The supplementary report (here) for egress for Westwood Hills was brought to council on March 25 (council package and video here). The report recommended a 500m emergency only egress route from Hemlock onto Hwy 103. Planning, land acquisition, and building of that route will commence in 2025, and will be completed in 2026.
Following the Capital Budget and the Operations Budget, Regional Council moved on to debate the Budget Adjustment List (BAL) which represent either overs or unders to the the overall budget. The BAL has been referred to as the 'playoffs' of budget season, as this is where we sharpen our pencils and do our part to either add to, or cut from, programs and services to best serve our communities and their pocketbooks.
The WCWC Trails continue to receive an update, and the work completed in 2024 continues into 2025/2026. This mapping below is from the 2022 report on trail type for the WCWC. The orange section at the bottom of the map has been cleared, grubbed, and screened. The section to both water courses (Nichols Run and waterfall) is now cleared, grubbed, and screened. The 25/26 budget is to work toward completion of this section to both water courses.
On February 18, Regional Council and the CAO received an email from SEIU Local 2 on behalf of 12 janitorial workers employed by GDI. GDI had maintained the cleaning contract for Alderney Gate, which goes out to tender every 4-5 years. In the last round of bidding for that contract, another company - Imperial Cleaners - won the contract, not GDI. As a consequence, the 12 cleaners employed by GDI who had worked at Alderney Gate could lose their job.
As noted in the Capital Budget 2025 blog post, the Operations Budget is yet another component of the 'transitional budget' of previous council. The lens and values of this council will be represented in future budgets.
Without painting in too broad of strokes, the majority of the Operations Budget boils down to people. They are the municipality's greatest operating expense. There are six major contracts being renewed in 2025/2026, including HRP, HRFE and library staff.