The representatives of the Town of Oxford came together on Wednesday evening for the first time since this month’s municipal election. We’ve seen these faces before, as all but one of the council members returned to their seats, with the exception of former Deputy Mayor Arnold MacDonald who could only run for either Mayor or Council, and with his loss to incumbent Mayor Greg Henley, returns to private life.
The new face on the block belongs to Padraic Moore, a dedicated local volunteer with Oxford’s baseball teams. Moore, along with all of the returning councillors and Mayor, were sworn into their positions and then launched directly into discussions around the town’s infrastructure challenges.
Oxford’s Manager of Finance, Ruthann Brookins, brought council up to speed on the current state of the town’s water distribution system. Brookins shared a map of the pipes that showed a considerable network of red lines… those would be the pipes that were for the most part laid in the 1930s. With the life expectancy of those tubes maxing out at around 75 years, the town is well beyond the “best before” date for replacement.



Brookins asked council to approve two unbudgeted expenditures: one for $12,000 on work to update the Assets Management database with the assistance of the Atlantic Infrastructure Management Network, a federal non-profit organization that helps municipalities plan their infrastructure renewal; and another for $70,000 towards having initial designs drawn up for the planned Main Street water, storm drain and paving project that the town hopes to be able to begin in 2025. Councillors engaged in considerable discussion around the pros and cons of spending that money now, in the end deciding to do the work and have their ducks in a row should there be funding opportunities available that would depend on having those plans in-hand. Brookins supported the expenditure, saying that her tracking of the town finances shows it is likely going to be coming in under budget in the new year and that this cost could be incurred without difficulty.
The longer-term picture is not terribly rosy, however. Brookins referred to the town’s Capital Investment plans drawn up just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and contrasted it with which projects ended up being tackled and their costs. The Foundry Street project, for example, was moved up by about two years due to the rapidly deteriorating state of the water system and the amount of public works crew hours that were spent patching breaks in the lines. Estimated to cost about $368-thousand when the plans were drawn up in 2021, the recently-completed project came in at a cool $1.56-million – a four-fold increase. The Asset Management database update should revalue the projects to align with post-pandemic inflated prices, and enable the town to begin the delicate dance of socking away money into the capital reserves while trying to decide which of the crumbling water lines will need to take priority in the coming years.
Councillors were unanimous on one point: given publicly-voiced displeasure around the state of Main Street, it will need to be the top priority for capital spending in 2025. As for how we’ll pay for the longer-term water system replacement that affects the majority of the community, that remains to be seen.
Also on Wednesday night’s agenda, a letter to Council from local resident Brenda Robinson, who purchased a building in the downtown core on Water St., but who has been unable to move forward on her initial plan to open a restaurant and outdoor riverside patio. The building is in a state where it would need to be demolished. Robinson had asked the town to consider a project that would develop the lots she owns to include ten micro-shops and an equal number of second-storey rental apartments. Robinson’s letter indicated that she had no funding to pursue the project but would be willing to assist in coordinating the effort. Council held a brief discussion on the matter, deciding —in the words of Mayor Henley — “We do infrastructure, we don’t do buildings.” Henley said the town would certainly facilitate any paperwork that might need to pass through the bureaucracy, but that the proposal was “private enterprise” and the town had neither the staff nor the money to take the project on.
RELATED:
Town of Oxford Budgets & Financial Statements
Oxford Town Council Meetings and Pronouncements on YouTube