More money for more Mounties and environmental projects is high on the list for Port Coquitlam's proposed budget this year.
On Monday, the city's budget and infrastructure committee voted on a number of one-time enhancements and ongoing costs to be included in the draft 2016 financial plan.
That document is expected to go out for public comment within the next three weeks, before city council makes any firm decisions prior to the May deadline for budget completion.
Among the items up for consideration are:
• A total of $1.1 million for seven new Mounties — to be hired over the next two years — for a new Uniformed Crime Reduction Unit (UCRU);
• $30,000 for parklets to draw more pedestrians to the downtown core;
• $15,000 for a joint bus rapid transit study with TransLink, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows;
• $150,000 for a new sustainability manager;
• $80,000 for a Renewable City program;
• and $25,000 to update the city's environmental strategic plan.
Regarding the latter three items, on which the committee deferred voting until it receives more staff input, Mayor Greg Moore said the requests are a result of his time spent last month at the Paris climate change talks (Moore attended the UN conference in his role as Metro Vancouver board chair).
"Paris definitely showed the leadership role that cities have to play," he told The Tri-City News on Tuesday.
As for adding Mounties, Moore said the request has more to do with the new management at the detachment, which PoCo shares with Coquitlam.
At Monday's committee meeting, Coun. Darrell Penner commented on the new direction at Coquitlam RCMP, saying the city had been on a hiring hiatus because of the "lack of confidence" council had with former top brass.
Coquitlam RCMP Supt. Sean Maloney was unavailable for comment Tuesday but spokesperson Const. Jamie Phillipson stated in an email: "UCRU is already up and running in Coquitlam so the Coquitlam RCMP would like to see both cities benefit from having a highly visible group of police officers on the streets and interacting with the general public."
Moore also said UCRU would still be able to operate with four PoCo officers this year by staggering shifts over five days rather than seven; the unit will be at full strength by mid-2017.
If council approves the phased-in RCMP hiring, it would mean a tax hit of $304,000 for this year, a $538,000 hike for 2017 and a $239,000 increase for 2018.
Meanwhile, the committee will continue its budget deliberations Wednesday night, focusing on capital projects and cost reductions.
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