LAURIE WEIR

The Town of Smiths Falls is taking another shot at securing funding for its $18-million trunk water main upgrade after its initial $13-million pitch at the ROMA conference didn’t make the cut.

Councillors Peter McKenna, Steve Robinson, and Jennifer Miller met with the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities during the Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference in Toronto last week. They made their case for funding through the housing-enabling water fund, with McKenna leading the charge.

“He did a very compelling job of articulating the reason we were asking for money,” said Malcolm Morris, the town’s chief administrative officer, in his report to council on Jan. 27.

The funding request was tied to the water main upgrade needed to service the town’s new water tower on Air Care Drive, and about 1.3 kilometres of roadway to the tower.

“The total project is $18 million, and we were asking for just north of $13 million,” Morris said. “We made a compelling case. I think we only had 15 minutes to do it.”

Despite their efforts, the answer came down a few hours before Monday’s council meeting: no funding this time around.

“Concerning news for that project,” Morris said. “But at the same conference, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities announced a new funding program that aligns a little better with our project.”

That program—the Health and Safety Water Stream—offers $175 million to help municipalities and First Nations upgrade aging water, wastewater, stormwater, flood, and erosion infrastructure. The town will submit an application when the process opens in mid-February.

“Not the news we were hoping for,” Morris said, “but I think we’ve positioned ourselves well for the next round.”

McKenna echoed that sentiment, adding that the overarching message at ROMA was clear: municipalities can’t carry the cost of these major infrastructure projects alone.

“We need help,” he said. “Sometimes the upper governments step up, sometimes they don’t … get out and vote in this election and have some fun.”