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McArthur Island

McArthur Island ring road rehabilitation moved up to 2020

Jun 16, 2020 | 5:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops will use federal gas tax funds to fast-track a couple of capital projects.

The most significant project involves fixing up the ring road around McArthur Island, for a total of $600,000. Another involves spending $60,000 to add more pickleball courts to the City’s offerings. The projects are expected to begin this year.

The City will put more than $730,000 into its active transportation fund for future projects.

There were more projects proposed for fast-tracking, but some councillors, like Mike O’Reilly, didn’t want to spend too quickly.

“In these times, I’m not comfortable moving ahead,” O’Reilly told council. “We were told maybe, two or three months ago, that these items were things that could be deferred — they’re not ‘have-to-dos’. We’ve gotten some more money from the federal government and now we’re just jumping on it to spend it.”

Councillor Arjun Singh expressed confidence with council’s position.

“I was thinking, when we had discussions around COVID stuff back a couple months ago, that we would have to significantly dip into our reserves,” said Singh. “Those reserves are still healthy, they’re still kind of there and we’re talking about other ways of funding it.”

More than $500,000 allocated from gas tax funds will not be spent this year.

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