Sylvan Lake town council deferred approving additional funding for the new town hall when it formally adopted its 2011 budget this week.
The five new councillors asked for more information on the $7.4-million administrative building that the town plans to start constructing this summer, explained town manager Betty Osmond.
More details on how the old RCMP station was selected as the proposed location for the new town hall and alternative designs for the exterior of the building were among the items requested from the councillors.
“We want each elected official to be absolutely comfortable when we move forward with projects of this size,” Mayor Susan Samson said of the town hall project, which will be the largest capital expense for the town in 2011.
“A delay of two to three weeks is not going to impact us one way or the other. What it’s going to do, it’s going to allow us all to have a real comfort level to move forward on this big project.”
Osmond said the additional information will most likely be presented to council at the next regular meeting.
The approved budget calls for a tax rate increase of 2.4 per cent.
The increase will help balance the budget despite declining property assessments and less funding from provincial and federal grants, Samson said.
Service fees will remain the same as the increase homeowners will pay for recycling will be offset by a decrease in the amount they pay for garbage removal.
The 2011 budget also allocates funding for other major capital projects, including more than $6 million on Phase 3 construction of Lakeshore Drive and $325,000 for the design and preliminary construction of a skateboard park.
The adopted budget totalled $25.6 million, which is about $200,000 less than what the town spent in 2010.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com