Feds reject funding application to raise part of Altona's 9th St. NW

It's a small setback in Altona's quest to raise the north section of 9th St. NW. 

The Town had applied to the federal government's Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation program to see if there was some funding available for the work. Mayor Harv Schroeder says however, the application was rejected due to insufficient data.

"This data would involve contracting an engineering company to assess the land, which is very costly. Something we don't have the budget for this year," he explained. "If we had conducted a study like this, it still would not have guaranteed we'd be chosen as a recipient of this grant. They received considerable interest from communities across Canada, which created a competitive nature to the program."

The north section of the Town's most westerly road is about two to three feet lower than the southern half and it routinely under threat when spring runoff and overland water come in from the Escarpment. The issue was emphasized in Spring 2022 when Public Works staff spent countless hours shoring up that half of the road, including erecting a tiger dam, as water came hard and fast from the west. Raising the north half would help protect the development that is happening in the northwest corner of town.

With Council having pegged this project as a priority, what are its next steps?

Schroeder says he's contacted Branden Leslie's office, noting the Portage-Lisgar MP has committed to exploring additional federal granting options. "I actually gave him a tour of the town and some of the areas that have been a concern in the past," added the Mayor. 

If the funding options are limited, Schroeder says the Town will have to budget for the project in its next budget. He noted, if there's any money left from this summer's million-dollar road improvement project, the Town may undertake a small-scale effort to try to combat some of the flooding issues.

Meantime, the Municipality of Rhineland was approved for provincial funding under the MPP program to raise a section of Road 8 near the northwest corner of Altona, perpendicular to 9th St. NW. Schroeder says it is unknown at this time if that project will ease any of the issues they see on 9th.