On March 20, Ritchot’s council held a public hearing to give second and third reading to a borrowing bylaw which, if approved, would give the green light to a new daycare project in St. Adolphe. Residents filled council chambers to near capacity in anticipation of the vote.
History of the Project
The borrowing bylaw was first proposed by council at a public hearing at Pioneer Hall on November 22, 2018. The proposal was for a retrofitting of the municipally owned building at 372 Main Street for a projected cost of $1.7 million. Of that total, $560,000 would come from the province’s Early Learning and Child Care Building Fund and $140,000 from Manitoba Hydro’s Community Development Initiative. The remaining $1 million would be borrowed from the RM’s surplus monies.
The plan was to allow the daycare committee to pay back the million-dollar loan over a 20-year period at an interest rate of 1.75 percent. Council voted unanimously in favour of the first reading in November. The proposal was then sent to the provincial Municipal Board and approval was granted in December 2018.
A request for proposal was announced shortly after, looking for construction bids, and seven tenders were received.
Now, council and the daycare committee are working against time. Ninety new daycare spots have been promised by the province on the condition that a licensed daycare provider is willing to run it and that a site and plan for the new facility can be finalized by March 31, 2019—ten days from now.
The existing St. Adolphe daycare committee accepted the offer to run the new facility in the summer of 2018. With the 23 spots they were already managing out of two smaller locations, the retrofitted building would provide the space needed to offer daycare services for a total of 113 children. Further, the daycare was challenged by council to raise $100,000 before March 31 to cover the costs of furnishings, toys, and incidentals.
New Wrinkle
Just ten days before the provincially established deadline of March 31, council has encountered a new wrinkle. On March 20, it was revealed that CAO Mitch Duval recently discovered an error in the proposal document regarding dates prescribed for repayment of the loan. He indicated to council that it would be imprudent to hold final reading on a document that contains errors, however small.
Duval reached out to the Municipal Board during the afternoon of March 20, apprising them of the error. The board indicated that a “friendly” amendment could be made fairly quickly so that they could give it a new stamp of approval.
In the interim, council used the March 20 public meeting as a forum to voice their opinions on the project once again and vote on second reading only.
Council discussed changes to the projected costs since the first reading last November. The project’s construction bids range from $1.83 million to $2.1 million, substantially higher than the $1.7 million originally projected. Including the fee from the architectural company hired for the project, even the lowest bid was more than the council felt the RM could support.
Prior to the public meeting, council had authorized the architect to go back to the lowest tender to find out what could be done. Pricing adjustments were made, bringing the cost down to a more acceptable sum of $1.77 million, which would include both construction and architectural costs.
Also prior to the meeting, council entertained members of daycare committees from outside the RM who laid bare the fact that running a daycare is a financially difficult endeavour.
“It opened my eyes to the risk that we are exposing the municipality to,” said Councillor Claydon. “The only way that we can maintain and build a surplus is by being fiscally responsible. So this means making tough decisions and sometimes you have to say no. There are roads that do not get paved, parks and trails that do not get built, and our main streets are in need of revitalization. Our ratepayers are the ones making the sacrifices by not seeing their projects come to life… I think that we can’t be so proud that we don’t listen to what all of our ratepayers have to say.”
Mayor Chris Ewen agreed. “We did our own internal administrative financial analysis. Unfortunately, it still did show a deficit, so I’m on the same page. Is it really in the best interest of the municipality as a whole to lend a million dollars and maybe not get a repayment of that loan?”
While Mayor Ewen does think a daycare would be a worthy investment for any community, he admits to struggling with the idea of funding an expensive project that only services a small percentage of people in a municipality of 6,500.
Councillor Mamchuk made a passionate plea in favour of the new facility.
“Living in St. Adolphe, daycare is a necessity as far as I’m concerned,” Mamchuk said. “Daycare is actually the number one concern across Canada and probably the world… We have a building that sat there for four years and cost us probably $20,000 to maintain it.”
Mamchuk argued that the daycare would also service people from communities outside St. Adolphe. As well, he suggested that council consider the grants and funding from outside the RM’s coffers, which will add value to the building and will be lost if council votes against the proposal.
Councillor Boulanger, too, spoke in favour of moving forward with the project.
“We acquired this building before our time and it’s unfortunate, in my mind, that it was actually bought by the RM, but we own this building and it’s a derelict building,” Boulanger said. “We can either tear it down or do what we’re doing to make it a viable asset in our RM.”
In the end, she says, the building will be a beautiful addition to the community which everyone can enjoy, not just the daycare staff and children. She recommended that daycare shortfalls might be mitigated by offering rent options to groups interested in using the facility after hours.
“To throw a project away because we say, ‘What if in ten years they can’t afford it?’ I think that would be a shame,” Boulanger concluded.
Councillor Pelletier inquired into the feasibility of attaching lot fees to the unsold properties within Tourond Creek, which could be directed to the project should the daycare committee find themselves unable to sustain payments over the 20-year term.
Duval informed council that it’s not that simple. While capital development fees are already in place based on sewer, water, roads, and recreation, he’s unsure where a daycare fee would fit. Such a move would need to make sense based on municipal law.
“I think this opportunity is too great for us to not help out how we can,” Pelletier said. “I’ve got great confidence that this will be a successful project. I think the location is awesome. The ability to use that school-age room on the south side and tie it into a centre court in town, which is part of our Main Street revitalization program already… is just step one of that. I think that it’s a perfect fit for the area.”
Mayor Ewen maintained that the risks attached to this project need to be analyzed in the same way as any business venture.
“We have to look at any strength or weakness, and one of the weaknesses could be that they can’t repay the loan, so what kind of action does the RM take?” Ewen asked. “Is it legal action?”
As discussion drew to a close, council held their vote on the second reading of the proposal. Mayor Ewen and Councillor Claydon voted against the motion. Councillors Pelletier, Mamchuk, and Boulanger voted in favour.
Future of Project Uncertain
Duval indicated that another public meeting will be required for the third reading, which could take place as early as Friday, March 22. Formal notification of the date and time will once again be publicly posted. It will be up to council whether a public debate will be allowed.
A partnership agreement will still need to be signed should third reading be approved. As well, the RM’s administration will need to sign off on construction documents before contractors can move in.
“Running a daycare is like running any business and there’s no guarantee that the spots are going to be filled,” Councillor Claydon told The Citizen after the conclusion of the meeting.
Other daycares, he says, feel lucky to be running at 95 percent capacity. As well, finding and keeping qualified staff can be a challenge, not to mention the difficulty in making up for a revenue shortfall when daycare fees are governed at the specified provincial rate.
“We have to look at it as the legacy that we leave behind for councils after us,” Claydon concludes.