Council to discuss police budget, accelerating lead pipe replacement plan Monday

City council is expected to go over the 2020 Regina Police Service Operating and Capital Budget at its meeting Monday.

Regina police are proposing a net operating budget of $85,629,300. That includes expenditures of $96,028,900 and revenues of $10,399,600. It works out to a $3,125,000 or 3.79 per cent increase over the 2019 budget.

The new money is set to go towards staffing four frontline police constables and six civilian positions — two communication centre dispatchers, a communications strategist, an intelligence analyst, a psychologist and a digital media assistant.

A few casual positions are also set to be created, including: A fleet garage attendant, a mentorship candidate, a summer student, a court information clerk and a corporate services worker.

Police are also looking to have $600,000 go towards “Grey Cup Special Duty assignments and equipment expenses” when Regina hosts the CFL championship next year.

Final approval of the police service’s budget is set to come during the city’s 2020 budget deliberations on Dec. 9.

More civilian members on the board of police commissioners

Council is also set to hear from a few delegations Monday night who feel more civilian members should sit on the board of police commissioners.

It stems from Ward 4 Coun. Lori Bresciani and Ward 3 Coun. Andrew Stevens putting forward a notice of motion that asks city administration to prepare a report for executive committee next year, outlining the process of expanding the board of police commissioners’ membership by two civilians. The councillors are also recommending a comparison is done with other major western Canadian cities.

Mayor wants to speed up Regina’s lead pipe replacement plan

Mayor Michael Fougere is putting forward a notice of motion Monday to look into accelerating the city’s lead pipe replacement plan.

Currently, 95 per cent of city-owned water connections are lead-free, leaving about 3,600 lead connections that still need to be replaced.

Fougere wants to speed up the program to ensure that all lead service connections are replaced by 2025 — 10 years faster than the city’s current trajectory.

His actions come after a consortium of journalists across Canada and the United Sates published an investigation that found Regina was among several Canadian cities where lead above acceptable levels was found in tap water.

Dog parks

Council will also be discussing the funding behind building one municipal off-leash dog park at the former Regent Par 3 golf course and up to two unfenced off-leash areas in neighbourhoods next year.

A few delegations are set to speak against the unfenced sites.