Peggy Revell
Thanks to funding received in 2008, the new year holds infrastructure work for La Vallee, Reeve Emily Watson said.
“We’re going to have some major capital work going on in 2009,” noted Reeve Watson, stressing the funding boost was a real positive thing for the township since it hasn’t received a lot of capital money in the past.
“Part of our goal in 2009 is to start working on doing some of the infrastructure work, the replacement work that we need to do, because our infrastructure, like many other municipalities, is aging and we have to make sure that we can keep everything in working order,” she said.
One of these projects, she noted, includes replacing a bridge.
While there is an economic downturn right across the province, Reeve Watson noted Rainy River District has been lucky so far.
“I think in the Rainy River District, we are fairly lucky that our forest industry is still working,” she remarked. “Many of the other municipalities across Northwestern Ontario have really been adversely affected by the downturn in the economy, the slowdown in the forest industry, the loss of jobs in the forest industry.
“We’re fairly lucky in the Rainy River District that we are able to say that we still have two wood product organizations still running. So that’s a good thing.”
With the federal budget coming out later this month, Reeve Watson also encouraged people to participate in the pre-budget consultations Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty is holding across the riding this week.
“People should take that opportunity to attend the budget meetings . . . and if they have concerns or they have ideas, certainly then they should be put forward,” she stressed.
As well, the Rainy River District Municipal Association’s annual general meeting will be coming up Jan. 31 in Atikokan, added Reeve Watson, who currently is president of the RRDMA.
“So there may be issues that come up at that time,” she said.
“Certainly by that time we are going to have had the [federal] budget for a week, and there may be some discussion about things that come out in that budget.”
