Port aux Basques shares plans for 2022

The Bruce II Sports Centre will get $1.4 million worth of environmentally friendly upgrades this year that will help reduce operational costs. – © File photo

By Ryan King

Community News Reporter

PORT AUX BASQUES – The town has a number of important projects that it hopes to move forward with in 2022 – sort of an unofficial list of New Years resolutions.

One important project on the agenda is the continued work on the Grand Bay Bottom Sanitary Sewer project. The town has already been working on this multi-year project, which will provide primary and secondary treatment for sanitary waste before it enters the Atlantic Ocean.

“Each phase of the project will involve the collection of various outfall points into a primary collection area for treatment,” explained Town Manager Leon MacIsaac.

“The first phase ($2.2m) covered the area of High Street from BCJ (Tax Office) to the Grand Bay Road intersection. The treatment portion of this project will be completed later this year. The second phase of the project ($2.9m), Grand Bay Road from High Street to Allen’s Road, will have design work begin early this spring and proceed to tender later this summer.”

The implementation of energy efficient upgrades and fuel switching projects at the Bruce II Sports Complex will also go ahead this year, with the project valued at $1.4 million. These upgrades will not only make the building more environmentally friendly, but it will also make the building cheaper to operate in the future.

“This project is part of the Canada Climate Change Fund to source alternative energy sources for heating/cooling the building. The replacement of the dehumidification system ($500k) will also proceed to increase efficiency for the pool area. The town has also applied for additional funding (approximately $3 million) to replace the building envelope and roof system that is required to increase the energy efficiency and make improvements to the complex, which was built in 1996. The Town has also received funding ($140k) from the same program to address fuel switching and building envelope upgrades for the central fire station on Marine Drive/Norman Avenue.”

MacIsaac added that the town will be constructing a new Municipal Salt Storage Facility to replace the existing facility on Main Street, which has several structural issues due to age and exposure to the elements. The cost of his project is projected at $700,000.

“The new facility will be located in the Grand Bay West industrial park adjacent to the new Municipal Depot. The Town is currently in a partnership project with Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus to source brownfield remediation funding to have the former Municipal depot property on Main Street dismantled and replaced with a green space for the downtown area,” stated MacIsaac.

Additionally, the town will be focusing on infrastructure and paving upgrades for several streets.

“Funding has been approved ($1.2 million) to address upgrades to Brook Street, Warren’s Road, and Matthew’s Road. To coincide with these projects, the Town will also be continuing with its multi-year paving program to make improvements to a number of area streets.”

MacIsaac also acknowledged that these may not be the only projects that residents may see underway this year.

“The Town endeavours to address as many areas as possible each year to make improvements wherever and whenever funding is available. It currently has additional applications submitted for an additional $1.8 million in funding for other projects that it hopes will be approved in 2022. Council is faced with a number of difficult decisions when sourcing funding for annual projects. They work to provide a balanced budget when reviewing revenues and expenses while minimizing financial impacts on residents.”

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