OSOYOOS TIMES-September 30, 2009
By Paul Everest-Osoyoos Times
A road upgrade project in Osoyoos will be receiving more than $393,000 in federal and provincial government dollars.
On Sept. 24, Premier Gordon Campbell and Prince George–Peace River MP Jay Hill announced that $477 million dollars will be contributed to 174 infrastructure projects around the province valued at $719 million.
The federal government will be handing out $244 million while the province’s share will be $233 million.
In Osoyoos, the money will be used for a $590,000 upgrade of 87th Street between Jubilee Drive and 92nd Avenue including resurfacing and the construction of new sidewalks and curbs.
Construction on the project will likely not begin before the spring.
Each level of government is contributing one-third of the cost of the project, with the Town and province each chipping in $196,667 while the federal government contributes $196,666.
The money comes from the federal Infrastructure Stimulus Fund (ISF) which was introduced earlier this year as part of the federal government’s Economic Action Plan and is meant to provide communities with matched federal-provincial dollars for infrastructure projects that can be completed by March 31, 2011.
Upgrades to sections of highways 3 and 97 outside the Osoyoos area using ISF funding were also announced.
Under the federal Building Canada Communities Component fund (BCCC), the Okanagan Basin Water Board will receive $77,000 from the province and $77,000 from the federal government, or two-thirds of the cost for its $231,000 Streamlined Water Use Pilot.
According to a media release from the board, “this project will develop a streamlined web-based system for water suppliers and other large water users to record how much water they use each month, evaluate changes from year to year, and look at how their water use compares to other areas.”
The board will make up the last third of the cost of the project.
And the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen will receive more than $6.2 million split by the province and federal government for the Okanagan Falls Sewage Treatment Plant.
That project is worth more than $9.3 million.
The BCCC allocates money to infrastructure projects in communities with populations of fewer than 100,000.
According to a B.C. government media release, “an important step was taken this year to ‘top up’ this fund and provide additional funding to communities of this size.”
“In total, 84 projects are being funded today under the Communities Component of the Building Canada Fund valued at $376 million,” the release reads. “This represents an investment of $117 million from the Government of Canada, and $117 million from the Government of British Columbia. Local municipalities are providing the balance of the remaining costs.”
The release also said further announcements about federal and provincial infrastructure funding for other projects in B.C. will be made in the “near future.”
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