LAC LA BICHE - Lac La Biche County councillor George L'Heureux was in favour of a request to give $95,000 to the Craigend Rec and Ag Society for a new paving overlay. His approval was based on a need to give more to rural residents to balance out municipal spending.
The $95,000 would go toward a $125,000 estimated cost to re-pave the Craigend Community Hall's parking lot. A lower price of $17,500 was originally requested to provide only a seal coating of the existing parking lot. In recent months, however, says society president Carl Beniuk, appraisals of the surface have indicated that it needs to be repaved. He told council he feared the prices could double or worse if the surface begins to fail.
"The costs will double as soon as there are more cracks. It's a dollar spent today opposed to three spent down the road," he said.
Councillor L'Heureux agreed.
'I'm going to support this motion today, because I don't think we spend enough in our rural areas," L'Heureux said at last Tuesday's Lac La Biche County council meeting. "There's lots of things, not only parking lots, but roads and all sorts of stuff that are pretty rough out there."
Councillor Lorin Tkachuck immediately countered the comment, saying recent projects like the Plamondon connector road and the Elinior Lake road have seen upwards of $27 million in local funding to toward rural infrastructure.
"We are doing a lot in the rural areas as well as the hamlets," said Tkachuk, before suggesting the Craigend request could be sidelined until a better picture of the parking lot's condition and other quotes for the work were received.
Mayor Omer Moghrabi agreed, saying he didn't like to hear complaints of urban versus rural in the municipality.
"We are all one," he said, before saying he wasn't prepared to support the Craigend request since it wasn't following proper process and was jumping ahead of other funding requests. "I haven't heard anything about this parking lot until last week ... there is a process."
Ward councillor Darlene Beniuk said the project had already been looked at by municipal public works officials, so it definitely wasn't "new news". She was in favor of approving the funding request.
A motion to provide the $95,000 funding was denied by the majority of council.
A second decision that would see the municipal administration to again evaluate the paving needs at the hall was approved.
A report is expected to be completed by council's Sept. 28 meeting.
