2025 Budget Preview Days Three and Four
By John Swartz
Orillia council heads into its last two days of deliberations of the 2025 budget on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 12 and 13. The way it works is most of the projects are such that staff have them on the recommended list from which council may pull an item to vote on each, but only occasionally rejects or changes. Otherwise staff recommendations usually pass.
The tax levy has $2 million carved out for capital projects because funding for most projects (construction) and purchases (vehicles) comes from reserves or grants. Of the $2 million, $400K is the amount council has to play with or approvals of some projects that are of the could be done now, or could be done later, or not going to fly at all list.
Since there is no division of the agenda according to things to work on Tuesday and things to work on Wednesday, we will first look at the project destined to be approved form the recommended list. Wednesday’s last day meetings have, of late, been concerned with tying up loose ends and may not run the full day.
Major items on the list of things that citizens will see come to pass in 2025 are:
Fittons Road West sewage pumping station upgrade, $7.8 million. The station is old and also services the area west of Highway 11.
Jarvis Street (phase one) reconstruction, $6.9 million. This is for complete reconstruction, including pipes, of the portion next to Couchiching Beach Park. Phase two is from Laclie to West Streets and is a future project.
Road resurfacing, $2 million. Unlike past years the list of roads to be repaved is not included in the report.
Sidewalk Replacement, $1 million. Again, the list of sidewalks is not included.
Foundry Park skatepark, pickleball court and playground, $2 million. The City has a grant of $1 million for this project. $110 is being raised by the pickleball club and skateboarders.
Exterior restoration of the City Centre, $825K. This is the next phase of brick restoration which will occur on the north side of the building (Colborne Street side).
Water plant exterior restoration, $360K. This will restore brickwork on the 100+ year-old building.
Roof replacements, $1.3 million. This is to replace the roof of the sunroom at the Stephen Leacock Museum and for design work to replace the roof on the Barnfield Point Recreation Centre. The City has applied for a $500K grant, which is factored into the source of funding.
Port of Orillia weed control, $153K. This is the action part of a study to control weeds at the Port of Orillia. There is no mention of dealing with the Buckthorn (an invasive species) growing out of control along the boardwalk north of the boat launch.
Transit Terminal, $1.6 million. This is for design work for a transit terminal on Colborne Street. Both the federal and provincial governments have granted $1.1 million for the project scheduled to being construction in 2028 at construction cost of $12 million.
Brian Orser Arena, $600K. Tenders for reconstruction were 17% higher than estimated, so staff want to increase the budget so the parking lot can be included, part of the increase is for contingency.
City boundary expansion, $150K. If the city continues with City limit expansion, staff say this money will be needed for negotiations with bordering municipalities.
Council’s Choice
These are the major capital projects on the $400K (and therefore part of the tax levy) decision list pool for council to decide yes or no:
Fire Boat, $298K. If council agrees, $203K will come from the levy pool and $95 from reserves. The current boat is not designed for fire and rescue operations, is 20 years old and showing signs of rot.. The department is responsible for operations on all of Lake Couchiching and the north part of Lake Simcoe, including Grape Island.
Tudhope Park Drainage, $200K (from reserves). If passed the area backstage and used for parking will be filled, graded and better drainage installed.
Terry Fox Circle repaving, $515K (from reserves). This will repave the circle and expand the roadway nearest the water to allow barriers between traffic and the trail.
Speed cameras, $285K (from the levy pool). Staff’s budget for installing cameras, weighed against projected $500k revenue from tickets.
Budget meetings can be watched live on the City’s Youtube channel.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia)
