Montrose council has been quietly working through village business throughout the ongoing pandemic.
The municipal office reopened May 19, and outdoor spaces and parks in the village proper have reopened as well, with the exception of those still closed due to construction.
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A financial issue has surfaced this month, and council faced it head on at the June 1 regular meeting.
The village was at-risk of a temporary cash flow imbalance due to forecasted large capital project expenditures and a time gap in receiving expected grant and taxation revenues.
“To ensure the village continues to meet its financial expenditure obligations for the Montrose park/building improvement project, and the … 9th Avenue and underground works replacement project, over two months, it is necessary for the village to authorize the transfer of $1.05 million from the applicable reserve account to the general operating fund,” noted administrator Larry Plotnikoff.
Council agreed to a collective $900,000 transfer, which included: $200,000 each from the sewer and water capital reserves; $70,000 from the capital drainage reserve; $280,000 from the capital transportation reserve; and $150,000 from the community works fund reserve.
“We have fared rather well during this time,” Plotnikoff told the Times.
“The village needed to transfer some monies from capital reserves to ensure we maintained an adequate cash-flow to cover off some significant capital project costs that we are currently incurring. We have three major capital projects in various stages of completion underway,” he clarified.
“These were budgeted to be paid primarily through reserve accounts. The transfers are a part of that process to ensure cash flows can adequately cover the costs. These projects and costs were budgeted for, were expected and are not COVID- related.”
The next council meeting is slated for June 15.
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