For years, the Village of Sundridge has attempted to get money for upgrades to its sewage lagoons.
SUNDRIDGE – Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement brought a surprise funding commitment to Sundridge on Feb. 20, but whether they can actually use it is not entirely certain.
“We were sort of blown away when he announced he had $370,000 for us,” said Mayor Elgin Schneider.
The funding is to cover one-third of the $1.1 million cost of upgrading the village sewer system, including the construction of a third lagoon. It comes from the federal government’s Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (MRIF).
“Maintaining a healthy and sustainable environment is directly related to the health and prosperity of communities and their residents, and is a priority for the Government of Canada,” Clement said in a press release.
A replacement for the Canada-Ontario Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund (COMRIF), MRIF attempts to resolve some of the issues municipalities identified in its predecessor. Schneider said that the government had revisited his council’s last unsuccessful COMRIF application.
At the present time, however, the Ontario government has not signed on for its third of the costs, leaving Sundridge – at least for now – on the hook for the remaining two-thirds if they wish to proceed.
“That’s a big dollar for us to come up with,” said Schneider.
Whether the work can proceed will depend on whether Sundridge can obtain the outstanding third of the cost. As of press time, council has not yet met to discuss the matter, and no course of action has been decided.
“We didn’t expect this was going to happen,” said Schneider, indicating that he will poll councillors on how they wish to proceed. “We’ll probably approach the province to see if they’ll put up their third.”
The province announced this week that it will commit another $150 million to its own $300 million Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative (MIII). Whether this could be a potential source for the additional $370,000 is unknown, but the provincial fund operates in a way fundamentally different from MRIF, providing 100 percent funding up front and involving a much quicker turnaround.
However, Sundridge did not submit the sewer project to that fund, as they were advised against it by the province.
“They want something that’s construction-ready,” explained Schneider.
The sewer project requires an environmental assessment that will not be ready for at least a few months. Council has instead opted to submit an application for street repairs, as they did last year when advised not to apply for the sewer. But they did not make the same mistake of asking for something small.
“It’s a fair chunk of roads,” said Schneider. “That shook out to over a million too.”
Sundridge will know by the end of March whether they will receive anything from MIII for roads.
Where they will find the additional money to proceed with the sewer project remains to be seen.
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