The 2025 municipal budget is underway in Callander, and staff and council have put together a list of proposed capital projects for next year. This list will help guide future budget discussions, although the content of the list is subject to change.
As Callander’s Senior Municipal Director Ashley Bilodeau emphasized, “This will be further discussed and deliberated later, once an understanding of operating impacts and reserve statuses have been determined.”
She also noted that as is, around $6.7 million could be allocated to capital projects, “a hefty capital budget” for the town.
One of the big-ticket items is the break-wall replacement in Centennial Park. Remember the storm this past April that took out the dock and pulled apart the steel retaining wall? That needs to be replaced – the town is thinking of lining the shore with large rocks – and council plans to budget $500,000 for the cause. However, council anticipated this work will be fully funded through Ministry Disaster Relief Funding.
See: High water and relentless wind pummel Callander’s shore
The Callander Mall retaining wall is also on the fix list, with a budget line of $198,000.
And roads? A few road rehabilitation projects have been proposed for next year – resurfacing Hart, Hazel Glen, and Hills Siding Roads. The budget will allocate $400,000 for those. However, Hart and Hazel Glen Roads could be funded using the remaining portion of the Northern Ontario Resource Development Support Fund.
As for Hart Road, this was on the list of 2024 projects but has been moved to next year. The municipality was unable to secure a contractor to do the work. “The project was procured,” staff noted, “and no bids were received.”
The Swale Street project was also slated for this year, but there were some delays in the designs that held the project up. It too moves to 2025.
See: Swale Street reconstruction on hold, Callander
There are some other projects council would like to see accomplished next year and it plans to apply for funding from the Community Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Fund. The grant could cover parking lot improvements at the Community Centre, an air conditioner for the Orton Room (within the Community Centre), renovations to the Community Centre's coat room, a new generator, and improvements to the tennis and pickleball courts.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
