FALL RIVER: “It’s an exciting moment.”
That’s how all three local government representatives—HRM Councillor Steve Streatch; MP Darrell Samson; and MLA Bill Horne—describe seeing the much talked about water project in Fall River finally underway on Oct. 12.
Former Councillor Barry Dalrymple, Horne and Samson initially got the ball rolling with making it an HRM priority, which resulted in the municipality sending it to the province as a priority who forwarded it to the federal government.
On a cool October morning, Samson was pleased to be on hand at the site as work is well underway by Dexter Construction.
“I’m extremely excited to see it going,” he said. “It’s been close to 20 years or more that the people of this community have been asking and hoping to get the water.
“It’s going to help the community, the residents, and the businesses as a whole.”
Streatch credited Samson and Horne for doing a great job at their respective levels in getting the funding aligned for the project.
Horne said he was all smiles as he looked around with the equipment working away on Fall River Road on a cool mid-October morning.
“It’s the beginning of making Fall River a more viable place to live and have good clean water for the community,” said Horne.
The anticipated completion date for the first phase is July 31, 2018, depending on weather.
With all three in one spot, they all briefly discussed getting funding in place from the feds, province, and HRM to continue down Hwy 2 to Inn on the Lake.
“We’ve focused on trying to help communities since we came into government, and the investment in infrastructure is a key piece and is essential in ensuring viability of communities,” said Samson.
Samson said the objective for the three is now to work together to get funding aligned to roll out phase two without any interruption. It was on both his and Horne’s priority list during recent campaigns.
Horne confirmed Municipal Affairs Minister Derek Mombourquette is aware of the proposed phase two project.
“He told me he has received some information and has been talking with HRM about the continuation,” said Horne.
Streatch addressed concerns from residents on the sudden increase of the Local Improvement Charge (LIC). The LIC was estimated at $7,500, however it is now at $11,500 per property.
“There have been concerns raised by residents that the LIC is high,” said Streatch. “I will say to you that it is actually quote reasonable when you look down the road a few kilometres to Monarch-Rivendale and see the bills they got of $25-30,000 to pay themselves for water.
“A project of this size would not happen without government stimulus and sharing. But at the end of the day, the $2 million HRM contributes to the project has to come from somewhere.”
He said it’s a “good news project.”
“People have to realize it’s laying the ground work for future expansion for the betterment of the Fall River community,” he said.
In the end, the LIC could be lower.
“We wanted to do phase one and phase two at the same time. Economies of scale would have brought the LIC down around $7,500,” said Streatch. “Because the large properties on Hwy 2 are now not contributing in the math for phase one, so that put upward pressure on the cost.
“If we’re able to get funding for phase two, and at the end of the project the averages are put in place, you may see a reduction in everyone’s local improvement charge.”
phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com
