Four years goes by so quickly. When I look back at where we started, I’m proud of how much has changed. But I also know that many of the challenges we inherited were never going to be solved in four years. Some had been building for decades. That is particularly true when it comes to our infrastructure and municipal facilities.
Over the past four years, a big part of the work has been getting a better understanding of what we have, what condition it is in, what needs to be done, and how we can realistically pay for it.
The Verner Municipal Building is a good example. The gym was demolished in 2018 because of its condition had been allowed to deteriorate to the point of no return, while significant repairs were still needed throughout the rest of the building. As of 2022, those repairs had still not been addressed. We can’t change what happened before, but we can change how we deal with our assets going forward — by understanding their condition, planning for their repair or replacement, and budgeting for those needs before they become emergencies.
Our Recreation Centre and Pool complex is another good example. It is an important community facility, but an aging assets that requires major work. There are a number of critical improvements needed, including upgrades to the pool, an accessible entrance, changerooms, the fitness centre and an elevator. A 2024 Class D estimate put the project at approximately $1.875 million.
We applied for provincial funding for this work, but that application was unsuccessful. That doesn’t mean the need has gone away. We continue to look for funding programs that fit the project and can help make these improvements possible. In the meantime, ongoing repairs and maintenance are still needed to keep the facility operating.
Our roads are another major part of this picture. We have more than 550 kilometres of municipal roads, and the Roads Needs Study has given us a much clearer picture of the condition of our road network and the investment required. The answer isn’t to try to fix everything at once. It is to gradually increase what we put into regular operational maintenance and preservation, while also planning for the larger capital projects that will be needed over time.
That same approach is being applied at Minnehaha Bay. The existing wharf abutments are reaching the end of their useful life, and replacing them is estimated to cost $4–5 million. That is a significant investment for a municipality our size, but the alternative is eventually losing the wharf and docks altogether. A funding application is now in progress. It is another example of why understanding the problem and the cost is only the beginning — we also have to find a way to make the project possible.
The Verner water project shows what can happen when that work comes together. A need that had been identified for years has now reached the point where the Province has committed $18.2 million toward a project estimated at roughly $24 million. That is a major investment in West Nipissing, but there is still approximately a $7 million funding gap. There is more work to do before the project is built.
Au Château is another example of looking beyond a single budget or election cycle. The redevelopment of our long-term care home is part of a project worth more than $100 million and will affect seniors and their families in our community for decades. At the same time, we have been working on the opportunity to add seniors housing to the Au Chateau Apartment complex. A shovel-ready funding application has now been submitted, and the next step is securing the funding to make those homes a reality.
These are very different projects, but there is a common thread. A municipal building. A recreation centre and pool. Roads. A waterfront. A water project. Long-term care. Seniors housing. None of them gets done by a campaign promise alone.
They require understanding the problem, getting the right information, working with staff and community partners, finding the right funding programs, building relationships with other levels of government, making the case for our community and then staying with the work.
That has been a big part of my role as mayor over the past four years.
The nearly $50 million in provincial commitments secured for West Nipissing in the last year didn’t happen overnight. It took applications, meetings, delegations, relationships and persistence. It took knowing what we needed and continuing to make the case for our community.
For a municipality our size, we simply cannot address all of our infrastructure and facility needs through the municipal tax base alone. Outside funding will continue to be essential. That means being prepared with good information, having projects ready when funding opportunities arise, and having the relationships and persistence to pursue those opportunities.
It also means changing how we think about our budgets.
We need to pay more attention to day-to-day maintenance and preservation so that we protect the infrastructure and facilities we already have. At the same time, we need to look ahead to account for larger capital projects that will require significant investment and, in many cases, funding from other levels of government. We need to ensure that we are maintaining adequate reserve funds so that we can take advantage of funding when it becomes available and deal with unexpected immediate needs as they arise
That is what long-term planning is about. Knowing what we own, what condition it is in, what it will cost to maintain or replace, and when those investments will be needed. Looking beyond the next budget and understanding what decisions made today mean for West Nipissing five, ten or twenty years from now.
But planning for the long term doesn’t mean pretending we know exactly what the future will look like.
There will be unexpected needs. Infrastructure will fail. Costs will change. Funding programs will come and go. Provincial and federal priorities will shift. New opportunities will come up. When they do, Council has to be able to adjust without losing sight of the bigger picture. That balance matters. We need a plan, but we also need to be able to respond to what is happening in front of us.
We also need to keep improving how the municipality itself works. That means having strong professional staff, clear roles and good processes, and a Council that provides direction while allowing staff to do their jobs. The KPMG organizational review identified areas where we can improve, and that work needs to continue.
And through all of this, we need to work together. I’ve seen over the past four years what can happen when Council, staff, community organizations and other levels of government are working toward the same objective. That doesn’t mean everyone agrees all the time. It means listening, asking questions, having the difficult conversations and then getting on with the work.
There will always be another project, another funding opportunity, another problem to solve. That is simply the nature of municipal government. The important thing is to know where we are, understand what needs to be done and what it will cost, and be prepared to adjust when circumstances change.
That’s why experience matters.
The work ahead requires someone who understands the challenges we face, knows how to turn priorities into projects, has established relationships with funding partners and other levels of government, and is prepared to keep working when the answer isn’t easy or immediate. It will take planning, persistence, relationships and a willingness to keep working through the challenges. I’m ready to do that work.