(File photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Melfort Infrastructure Grants

Melfort applies for two federal infrastructure grants for water main replacement and landfill

Mar 10, 2020 | 10:35 AM

The City of Melfort had both a Plan A and Plan B when they applied for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

Council officially approved the city’s two applications during their meeting on Monday, March 9; one being a $19 million grant for the city’s water main replacement and the other being $2.3 million to build a new section at the Melfort Landfill. The grants would be split three ways between the municipal, provincial, and federal governments if approved.

Melfort Mayor Rick Lang said the city’s preferred choice would be approval for the $19 million grant to replace 12.7 kilometres of water lines.

“Every year [the project] doesn’t get approved, it seems to grow as far as the size,” Lang said. “Right now, our water loss is such that based on the current contract we have with SaskWater – a five-year contract – the dollar amount of water isn’t as significant as it will be.”

Once the contract with SaskWater runs out, Lang said the city could face between $300,000 and $400,000 in water loss per year.

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The city had 54 water main breaks and over 20 per cent of its water unbilled in 2018 alone. From 2000 to 2018, the value of water lost in Melfort was $3,512,964.40.

“The water loss situation that we have is something that we need to start addressing seriously within the next five years,” Lang said. “The ultimate solution is acceptance of that application. If that doesn’t happen, then we’re still going to have… to nickel and dime it.”

The term “nickel and dime” was used loosely by Lang, who said the city would have to pay $300,000 to $400,000 every year for water line replacement “beyond the foreseeable future.”

Compared to water main replacement, the landfill application’s timeline isn’t as urgent.

“We actually have had some studies going on with the landfill and some requirements we’ve had to meet,” Lang said. “The ultimate goal is to decommission the existing landfill and create a new landfill at a different site within the same grounds. As long as we’re moving forward and it’s ongoing, we have some time.”

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow