MOOSE JAW — City hall wants to upgrade the South Hill water pumphouse and reservoir to increase capacity and enhance efficiency and hopes a federal grant can support the $10-million project.
During its March 24 regular meeting, city council voted unanimously to support the municipality’s project grant application to the federal Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada program’s Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF).
This is the third initiative that council has submitted to CHIF, with the first being the $66.41 million Crescent View Headworks venue replacement project and the second being the $31.7 million infrastructure (cast iron) renewal program.
The current pumphouse system dates to 1977 and has aging pumps and electrical equipment that are nearly finished, a council report said.
Rehabilitating the structure — total cost is expected to be $9,808,568 — would increase reservoir capacity to 11,350 cubic metres from 9,100 cubic metres, make it more operationally efficient and add improved control systems and a backup generator, the document continued.
Furthermore, the project should enhance the water distribution system, improve fire protection, increase reliability, support future population growth and new housing developments of up to 60,000 residents, attract developers, promote sustainable development, lead to long-term cost savings and create more jobs, the report said.
CHIF covers 40 per cent of projects’ funding needs, which means if city hall’s application were successful, the fund could provide $3,923,427, while city hall would cover the remaining $5,885,141.
The report noted that the city would fund the project through the operations budget and the water reservoirs budget. Contingency funds would also be included to cover unforeseen expenses.
The deadline to submit the federal application is Monday, March 31.
When asked when Moose Jaw might learn whether its application is successful, city administration said the federal election call has “thrown some of these things into a mix” since Ottawa cannot announce anything during this period. Therefore, city hall is in “wait-and-see mode” until after election day on Monday, April 28.
The application deadline was set months in advance of the election call, so the federal government’s departments will still take grant applications, administration continued. The intake process may remain the same if the Liberals return to power, while it could change if another party forms government.
Coun. Patrick Boyle, a regular critic of the federal Liberal government’s intrusions into municipal jurisdiction, expressed concern with submitting multiple applications since Ottawa — or at least, its bureaucrats — may decide to fund Moose Jaw’s cast iron application instead of the more important Crescent View initiative.
He then asked administration how it would prioritize funding the three CHIF-submitted projects.
City manager Maryse Carmichael replied that administration will direct all funding toward the Crescent View headworks project, while she would discuss the situation with city hall’s grant writer, Tanya Reimer, who has a good relationship with her federal and provincial counterparts.
Carmichael noted that she would ask Reimer whether submitting several applications would change the municipality’s odds with acquiring federal funding.
“It would be good to know if that strengthens or weakens our applications, because if I had to put forward one, it would be Crescent View … ,” said Boyle.
Bevan Harlton, director of operations, chimed in and said all three infrastructure projects — Crescent View, South Hill water pumphouse and reservoir, and cast iron — are tender- and shovel-ready. However, he was unsure whether that fact would increase the city’s chances of acquiring money.
Harlton added that Moose Jaw, because of its size, has no assurance of receiving future grant money for projects, while city hall does not make any budget projects contingent upon federal or provincial funding.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, April 7.
