Re: Great News!! Meeting with MP scheduled
in response to
by
HIGH-GRADE NI-CU-PT-PD-ZN-CR-AU-V-TI DISCOVERIES IN THE "RING OF FIRE"
NI 43-101 Update (September 2012): 11.1 Mt @ 1.68% Ni, 0.87% Cu, 0.89 gpt Pt and 3.09 gpt Pd and 0.18 gpt Au (Proven & Probable Reserves) / 8.9 Mt @ 1.10% Ni, 1.14% Cu, 1.16 gpt Pt and 3.49 gpt Pd and 0.30 gpt Au (Inferred Resource)
Message: Re: Great News!! Meeting with MP scheduled
Might want to keep an eye on this situation as well...
Butland asks councillors to consider FedNor as the clearing house for infrastructure funding applications
Posted By ELAINE DELLA-MATTIA, THE SAULT STAR
Updated 2 days ago
While all municipalities are anxious to learn how to grab some of the new infrastructure funding announced in the recent federal budget, city council will decide Monday if it should push the government to use FedNor as an application clearing house.
Ward 1 Coun. Steve Butland wants city councillors to recommend FedNor be used as the point-of-contact for infrastructure funding applications from Northern Ontario.
He has penned a resolution calling for the recommendation to be forwarded to Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty, FedNor Minister Tony Clement and Sault MP Tony Martin as well as other Northern Ontario municipalities.
It will be debated by councillors at their Monday meeting.
Butland argues that FedNor knows the Northern Ontario communities, their plans and the projects already underway.
"I think FedNor would serve well as a clearing house for Northern Ontario applications," he said. "They use their due diligence, are familiar with our communities and with Northern Ontario."
He argues that Northern Ontario municipalities, including Sault Ste. Marie, would be better served with a single point of contact, than with a number of different contacts in various ministries.
"I'm hopeful that the federal government will be supportive of this," Butland said.
He called the federal government's budget announcements and the expected matching dollars from the provincial government "a windfall he's never experienced."
By Butland's calculations, there are 29 potential areas where Sault Ste. Marie can seek funding under the 2009 federal budget, which will allocate $12 billion over the next two years to infrastructure projects across the country.
His suggestion is that councillors spend some time reading the budget and prepare to move forward in a number of areas of interest -- even prior to the applications and details being released.
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"I believe the federal government will be inundated with applications and we should take advantage of it," he said.
"We need to get rid of the public perception that we're spendthrifts with their money because this may not happen again and we should be proactive, not reactive with the details."
Sault MP Tony Martin called the resolution a good idea and one he hopes that council will build on, perhaps by also recommending that FedNor hire additional staff members to process the applications quicker.
"FedNor is the poor cousin of other regional funding agencies across the country and it doesn't have the staff that the others do," Martin said.
"But the resolution makes sense to get the money flowing directly and FedNor is in a good position to do that. There is no need to set up another vetting process."
Martin said his office is already working to determine how the application process will work so that applications can be submitted quickly.
Meanwhile, city treasurer and commissioner of finance Bill Freiburger has complied a report that outlines some of the highlights the budget package and its initiatives, as well as what the city's contribution would be for specific projects.
He notes the plan calls for $1 billion over five years to be invested in the Green Infrastructure Fund to support green projects on a cost shared basis.
Another $1.1 billion will be dedicated to support small communities with unique infrastructure needs, he says.
Freiburger's report says other cost-sharing infrastructure money will be available, along with a $4 billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund to be used for infrastructure rehabilitation projects.
Another $500 million has been designated over two years to support the construction of new or the upgrading of exsisting community recreational facilities.
Article ID# 1425249
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