St. Albert city council has approved taking $300,000 out of the city's savings account to "pursue opportunities" around infrastructure investment.
On Monday, council went in camera to discuss a confidential corporate business plan matter. The discussion didn't happen in public because conversations could affect the city's competitive position in pursuing this opportunity and/or interfere with contractual or other negotiations, according to the agenda report.
When council came back out in public, Coun. Wes Brodhead made the motion to take $300,000 from the city's stabilization reserve to go after an infrastructure investment opportunity. Funds from this reserve are used for stabilizing budgetary impacts resulting from one-time or unanticipated events.
"During our strategic planning session, we were presented with an opportunity that we are intending to pursue for the betterment of the community," Brodhead said in his opening statement.
The motion passed unanimously. Before the transfer, there was $8.2 million left in the stabilization reserve after council voted last month to bolster the reserve using a portion of the city's $10.3-million surplus.
Mayor Cathy Heron declined to provide more information on the motion as the matter was discussed in-camera, but said more details could be made available in the coming months.
