OLDS — Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver has turned down a request by the Town of Olds for a grant to help fund water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades.
The request was outlined in a letter mayor Judy Dahl sent on behalf of the municipality for a Local Growth and Sustainability Grant (LGSG).
McIver's reply was included in the Town of Olds' March 10 council meeting agenda package.
He said LGSG funds go to municipalities that are suffering from an “active or emergent infrastructure breakdown, posing a substantial health and safety risk to residents which exceeds the financial capacity of the local government to address.”
McIver also said the grant criteria require that the cost of the proposed project must be “beyond the means of a local government.”
McIver suggested that’s not the case in Olds.
He noted that according to Municipal Affairs data, Olds has $3,097,404 in “uncommitted” 2024-2026 Local Government Fiscal Framework capital funds.
McIver admitted that part of those funds may already be earmarked for water, wastewater and other upgrades, but at the time his letter was written, he said applications for those funds had not yet been submitted to “the department committing the funding.”
McIver further suggested that the Town of Olds should apply for other grants to obtain the money it needs for its proposed water and wastewater improvements.
“I encourage the Town (of Olds) to leverage existing provincial and federal grant programs to address the most pressing infrastructure priorities in the town,” he wrote.
He noted that representatives of his department met with the municipality's chief administrative officer Brent Williams to discuss LGSG project criteria.
Copies of McIver’s letter were sent to Williams, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper and several other provincial ministers, including Innisfail-Sylvan Lake MLA and Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen.
When the letter came up for discussion, no council members commented.
A motion to receive it for information was passed.
