Swift Current applying for New Building Canada Funds to assist with major projects
The City of Swift Current is making application to the New Building Canada Fund to assist with a pair of major infrastructure projects.
During the Swift Current City Council meeting on Monday, Council made the necessary motions in order to apply for New Building Canada Funds to assist with financing the 2nd Ave. Bridge Project along with the Integrated Facility. If approved, the City would receive two-thirds funding for the projects from the Federal/Provincial governments, with the remaining one-third cost to be covered by the City. The initial cost of the 2nd. Ave. Overpass is projected at $3.8 million, while the Integrated Facility would be a multi million project.
The New Building Canada Fund is providing over $480 million in funding over the next 10 years for infrastructure projects for projects of national, regional or local significance, with a focus on projects that support economic growth, stronger communities, and meeting the opportunities and challenges of growth.
The City of Swift Current has signed a near $200,000 contract with AECOM for a detailed design and construction management plan for improvements to the 2nd Ave. E. Overpass. A key portion of the bridge rehabilitation will be replacing expansion joints which are past their life expectancy.
Mitch Minken, General Manager of Infrastructure and Operations, noted this project was being prepared for the 2015 construction season pending budget approval.
“The preliminary design estimate has placed the cost at about $3.8 million for the rehabilitation work that’s planned for the bridge,” Minken said. “If we’re accepted then that makes it a lot easier moving forward on figuring out how to get it paid for.
If we’re not accepted for funding for this project then we’ll have to go back and reassess how that funding will be handled.”
“Our intention is that we are moving forward on a plan to do the construction in 2015. If we’re not accepted, that schedule may have to be revised.”
Swift Current’s Deputy Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tim Marcus highlighted that the city is also applying for funding to assist in financing construction of the Integrated Facility.
The City is excited about this potential funding source to assist with building a Field House that includes a Wellness Centre, Leisure Aquatic Centre, Library, Art Gallery and rental spaces for community groups.
“If the application was to be approved, and all the funding put in place, that we would undertake detailed design to move ahead with construction as soon as possible,” Marcus said.
The City had previously been exploring the option of building the Integrated Facility in phases, but the opportunity to have a major federal-provincial cash injection into the project would make it feasible with
“We’ve always been relying on having some federal and provincial funding for this project in order for it to move ahead. Without that, I agree that it is pretty much impossible for the City to take on the full capital cost of that facility on its own.”
Marcus also noted the planning process for the Integrated Facility is well advanced.
“Over the past I’ll say two years, we’ve been getting a design done that gets us to the point where we would be ready for applying under one of these programs.
“So the City has spent pretty close to $1 million in terms of getting us ready for that. And so we’ve done all the public consultations, the stakeholder meetings with various community groups, and getting a needs assessment done in terms of exactly what would go into the facility in a general layout so that we have an idea as to the total size.
“And we’re working on completing the cost estimate that would go with the grant application. But we’re pretty much to the stage where we’d be ready. The only next step is detailed design, which would be a significant cost, and one that I would say you wouldn’t undertake unless you had some funding in place.”