A new $10.6 billion federal provincial infrastructure program could help fund Greater Sudbury's major infrastructure projects, said Greg Clausen, general manager of infrastructure services.
The program was announced Thursday in London.
For example, the Levack Water Supply Project is a high priority to be funded by the program since the city has a deadline imposed by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) to have an alternative water supply in place for the community of Levack by Dec. 31, 2009.
“The program was just announced and we still need to know the details involved. But if the criteria for funding projects is similar to the COMRIF funding program, then the Levack Water Supply Project would be an excellent candidate to be approved,” said Clausen.
“It may or may not be approved based on the merit of the proposal, on who else is applying and where the biggest priority for the funders may be,” he said.
In November 2003, Inco (now Vale Inco) gave the city notice that they no longer were willing to provide potable water for the community of Levack, said a report to council in April, 2008.
That is because an engineering report identified that the water from the Levack wells located along the Onaping River in Levack is under the direct influence of surface water.
That was unacceptable to the province considering that it has toughed water quality regulations since the Walkerton tragedy.
Consequently Inco was directed by MOE to upgrade the existing water supply and provide chemically treated filtration to abide by provincial regulations, said the report.
The company wrote the city that it was its intent to terminate the agreement with the city to supply water to the community, as of January 1, 2005. MOE gave the city until December 2008 to develop its own potable water supply for Levack.
City staff immediately began the process to find an alternative supply, said Clausen.
Until early 2007, it was expected the plant would serve Levack only. But discussions with Xstrata led to the proposal that utilized the ground water source from the Xstrata Wickwas Well Complex extending the existing water distribution system from Onaping to Levack.
The water would now serve Levack, Onaping and Xstrata operations with Xstrata giving up ownership and becoming a water client for the city.
The project cost is estimated at $18,500,000 including the $2,175,000 purchase of the Xstrata system.
Normally in a project like this the federal government, province and city split the cost three ways, said Clausen.
But Vale Inco officials have agreed to approach their top managers in Brazil for a $4 million contribution. If that application is given the go-ahead then the cost to the city's wastewater reserve fund would be $2.5 million, said Clausen.
Another major project that could be funded in the second round of applications is the proposed biosolids plant, just announced at a public meeting in Copper Cliff Tuesday.
The estimated cost for this project is $30 to $38 million, depending on what option the city chooses for the facility. Vale Inco notified the city recently that it would no longer allow the city to dump treated sewage sludge into its tailing pond in Lively after 2010.
Every city department will have their own pet projects that are brought forward, said Clausen, but it could be that the funding program may fund the entire project, he noted.
