North Battleford city council passed two local improvement bylaws at their regular council meeting Monday for pavement overlays on 13th and 15th avenue.
The first bylaw dealt with pavement overlay on 13th avenue from 102nd to 104th Street at an estimated cost of $78.787.65, with $13,058.18 to be paid by the benefiting land owners by special assessment and the rest by the municipality.
The second bylaw deals with pavement overlay on 15th Avenue from 100th to 102nd Street. The estimated cost is $68,851.02 with $10,881.82 to be paid by benefiting land owners through a special assessment, with the rest to be paid by the municipality.
The lifetime of the work is estimated to be ten years according to the director of public works and engineering.
Both projects were granted approval to go ahead by the Saskatchewan Municipal Board in July.
Both bylaws passed unanimously in three council readings on Monday night, even though council received a letter of opposition to the 15th Avenue overlay from a local business.
Rod and Andrea Sternig of Precision Denture Clinic wrote a letter to the city dated August 16, in which they stated their opposition to the local improvement.
Their letter stated that they believed the local improvement "is an unnecessary added expense. We do not believe that this improvement will increase the value of our property nor benefit us in any way." They further stated 15th Avenue was not used solely by their customers, but by all of North Battleford and did not feel they should pay out of their own pockets for the local improvement.
The letter prompted a lengthy discussion from city councillors about the process by which local improvements are assessed on properties in the city, but did not dissuage council from voting in favor of the two bylaws.
