Altona civic leaders have a better idea of what their fiscal priorities will be in the new year. Members of town council set aside two days this year to brainstorm with administrators on the financial path they want to take for 2020.

Day 1 focused on community engagement and taking a more active role in connecting with local residents, while Day 2 was more of a line-by-line review on some of the projects council intends to pursue in the coming year, according to Mayor Al Friesen. "Some of those projects include about a million dollars set aside for residential street renewal and pathways, about $22,000 to celebrate Altona's 125th anniversary, we will continue to fund Equal Access Altona which we began last year and we're setting aside $200,000 to replace the liner in our pool."

Friesen said they hope all of their projects can be delivered within a 2.5 percent tax increase, but he admits there is still more work to be done before a final budget is complete.

No funding has been budgeted for the downtown drainage situation at this point as council is awaiting word on federal and provincial funding for the project. The town's share of that proposed $2.4 million initiative would be about $600,000.

Another looming expense for the community will be the purchase of new radios for the provincial government's newly announced emergency communications system which will be implemented next year. "That cost will impact our fire department, public works, and police service," said Friesen. "At this particular point, we're struggling to find out how much those radios will cost. Ultimately there will be some clarification on that and then communities will be able to move ahead, but I know that all councils are struggling right now with how to absorb those costs," Friesen said.

A town official estimates the cost for the radios could reach over $200,000. Friesen said the move to a better communications system make a lot of sense, but the cost to municipalities is steep. "The fact that we're swallowing all the costs on it makes it difficult to swallow because we have many uses for $200,000."