Groups seek $2.5M in public budget consultations

Even though the city is looking to freeze taxes without cutting services this year, groups came to the annual public budget consultation Tuesday with an added wishlist totalling $2.5 million.

And while there wasn't much talk of ways to save money in the budget, one of the groups suggested diverting money already earmarked for roads to support other forms of transportation, which they argued would save the city in the long run.

Naomi Grant, chair of the Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury, argued that investments in improving Sudbury Transit, the city's cycling network and on watershed studies would ultimately ease traffic congestion and the wear and tear on the city's streets.

Since the city can never seem to catch up on road maintenance, why not try a different approach, she said.

“We already can't maintain the roads we already have,” said Grant.

“We need to improve the cycling infrastructure so that is a viable transportation option.”

And offering more bus routes and improved Sunday service would get more people out of their cars and into the transit system, she argued.

With transportation a basic need for everyone in the city, Grant urged councillors to “keep in mind which are truly options, or extras, and which (items) belong in the core budget.”

Councillors also heard a pitch from the Canadian Mental Health Association, which is hoping to open a harm reduction shelter in the former police building off Paris Street. Marion Quigley, head of the association's Sudbury branch, said they want to open a 12-15 bed residence where hard-core alcoholics would live, receive counselling and be allowed to consume alcohol while undergoing treatment.

The idea is based on a similar program in Ottawa, said Quigley.

“The program in Ottawa has had so many success stories,” she said. “We're not just giving them alcohol. A very structured program will be in place … And the police will not longer have to be dealing with them on the streets.”

Other funding requests came from the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee, which over the years has taken 76 tonnes of garbage out of the creek and planted 36,000 trees and shrubs.

Sarah Woods, Junction Creek stewardship co-oridinator, said the group was looking for $30,000 to continue its work turning the creek from a polluted eyesore to an ecologically healthy asset.

Rachelle Niemela, of the Sudbury Cyclist Union, asked that two per cent of the roads budget be diverted to pay for improving cycling infrastructure. Currently, too many bike trails lead nowhere.

“More people would cycle if they felt safer on our roads,” Niemela said. “Building and expanding roads is not the solution to road congestion ... We need to rethink and refocus how we allocated our transportation dollars.”

Other requests included $5,000 to help pay for a shuttle for the popular pond hockey tournament; money for the Rayside-Balfour Youth Centre; the Art Gallery of Sudbury; the Blue Saints Drum and Bugle Core; Crime Stoppers; Rainbow Routes; and the Greater Sudbury Watershed Alliance.

All the requests, and the budget impacts, will be compiled into a report city councillors will receive by the end of February. At that point, council will have a better idea of what achieving the tax freeze will entail and can decide from there what budget options they are able to support.