Hope has been renewed for Eastern Charlotte’s proposed child-care centre.
At a special council meeting June 29, CAO Jason Gaudet announced the municipality has secured additional provincial funding.
In March, council decided to pause awarding the construction tender for the proposed St. George YMCA daycare after the province capped its funding at $500,000.
The earliest conception of the daycare dates to before the 2023 amalgamation, when, according to Gaudet, the provincial government approached the community about childcare needs highlighted in the 2023–26 Early Learning and Childcare Action Plan.
Gaudet said that after talks with the Regional Development Corporation — the provincial Crown corporation responsible for supporting communities and driving economic growth across government departments — the province decided to “change the message and went back to the drawing board.”
The province is now providing Eastern Charlotte with $920,000.
According to Gaudet, the project is estimated to cost about $2.9 million. In addition to the provincial support, the federal government is contributing $918,000.
That leaves Eastern Charlotte and its partner, the YMCA of Southwestern New Brunswick, responsible for covering the remaining $1.11 million.
To cover the remaining balance, Gaudet said municipal staff foresee the need to transfer $400,000 from capital reserves and seek short- and long-term borrowing, which would require an application to the Municipal Capital Borrowing Board.
“Why we are doing that is just that with a project of this size, we have to have some sort of operational fund to pay off the bills because we don’t get the provincial or federal money upfront,” Gaudet said.
RELATED: Eastern Charlotte puts daycare project on hold over funding shortfall
The YMCA is responsible for contributing $200,000, he added, as the funds are needed to purchase furnishings for the facility.
However, about $500,000 will still need to be raised.
Gaudet said the amount could be raised through donations or fundraising efforts. If those efforts are successful, council might not have to decide whether to apply for a line of credit, though Gaudet believes the credit could protect the project if federal and provincial funding is not received in advance and there is a fundraising shortfall by September.
However, to obtain both the provincial and federal funding, the municipality was given a July 1 deadline to determine whether it wanted to continue the project.
Gaudet said that if the municipality did not commit to the project, the combined $1.8 million in federal and provincial funding would be allocated elsewhere.
In addition, since 2023, the YMCA has been holding allocated child-care spaces and is on its second extension.
YMCA CEO Adrienne Boudreau said at the meeting that those spaces would be surrendered if a decision was not made by the end of June.
If built, the daycare is expected to have 82 spaces, including 52 child-care spaces for children ages one to five and 30 after-school spaces for children ages five to 12.
Boudreau said fees for infants will be $21 a day, while fees for children ages two, three and four will be $18 a day.
She said those rates represent a “significant drop” from the YMCA’s regular fees, which range from $41 to $47 a day.
Council moves forward with use of capital reserves and credit application, but pauses awarding construction tender
Following Gaudet’s briefing, council unanimously approved the transfer of $400,000 from the municipality’s capital reserves.
Council also unanimously approved submitting an application to the Municipal Capital Borrowing Board for short- and long-term borrowing.
Mayor John Craig said approving the application will show the province that the municipality is committed to completing the project.
“By us moving this forward, not only tells the province of New Brunswick that we are serious but also tells possible donors out there that this is serious too,” he said.
However, council decided to table a motion to award the tender to construction company Avant Garde, which submitted the lowest bid.
Deputy Mayor Adam Hatt introduced the motion to delay a decision until the next council meeting July 15, saying it would not be responsible to award the tender before the municipality officially secures the funding and councillors have an opportunity to review initial renderings of the building.
“I think the next couple of weeks to our next meeting would give us a lot of time to be able to open that up, especially so the public can see something visual and also get everyone caught back up,” he added.
Some councillors raised concerns that delaying the tender award could risk losing the lowest bid if Avant Garde decides to take on another project.
However, Gaudet said that, based on conversations with the company, it remains available and willing to take on the project.
No estimated construction start date was mentioned during the meeting.
Gaudet said the municipality’s immediate priority will be preparing the area where the skate park will be relocated, as the child-care facility is proposed for its current location on Jo Spinney Drive.
