Deadline nears for grants

Author: Frank Matys

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Orillia-area communities are scrambling to meet a rapidly approaching deadline for a pair of government programs that stand to unleash billions in infrastructure dollars.
City and township officials learned just last week that municipalities have until May 1 to submit project applications for the recently announced Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.
Applications for the second round of a separate federal/provincial infrastructure fund are due on the same day.
“It is a quick turnaround,” Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop said.
Dunlop warned that communities would be challenged to meet the deadline.
“My worry is some will be disqualified, because they won’t have accurate applications because they did them so quickly,” he said.
Confusion over Oro-Medonte’s previous application to the Building Canada Fund for a proposed expansion of the Lake Simcoe Regional Airport led to just such a scenario, Dunlop believes.
“Because Barrie is a funding partner (in the airport) and they have a population of over 100,000, it put them out,” he said, noting the program was intended for smaller communities.
Mayor Harry Hughes says the township will apply to the stimulus fund in a bid to secure $10 million for the airport’s planned upgrades.
The new program does not limit applications based on population, he noted.
“We won’t get caught in the population numbers that way,” he added.
Township staff was to recommend other projects for possible consideration on Wednesday evening.
“We have no shortage of things,” said Hughes, naming a deteriorating bridge/culvert as a potential candidate.
The township is not in a position to apply for recreation projects, he added
“Our recreation master plan has not been finalized yet,” he added. “We aren’t there yet to know where we would want to go.”
Both funding programs provide two-thirds of project costs, and require provincial and municipal contributions.
Orillia council on Monday picked four projects based on staff recommendations.
One will be submitted for consideration under the Building Canada Fund, and the remainder under the stimulus fund.
The projects are: a rehabilitation of Albany Avenue; upgrades to Colborne Street from Front to Dunedin street; more than $5 million in improvements to Orillia’s waterfront parks; and the implementation of a master plan for Tudhope Park.
Among the other projects considered but ultimately rejected by Orillia council was a proposal to replace 3,300 streetlights with energy-efficient lights at a cost of $2 million.
“It has a long-term benefit on power consumption and greening our hydro consumption,” argued Coun. Ralph Cipolla.
Dunlop is urging municipalities to go for the gold.
“All the federal money is deficit money, all the provincial money is deficit money, so you’ve got to get as much for your area as you can, because your kids are paying for it anyway,” he added.
The Infrastructure Stimulus Fund is open to projects that could not have been undertaken in 2010 without government assistance.
As a result, a twin pad arena already approved for west Orillia is ineligible, staff said.