Ah_funding

Jeff Green | Apr 03, 2008

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Reeve Henry Hogg didn’t know which money was coming from which source late last week, but when it was all said and done, his municipality will be able to deal with some major bridge repairs that they would have had trouble paying for otherwise.

“I received a call last Thursday from Minister Gerretson’s office telling me to come to Kingston for an announcement on Friday,” he recalls, “and I assumed it was about the MIII [Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative] grant of $833,000 we had applied for to pay for the Flinton bridge.

“Then I got a call from Leona Dombrowsky on Friday morning congratulating me on the MIII funding and I told her I had already heard and was going to Kingston for the official announcement. She said she didn’t know anything about that. When I got to Kingston and found out we were getting $493,000 I was kind of disappointed at first.”

But not for long.

It turns out that Addington Highlands had received two grants: the MIII grant for $833,000 and a $493,000 infrastructure grant that represents its share of $400 million in roads and bridges money, which is to be shared by all municipalities in the province except the City of Toronto. The County of Lennox and Addington also received close to $2 million for roads and bridges, some of which are located in Addington Highlands.

“We’ll likely put the $493,000 towards bridges that need work, at least that’s our initial thinking, although no decision has been made thus far” said Hogg.

None of the Frontenac County municipalities received MIII funding, but they did quite well out of the provincial budget because the money was allocated according to a formula based on “their share of Ontario’s road network in relation to population” according to a government news release.

North Frontenac Township will receive $1,362,831, Central Frontenac $1,596,263, and South Frontenac $2,478,832. Frontenac County as a whole did not receive any money because it does not own any roads or bridges.

Details about the terms and conditions surrounding this funding have been sketchy, but a spokesperson for Kingston MPP John Gerreston’s office told the News that the money will not be tied to any other provincial agenda other than improvements to roads and bridges.