GRANTS FOR WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT!
By Sara Golling
Great news for Rossland taxpayers! The City has been successful in obtaining two grants that will help with the cost of the major Washington Street infrastructure upgrades, scheduled for next year. The Government of Canada will provide up to $1,090,850 through the Small Communities Fund for the project. The Province of British Columbia will match those funds, contributing up to $1,090,850 to this project. The City of Rossland will be responsible for all remaining costs of the Washington Street upgrade, and will be continuing to pursue other grant opportunities. The total cost is estimated to be $3,272,550, so these two grants will cover about two-thirds of that amount.
The grants were announced on Monday afternoon at a ceremony in Harry Lefevre Square.
Replacing the ancient water main up Washington Street will benefit Rosslanders in several ways: the old pipes are both leaking water out into the ground, wasting what the City has collected, stored and treated; and also potentially allowing impurities into our drinking water, increasing the risk of contamination. Fixing water-main leaks costs taxpayers money every year. Replacing this section of very old pipe will conserve water, reduce our ongoing maintenance costs and improve the quality of our water.
Mayor Kathy Moore expressed Rossland’s gratitude for the funding, saying “I am so pleased that Rossland is receiving this funding. This project will help us meet the much higher standard for both infrastructure installation and water quality than was required in the early 1900’s when these pipes were installed. I want to thank the federal government for recognizing the importance of core infrastructure projects and also to acknowledge that without financial help, these large projects are out of reach for many small communities like Rossland.”
