$233,000 tagged for Brock, while $44.9 million goes to other areas
Jun 09, 2009 - 11:36 AM
Scott Howard
Brock Township will receive more than $233,000 in funding for the reconstruction of a culvert on Thorah Sideroad, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to other municipalities in the area.
The money will flow through the provincial and federal government's Building Canada infrastructure stimulus fund and was announced in a press release over the weekend by Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Barry Devolin.
The announcement on Brock's funding was one in a series of four sent out by Mr. Devolin's office. The others centred on Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton and Peterborough County -- all of which will receive significantly more money than Brock.
Two projects in Kawartha Lakes were approved for $5.8 million, while eight projects in Haliburton were funded to the tune of $3.9 million. But the biggest announcement of all came for Peterborough County, which will receive $35.2 million for nine projects.
"It's disappointing, absolutely," said Mayor Larry O'Connor.
"But I guess that every little bit helps."
The application was one of four the Township submitted in late April under the Building Canada fund. The projects that weren't approved include two other culverts -- on Concessions 2 and 11 -- and the reconstruction of Sideroad 18A.
The culverts are expected to cost around $350,000 each, with the improvements to Sideroad 18A expected to cost between $900,000 and $1 million.
Under the terms of the Building Canada fund, each level of government will contribute one-third of the cost of each project.
Mayor O'Connor said he's expressed his disappointment to Mr. Devolin and plans on meeting with MPP Rick Johnson in the coming days.
"Obviously, it's not fair," Mayor O'Connor said.
Council selected Sideroad 18A and the culverts as the focus of the application only after they could not come to an agreement on a new site for the Cannington Library.
With members split over the town hall or the Community Health Centre as the future location, neither could be included in the funding application.
At the time, regional councillor John Grant said the Township was likely leaving some money on the table.
"We're missing out on a million dollars or more," he said.
In an interview Monday, Coun. Grant noted that the culvert that was approved was the cheapest of the four projects submitted by the Township.
"It's almost like they had to throw us a bone or something," he said.
Recommend :