Duane Hicks
While the town will go ahead with a road reconstruction project on Second Street East and Mowat Avenue this summer, it may have to foot more of the bill than it had planned.
The town had been hoping to get funding from the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative capital program (MIII-CP) to pay for one-third the cost of the $1.28-million project, with the balance covered through sewer reserves and user fees, water user fees, and federal gas tax revenues.
But Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown informed council Monday night that Fort Frances was not among the municipalities chosen by the province to receive a share of the $90 million in MIII funding.
Brown said 128 municipalities submitted applications and 89 received funding.
He was told by the province that the town’s application wasn’t flawed, it’s just that other applications were higher priority cases.
“I see that Greenstone received $1.6 million to replace some very old cast iron watermains,” Brown noted.
I’m not sure where all the money in the north was,” he added.
Brown said he’s not sure what the province feels must be more urgent infrastructure projects elsewhere, pointing out the sewer line the town asked to be replaced dates back to 1920 while the watermain was installed in 1913.
“I want to see how many other Northern Ontario municipalities get it [funding], and I want to know the age of the infrastructure they’re replacing,” he remarked.
“Because I have applied for a sewer maintenance that’s 93 years old and a water maintenance that’s 100 years old, and we can’t funding for that?” he wondered.
“Something’s wrong with the system.
“It bothers me because infrastructure funding for all municipalities in Ontario is crucial,” added Brown.
“This stuff is all falling apart and if we can’t get something for a 100-year-old watermain on a main street in town, on which basically we’re going to do a total rebuild . . . what are we up against?”
“I think it will possibly be very interesting, once the list comes out, as to whose riding got the money,” remarked Coun. Paul Ryan.
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig said that in the last 10 years, there have been regulatory hoops the province has had municipalities jump through to try and get them to do asset management plans.
The town has done everything it has been asked to do.
“In the future, I am going to be paying particular attention to see if people who haven’t done asset management plans are getting money because they are in the right place,” he vowed.
McCaig said he’s aware of municipalities that still don’t submit financial information or performance data properly to the province, and yet the town is undertaking a costly asset management plan right now.
“When we do get that in place, I hope we get the money because we’re supposed to; because they told everybody to do it,” he added.
“Because if they give it [funding] to somebody because they’re in the right riding, who hasn’t done that stuff . . . I am going to be concerned.”
Brown noted the town will have another opportunity to get funding for the project this fall.
The province recently announced a new $100-million program to help small, rural, and northern municipalities address roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure, and he will apply for it.
In the meantime, however, it looks the town will have to pay for two-thirds of this year’s reconstruction project instead of one-third.
The town awarded the roadway reconstruction contract to Makkinga Contracting back in February.
The work, which will start July 2, will include upgrades to 277 metres of roadway infrastructure on Second Street East (between Mowat Avenue and Central Avenue) and Mowat Avenue (between Second Street East and Third Street East).
It also will include replacement and upgrades to 158 metres of the storm sewer system, as well as the replacement of 293 metres of watermains and other pertinent water infrastructure and 285 metres of sanitary sewer lines and other pertinent sewer system infrastructure.
