City hall hopes application for $24M in federal funding successful

City administration is crossing its fingers and hoping its application for nearly $24 million in federal funding is successful, or it may have to borrow money to complete some major projects.

The governments of Canada and Saskatchewan signed a bilateral agreement in October 2018 for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). This program will provide more than $896 million in federal funding for provincial infrastructure programs until 2028. City administration submitted an application a year ago for the waterworks reservoir/pumphouse and outdoor pool projects during the first intake of the federal government’s ICIP program. That application was rejected. Administration and council now hope the second time is the charm.

During its Feb. 10 regular meeting, council voted unanimously to submit the reservoir and pumphouse project under the green infrastructure stream of ICIP, while it voted 6-1 to submit the outdoor pool project under the community, culture and recreation infrastructure stream of ICIP; Coun. Brian Swanson was opposed. Council also voted unanimously to submit four projects under the public transit infrastructure funding stream, including the cast iron water main replacement program, the fluoridation equipment and building program, a solar initiative and the purchase of three transit buses. Swanson attempted to have the latter three transit projects eliminated so the focus could remain on the cast iron program, but his amendment was defeated 5-2, with him and Coun. Dawn Luhning in favour.

It will cost $16 million to upgrade the reservoir and pumphouse, so administration is seeking $6.4 million in federal ICIP funding. If the application fails, city administration indicated council might have to borrow $11.7 million to make up for the shortfall.

The Phyllis Dewar Pool is in its 54th year and is falling apart, a council report said. Mechanical components have reached the end of their lifecycle, while the parks and recreation department faces the problem of a potential outdoor pool failure each year. The project to replace the pool is $3.95 million, with $1.58 million requested from ICIP.

If the funding application fails, this project would not move forward. Even if the application succeeds, a source of funding for the municipality’s share would still need to be identified, the report said. This could range from borrowing, self-funding or use of reserves.

The four projects under the transit banner are expected to cost more than $15.2 million. The cast iron program is seeking $9 million in grant funding ($3.6 million from ICIP); the fluoridation equipment and building requires $1.2 million ($480,000 from ICIP); the solar project needs more than $1.2 million in funding ($490,050 from ICIP); and the purchase of three transit buses requires $1.58 million in funding ($632,000 from ICIP). The rest of the funding for all projects is expected to come from provincial and municipal sources. While the funding being applied for amounts to $24.16 million, the overall capital works that would be constructed if grant applications are successful is $32.9 million. Council discussed this issue in great detail. That conversation will be reported in a forthcoming article.