's recognizing that we have that gap, so we're trying to get ahead of the game," he says.
Kelly adds gravel roads and fleet vehicles have been particularly difficult to finance, as the Canadian dollar continues to struggle.
