Barrie city councillors were up late on Monday evening discussing where best to spend an 8.5-million-dollar infrastructure cash injection from the federal government.
Deputy Mayor Barry Ward says the bulk of the money will go towards two major road projects.
“The Dunlop Street West property -- that we’re going to widen Kidds Creek,” he explains. “Where the old Barrie Central lands are --we’re going to open up the creek there where we recently bought the hotel across the street. That will be opened up, and the road will be reconstructed.”
Last month the federal finance minister announced there was an influx of infrastructure cash and that it would mean a one-time top-up for cities across the country.
Ward says the top-up is substantial. “If we were to raise taxes in Barrie by four percent people would be screaming. So to get what is the equivalent of four percent from the federal government to spend on projects in the city of Barrie is very significant.”
City streets will also receive some attention with $3.5 million going towards things like road resurfacing.
“There are a lot of things that we would have done eventually, but they are going to be moved up because now we can do them immediately,” says Ward. “Things that would have been done in four years will be done this year.”
Council also plans to dedicate about half-a-million-dollars on upgrades to the Allandale Rec Centre. The remaining money will be used for various things such as WIFI and benches in the downtown and waterfront areas.
Ward expects the significant one-time hand-out is just that, one-time funding from the federal government, "maybe because we are in an election year, I don't know."
City council will prioritize the projects by the end of the month and expect to have work done this summer.
