The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
On the 27th of this past month, the Government of Canada brought down its long awaited and eagerly anticipated 2009 budget. In it there was $12 billion earmarked for Canadian infrastructure projects. Under the Building Canada Fund (BCF), priority projects will be funded within a framework that includes drinking water, wastewater, public transit, and green energy. Although some of the program requirements are still a little sketchy, in an interview late last week, Mayor Garry Zamzow stated that he and his council were very anxious to become involved with the Fund. "We had a couple of other councillors sit with the CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) and I this afternoon, going through the criteria for that fund, and how we can access it," said Zamzow in an interview at the Town Office last Friday. "Our primary focus is on the wastewater treatment plant and we are feeling quite confident in that we have our plans for that facility already in progress. The feasibility study is done, the environmental impact review is underway, and an engineering firm has been hired." Concurring with Zamzow on the readiness of that project, CAO Jeff Precourt stated, "It couldn't be better timing, if we are selected." "To be honest, with the background work that we have done leading up to now, funding couldn't come at a better time," he said. "We are probably in a better position than a lot of other municipalities are. And a lot of that has to do with the timeline for the application deadline being so short." The deadline for the program is actually February 23 and it appears the fact that the town has done a lot of the legwork on its proposed new plant does put them in a good position to take full advantage of the BCF. In launching one of the largest building projects in Canadian history, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the spending would target 'shovel-ready' projects that can start this upcoming construction season. The mayor states that cost-sharing of the initiative is split three ways between the federal, provincial, and municipal branches of government. The program fixes Manitoba's portion of the funding at $120 million total, with approximately $41 million being funded by each of the three levels. Both Zamzow and Precourt confirmed that a new wastewater plant for Snow Lake have a total cost of roughly $6 million, of which the town's portion would be $2 million. "Having said that, the challenge for the town will be accessing our third of the project costs," said Zamzow. "Here again, the recent budget has allotted a billion dollars for municipalities to borrow fund towards their projects. But there are still some definitions that we are uncertain about. "As many people know, we are able to debenture up to certain limits under the Municipal Act, so we don't know about funding." Both men stated that there were still a few items they were uncertain about. See 'Several' on pg. Continued from pg. "We talked a little bit about the federal budget today," said Precourt. "We felt that there were several exciting points in it, but they are also very vague. And because it has just been announced, the official 'strings attached' information hasn't filtered down to us yet." One other thing the council has been pondering in relation to the BCF is whether they can apply for other projects simultaneously. "We seem to think that we can," said the mayor. "And Jeff will be doing some follow-up on that. There are 17 components of the BCF and if we can access a portion of the funding to take on a second project then we would take a look at that." The CAO qualifies the town's application by stating, "We may get into the same issues that are common with this type of funding, there will be more projects than there is available funding, so in the end it will come down to the strength of our application." However, the mayor showed the optimism he is famous for, in both his CAO and the process. "Jeff is very familiar with this process and we are anticipating that we will have a draft application on council's table on February 3rd," he said. "From that, council will go through the intricacies, and that should see us positioned well for the February 23rd deadline." My Take on Snow Lake runs Fridays.
