59 Carden St.

What's *really* in the budget?

Posted by Magda
It's a bit sneaky, really. When the province announced in its budget yesterday that it would put $1 billion into infrastructure -- $400 million of that outside of Toronto -- they didn't say what that would mean for Guelph. Those details didn't come until today. Spreading it over two days means twice the newspaper coverage.

We're getting $1,919,941 for roads and bridges. Engineer Rick Henry said yesterday there's a number of projects ready to go, already designed and ready to be pulled off the shelf and built. Presumably some of these will be done with the almost $2 million we're getting.

Read more about it tomorrow.

No surplus cash for cities

Posted by Magda
A provincial promise to share the surplus with municipalities won't translate into any cash this year. The province committed that, if their surplus tops $800 million, the first $600 million would go to paying down the debt, and the remainder would given to municipalities to spend on infrastructure.

But this year's surplus is only $600 million -- so no surplus cash for cities.

The province did, though, commit $1 billion to infrastructure -- $400 million of that outside of Toronto. And City of Guelph engineer Rick Henry is happy with that, saying it will likely push forward projects that are stalled for lack of cash.

We should know later this week how much of the $400 million will come to Guelph.

Read more about the provincial budget in tomorrow's Merc.

Cities share pipe dreams

Posted by Laura

Guelph isn't the only city concerned about the future of its pipes, roads and sewers.

In today's Hamilton Spectator, reporter Eric McGuinness explains how Hamilton is using trenchless techniques to rehabilitate its sewer system.

Click here to see the story.

Guelph has started to use the same process for its water mains. The first pilot project was on Rickson Avenue where city workers relined the water main with a fibreglass resin.

"It makes a pipe within a pipe. It's the latest technology," Gerry Best, city supervisor of water distribution, told me last week.

"It's a little cheaper, but where you save your costs is there's no reinstatement fee. You don't have to put a new road in because it's all done underground."