Town to spend on roads, building
Sep 24, 2008 - 10:30 AM
By Keith Gilligan
AJAX -- About $5.14 million in provincial funding is going to be used to resurface roads and defray costs on a new operations centre.
The money is coming from a pair of provincial initiatives. Just more than $4 million is coming from the Investing In Ontario Act, in which the government is using $1.1 billion on infrastructure. The Town's portion is based on the 2006 census.
The rest is coming from the ministry of transportation and has to be used on road and bridge needs.
Of the $4 million, almost $2.3 million will be used on the new operations centre, while $1.7 million will go to reconstruct Ravenscroft Road from Rossland Road to Williamson Drive.
"The road (Ravenscroft) needs to be repaired sooner than later," Paul Allore, the director of planning and development services, said during a meeting of council's general government committee (GGC) on Thursday.
A report from finance director Rob Ford stated Ravenscroft isn't scheduled to be reconstructed until 2011.
The actual road work will be done next year.
Using $2.3 million on the operations centre would save more than $1 million in interest charges and reduce the annual debt payment by $221,600, Mr. Ford said in his report.
The new operations centre will be built immediately south of the fire hall at the corner of Salem and Rossland roads. Like the fire hall, the operations centre will be Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified.
On Monday, council approved spending $1.78 million to retain Gay Company to do site preparation work for the operations centre. This work includes installing sewers and watermains, excavation work and putting in retaining walls.
The tender for the 55,000-square-foot building is expected to be awarded early next year, with construction to start soon after.
The transportation ministry money will be used to reconstruct Grayson Road, put the final layer of asphalt on Ringer Road, repave the entire length of Gardiner Drive, the portion of Adams Drive from Gardiner to Ritchie Avenue, and preliminary design work to reconstruct Fairall Street and Birch Crescent.
During the GGC meeting, Mayor Steve Parish said Fairall is in "bad shape."
It's also a "major commuter road. When do you anticipate doing Fairall?" he asked.
"There are issues with storm sewers underneath," said Dave Meredith, the director of operations and environmental services, so it won't be until 2009 before the work can be detailed.
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