MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY – Mountain View County has a number of infrastructure projects it would like to see funded with newly-announced provincial cash, says deputy reeve Angela Aalbers.
Provincial officials said last week that the province would be providing municipalities with $500 million for shovel-ready projects. Which municipalities will receive funding and in what amounts has not been released.
The county has provided the province with a list of shovel-ready projects, including Bergen Road paving project at an estimated cost of $12 million, Acme Road paving project (Rge. Rd. 30 to Rge. Rd. 13) at an estimated cost of $17.8 million, Rge. Rd. 40 (Highway 27 to Highway 582) paving project at an estimated cost of $9 million, and Coal Camp paving project (Highway 583 to Clearwater County) at estimated cost of $9.32 million.
The list also includes the intermunicipal fire services building project in Carstairs at an estimated cost of $4 million.
“We are very excited to hear about the additional round of funding,” said Aalbers. “We have submitted all our shovel-ready projects so we are hoping this time we will be successful in getting some of that funding.
“Every project that we listed is an important one for Mountain View County because we never know whether we are going to have to match some of those dollars.
“We want to ensure that every project we submit is going to be something of taxpayer value in case we have to put in additional funds as well.”
The county did not receive provincial infrastructure money announced earlier in support of municipalities during the pandemic, she noted.
Al Kemmere is a Mountain View County councillor and president of the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) independent association.
“As COVID-19 has created many economic challenges in our society, this announcement (of new funding) is a great demonstration of partnership between all levels of government and will go a long way to help stimulate the Alberta economy,” said Kemmere.
“This will also create an opportunity to address the infrastructure needs and increased operating costs in our municipalities, as well as provide much-needed jobs for our residents.”
The province said it would be matching $233 million in federal funding to support municipal operating costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An email to Alberta Municipal Affairs seeking a breakdown of the funding distribution was not immediately responded to.
