Windsor's mayor defends his decision to introduce a $10-million enhanced capital budget just as budget deliberations were winding down Monday night.
Some city councillors are uncomfortable with the timing of the motion, at 11:20pm in a session that started at noon, and with the lack of consultation.
Drew Dilkens says there's nothing untoward or unusual about the motion.
"I'm allowed to make proposals just like any member of council," he says. "One councillor could've stood up at any time and said I propose to do a certain road for a million dollars and I'll take it out of that funding source. No one did."
The budget includes $40,000 in funds for each ward. It also includes special projects for specific wards, including $2.1-million for the reconstruction of North Service Road in ward ten, $1.5-million to fix Devon Drive in ward nine and $600,000 to reconstruct the entrance to Southwood Lakes in ward one. Ward six will get $300,000 to fix Wyandotte St. E between Watson Ave. and Riverdale and $500,000 to build a splash pad in Realtor Park. In ward five, the Gino Marcus Community Centre will get $1.1-million to build family change rooms.
Another $2-million will go to the creation of an arts endowment, and $1.5-million is set aside for the acquisition of environmentally sensitive lands.
Dilkens insists a report on each project will come forward for debate at council.
"This is just merely an allocation in the budget. It's money sitting there," he says. "The suggestion that we don't come back with a report; that somehow all of these projects are going to go ahead was misleading because that's not the way we've ever done it here, and that's not the way it'll be moving forward."
Some of the funding for the projects will come out of the 2020 capital budget.
Council also approved a five-year capital budget valued at $513.7-million.
