Burlington Council Approves Plans for $5.6M Federal One-time Municipal Infrastructure Top-up Funding

Burlington MP and Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould and Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff joined me yesterday afternoon (April 24) to announce the Burlington projects that will benefit from the $5.6 million of Federal One-time Municipal Infrastructure Top-up funding — Burlington City Council approved the projects during Monday's (April 23) council meeting.Last month’s federal budget included municipal top-up funding to support local infrastructure priorities.  The City of Burlington will benefit from the one-time doubling of the Federal Gas Tax funding, which will result in an extra $5.6 million for infrastructure. Federal Gas Tax funding can be used in eligible categories including productivity and economic growth through areas such as roads, bridges or public transit, clean environment initiatives such as community energy systems or strong cities and communities via sport, recreation, culture, tourism or disaster mitigation.City staff brought a report with recommended projects to the Committee of the Whole on April 1. Council has approved these projects:

• Elgin Promenade, Phase 4 - $700,000
• Transit Bus renewal program - $500,000
• Wolfe Island Bridge, additional rehabilitation - $230,000
• New Street resurfacing, advance from 2023 to 2020 - $2.050,000
• Beachway Pavilion, decking and accessibility improvements - $350,000
• Civic Square, additional enhancements - $265,000
• Skyway Arena, new small indoor walking track - $1,500,000

Most projects are expected to be completed within 18 months, with the exception of the New Street resurfacing, which is anticipated to happen in 2020 and the Skyway Arena enhancements, which will take two to three years to complete.

"The Federal Municipal top-up will allow municipalities, like Burlington, to continue to fund long-term, stable infrastructure projects, such as public transit, water and wastewater, local roads, sports and recreation facilities and tourism infrastructure. The investment announced today reiterates our commitment to making out communities stronger and more resilient. We will continue to work with our municipal counterparts to ensure Burlington remains one of the best places in Canada to live, work and raise a family." — Burlington MP and Minister of Democratic Institutions Karina Gould"Public investments in areas like infrastructure and public transit are crucial to driving economic growth and strengthening the middle class. Through my experience on Oakville Town Council, I saw firsthand the benefits of funding to municipalities to help them build and revitalize their local public infrastructure while creating jobs and long-term prosperity. By making smart investments in local infrastructure, we can build roads, transit and water systems that make a difference in our communities." — Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff

Here are some budget highlights, specific to municipal benefits from the federal budget:HousingTo help municipalities grow housing supply and find new solutions for affordable housing, Budget 2019 proposes to provide $300 million to launch a new Housing Supply Challenge.The Housing Supply Challenge will invite municipalities and other stakeholder groups across Canada to propose new ways to break down barriers that limit the creation of new housing.Federal Gas Tax Top-UpBudget 2019 proposes a one-time transfer of $2.2 billion through the Federal Gas Tax Fund to municipalities and First Nation communities. This will double the Government’s commitment to municipalities in 2018–19 and will provide much needed infrastructure funds for communities of all sizes, all across the country.Energy efficiency Budget 2019 plans to give resources to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM), municipal funding program, the Green Municipal Fund for three initiatives that would provide financing to municipalities:

1. Collaboration on Community Climate Action ($350 million) will provide municipalities and non-profit community organizations with financing and grants to retrofit and improve the energy efficiency of large community buildings and community pilot and demonstration projects in Canadian municipalities, large and small. FCM and the Low Carbon Cities Canada Initiatives will create a network across Canada that will support local community actions to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions.
2. Community EcoEfficiency Acceleration ($300 million) will provide financing for municipal initiatives that support home energy efficiency retrofits. Homeowners could qualify for assistance in replacing furnaces and installing renewable energy technologies. The FCM will use innovative approaches like the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) model that allows homeowners to repay retrofit costs through their property tax bills.
3. Sustainable Affordable Housing Innovation ($300 million) will provide financing and support to affordable housing developments to improve energy efficiency in new and existing housing and support on-site energy generation.

Links and Resources

• Budget 2019
• Federal One-time Municipal Infrastructure Top-up
• Burlington Projects Targeted for $5.6M in Federal One-time Municipal Infrastructure Top-Up Funding
• City of Burlington Declares Climate Emergency

MY TAKE:It is always a fantastic thing when our levels of government work together in a way that betters our amazing City. And this Federal One-Time Municipal Infrastructure Top-Up Funding of approximately $5.6 million does just that. So, thank you to Burlington MP Karina Gould and Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff for supporting this initiative.This is prudent spending and reflects the majority of the things we heard from the community that they wanted. These choices help make our City more livable, and encourage healthy living, environmentally-friendly choices and improve our infrastructure to keep people moving safely and efficiently. It's always a difficult job paring down the list of what projects can benefit from funding like this, so I want to thank our City of Burlington staff for the great job they did in balancing the known priorities of our community and helping us get started as soon as possible.Waiting two months to reevaluate our own priorities risks losing the construction year and paying a premium, so we get less for more — that isn't being financially prudent.These items we've funded are not "nice-to-haves," they were part of our 10-year capital budget program and have now been advanced sooner with the funding made available by the Federal government. That frees up money that was pledged for these projects, that we can now direct to new initiatives if we wish, once those are determined. The items we chose to direct the one-time, top-up funding towards will reduce green house gas (GHG) emissions and address climate change:

• the Skyway Arena retrofit will remove GHG and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC - chemicals containing carbon, chlorine and fluorine) producing emissions in outdated cooling systems. It will provide an indoor walking path to provide zero emissions exercise. As well, the city attempts on all our buildings to obtain the equivalent of LEED certification;
• we are investing an additional $500,000 in transit funding, to provide alternatives to GHG-producing, single-occupancy vehicles;
•  we are investing in the Elgin Promenade, the final connection of the Centennial Bikeway cycling/walking path that connects Burloak to our Downtown — providing opportunities to leave GHG-producing vehicles at home;
• we funded critical infrastructure repairs to the Wolf Island Bridge that connects vehicles, pedestrians, transit, and cyclists between Burlington and Hamilton. It is the city’s largest and most expensive asset; and
• we funded repairs to New Street, providing safer streets for all users.