City council briefs: More road work approved and $100,000 for job creation

Second Line widening continues, aqueduct gets a rebuild

City council approved a staff recommendation to apply for government funding for two major local infrastructure projects at its meeting Monday.

One involves the third phase of the widening of Second Line, east of Pine Street to Black Road, the other for reconstruction of the Fort Creek Aqueduct.

The city is required by the province to initially submit these applications as Expressions of Interest (EOI) by September 19.

If these are approved by the province, Sault Ste. Marie would be on a shortlist of Ontario municipalities allowed to submit a full application in December.

Successful funding applications will be announced in 2015.

The city will be applying for funding for the Second Line project through the province's recently announced $100 million Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF).

50 percent of funding from that program is based on a government formula with no application required, whereas the other 50 percent of funding available to municipalities is based on the application process.

If the Second Line project is ultimately approved by the province, the city would receive half the funding, or $2 million, required for the $4 million widening.

The city will be applying for funding for the Fort Creek Aqueduct reconstruction through the recently announced joint federal-provincial Build Canada Fund-Small Communities Fund (BCF-SCF).

Full reconstruction of the aqueduct, including the area from Queen Street West to John Street and along Wellington Street to Carmen's Way, is a $31 million project.

If successful in its application, the city would receive two-thirds of the funding for this project from the province and the federal government, the city's share being $10.3 million.

$10 million has been set aside by the city for aqueducts and bridges in its five year capital plan, at $2 million a year, for 2015-2019.

Council approved a $100,000 funding request from the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for a new program called Invest Sault Ste. Marie (I-SSM), as part of the ongoing effort to help Sault businesses in their growth and development efforts outside the city, as well as promote the Sault as an ideal place for businesses to set up shop.

The money, to be spent over three years, will come from the city’s Economic Development Fund (EDF), and is conditional upon matching funding of $100,000 each from both the provincial and federal governments.

A report to council from the EDC states it wants to encourage development in a set of “priority sectors,” such as manufacturing (value added steel and forestry products, in particular), alternative energy, health sciences and services, and information and communications technology (ICT).

As part of Invest Sault Ste. Marie, the EDC would make itself visible at trade shows, industrial events and through investment missions.

The EDC plans to sell the Sault as a place for businesses to access affordable, serviced land, and as a place where companies may access the U.S. for business purposes through the International Bridge by truck or rail (with less congestion than border crossings in Windsor, Sarnia and Fort Erie).