Timmins has been shafted in its attempts to secure government funds for the next phase of the Connecting Link.
On Mar. 29, the city received a letter from Eric Doidge, regional director of the Ministry of Transportation Ontario, who informed them that they will not be receiving any Connecting Link funding in 2017.
At Monday's city council meeting, Mayor Steve Black said that both he and city CAO Dave Landers called the regional office to discuss.
"They basically told us, as the letter says, that they received 57 submissions, and that there's not enough funds despite the increases in the funding over the last couple years. What they are attempting to do is clear the slate of all the smaller project applications that are outstanding, to try to wipe them off the slate," said Black.
He added that he inquired about the 'scoring system' for determining who gets funding.
"The response was that they believe they're all in rough shape, and they appreciate the shape that our Connecting Link is in. They're hoping that by clearing the slate of the smaller projects, and wiping them off the books this year, that it will allow them to re-visit the Timmins project in future years, and be able to set up some sort of sustainable funding to work with us on that," he said.
Black said he was disappointed because the province knows that the Connecting Link project through Timmins is a $120 million, ten year endeavour.
Last year, the city received $3 million from the province for 'Phase 1', which was the maximum amount possible, and the highest given to any municipality in Ontario.
"To have them not continue that funding, knowing that its a $120 million dollar project, is disappointing to say the least," said Black.
He said he told various government officials that the province needs a one-time enhancement for the fund, as it was nonexistent for four years, which obviously created a huge backlog in projects needing attention.
Director of Public Works and Engineering Luc Duval said that council will now have to decide what to do.
"Certainly it was shovel-ready, but not getting the $3 million leaves us with that shortfall," he said.
Duval told council he will be preparing a report outlining some options for next steps before he formally leaves his city position on April 10.
Councillor Walter Wawrzaszek asked exactly how much money the city was prepared to commit to 'phase 2' but Duval said he didn't want to say the number publicly, hoping to get more competitive bids for the project. Wawrzaszek said maybe the city should just scrap 2017 Connecting Link work altogether.
"Maybe that money that we were going to spend on the Connecting Link, we can start doing up some of these roads off the side, and we can start getting rid of some of these bumps, and stuff like that," he said.
Councillor Rick Dubeau said that asphalt is being ripped up by motorists on certain sections of the Connecting Link as it stands. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday Councillor Rick Dubeau said Wawrzaszek had a good point. He said that while he was driving towards downtown on highway near Schumacher on Monday, he began to hear strange noises.
"All of a sudden, I heard some sounds. I wondered what the heck it was. I thought it was hail. As I'm driving, I'm pulling up asphalt. That shouldn't happen," said Dubeau.
Duval said that Dubeau's comments were 'totally true.'
"There's some really, really dangerous sections." he said, and added that the city is 'going to have to do something about it this summer.'
He added that there is $1.3 million worth of 'shave and pave' that is almost critical along the Connecting Link.
Councillor Joe Campbell did not seem overly surprised by the news.
"There's no guarantee going forward, that we're going to get annual funding for this Connecting Link. I think its going to be 'hit or miss' depending on who we're up against, and who's sitting in power," he said.
"This here, should be a wake up for council collectively, to look at what our priorities are going forward," said Campbell.
In his rejection letter, Doidge said that the Connecting Links funding program will increase to $30 million in 2018, and encouraged the city to apply again next year.
