Mayor Ian Boddy along with Councillors McManaman, O’Leary, Thomas, Koepke and Dodd met with Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, MPP Daiene Vernile to discuss funding for the reconstruction of the 10th St Bridge. The City’s delegation was joined by Grey County Warden Alan Barfoot and MPP Bill Walker who added their support to the City’s presentation. The meeting was held Monday at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference in Ottawa.
Speaking after the meeting, Mayor Boddy indicated that he felt the discussions were “substantive and advanced the project to the next level in development”.
The existing 106 year old structure is in poor condition and needs to be replaced within the next three to five years. The Ministry staff acknowledged the importance of the bridge to all levels of government and the need to replace it in a timely way.
The City was strongly encouraged to submit a request for funding through the Provincial Connecting Link Program, which is dedicated to supporting infrastructure projects where there is a significant provincial interest. The program will be increased to $30M in the next fiscal year. The City’s aapplication will be made within the next few days and awards will be announced early in 2018.
The Mayor commented that “We were extremely pleased with the positive response we received from Parliamentary Assistant Vernile and the Ministry Staff, and are very much looking forward to their contribution towards completing such importance project for the entire community”.
For more information, please contact Ken Becking at 519-270-1708 or email to kbecking@owensound.ca
