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Home My WebLink AboutEGD-037-13 Cladiwa REPORT ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE Date: October 28, 2013 Resolution#: ! By-law#: Report#: EGD-037-13 File#: Subject: SMALL, RURAL AND NORTHERN MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE FUND RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report EGD-037-13 be received; 2. THAT the Municipality submit one (1) Expression of Interest for consideration of funding from the Small, Rural and Northern Municipal Infrastructure Fund program; 3. THAT the following works be endorsed as the Municipality of Clarington's highest priority project for the Small, Rural and Northern Municipal Infrastructure Fund: i) Concession Road 7 Road Rehabilitation from Leskard Road to Highway 35/115 - $1,030,000.00; 4. THAT the information in the Expression of Interest is factually accurate; 5. THAT the Municipality of Clarington is completing a comprehensive asset management plan that includes all of the information and analysis described in Building Together: Guide for Municipal Asset Management Plans, with the intent to have it in place by December 31, 2013. 6. THAT the comprehensive asset management plan will be publicly available, including online on the Municipality of Clarington's website, by May 30, 2014; 7. THAT the project put forward in this application will be completed by December 31, 2015. CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T 905-623-3379 Cladiwa REPORT ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT 8. THAT this report be forwarded to the Small, Rural and Northern Municipal Infrastructure Fund -Capital Program c/o Rural Programs Branch as part of the Expression of Interest; 9. THAT the applicable department proceed with the preparation and submission of the Expression of Interest including all supporting documentation; 10. THAT should the Expression of Interest pass the screening process the applicable department proceed with the preparation of the application for funding including all supporting documentation required under the program; 11. THAT should the Small, Rural and Northern Municipal Infrastructure Fund application be approved, staff report back to Council detailing the funding arrangements for the project as Clarington's share will not be known until the funding is approved. The Finance Department has confirmed funding is available for Clarington's share of the project; and 12. THAT the Mayor and Clerk be authorized to execute the Small, Rural and Northern Municipal Infrastructure Fund Contribution Agreement and any other documents required to take advantage of this funding opportunity as required by the Ministry of Rural Affairs. Submitted by: '.>tc Reviewed by. A.S. Cannella, C.E.T. Franklin Wu, Director of Engineering Chief Administrative Officer Services ASC/RA/dv/jb October 23, 2013 CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET, BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO L1C 3A6 T 905-623-3379 REPORT NO.: EGD-037-13 PAGE 3 1.0 BACKGROUND 1.1 On October 1, 2013 the government of Ontario launched the Small, Rural and Northern Municipal Infrastructure Fund (SRNMIF). Through this new fund, municipalities can apply for $71 million in capital improvement funding. 1.2 The governing criteria which confirms Clarington is eligible for funding is that it is a community with a population under 100,000. Eligible applicants must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) prior to 5:00 pm on November 1St, 2013. 2.0 SMALL, RURAL AND NORTHERN MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE FUND 2.1 The objective of the Small, Rural and Northern Municipal Infrastructure Fund - Capital Program is to support: • Critical road, bridge, water and wastewater projects where the primary objective is to address urgent public health and safety issues or maintain public health and safety in the long-term. • Projects identified as priorities in municipal asset management plans. • Applicants with challenging economic conditions and limited fiscal flexibility, with additional consideration for applicants who are making significant infrastructure investments. 2.2 This program has a two stage project selection process. First, eligible applicants may submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for pre-screening. The intent of the ----pre-scr__eening process is to identify projects thatliave_th_e g st_potentiaLfor alignment with the program objective and to minimize the time municipalities and northern Local Services Boards (LSBs) spend preparing applications. 2.3 In their EOls, applicants must attest that their proposed project is a priority within their asset management plans and commit to make the plan publicly available, including online if the municipality/LSB has a website, by May 30, 2014. Applicants that pass the pre-screening process will be required to submit their asset management plan with their full application. Applications will be assessed, in part, based on the completeness of the applicant's asset management plan, measured against Building Together: Guide for Municipal Asset Management Plans. 2.4 The share of provincial funding that may be requested is flexible up to a maximum of 90% of total project costs or $2 million, whichever is lower. Municipalities are asked to request only the amount of provincial funding that is needed to move forward with the project. 2.5 EOI's will be accepted for pre-screening until 5pm EST on November 1, 2013. Applicants that pass the pre-screening process will be notified as soon as possible and given the opportunity to submit a full application, which will be due in January 2014. Final decisions on funding recipients are planned for February 2014, with funds to begin flowing by March 31, 2014. REPORT NO.: EGD-037-13 PAGE 4 3.0 STAFF COMMENTS 3.1 Staff has spent considerable time attempting to get clarity on the differing rules and process with respect to the funding opportunities in order to maximize the amount of funding that the Municipality may receive and leverage those funds to the best extent possible. 3.2 The Small, Rural and Northern Municipal Infrastructure Fund can receive one application for a Municipality's highest priority project. Submitting an application with multiple roads at different locations is not acceptable. It is recommended that the application be submitted for the following priority project: a) Concession Road 7 — Leskard Road to Highway 35/115 (2.35km): Major rural upgrade of high volume high float road to hot mix asphalt road including structure repair and safety improvements. Estimated cost is $1,030,000.00. 3.3 This section of Concession Road 7 was submitted for funding under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund along with two other projects, of which Clarington only received funding for 1 project. It is assumed that the reason for the lack of funding for the two out of the three projects was due to the high number of applications submitted under the program and the limited amount of funds available for the program. This section of Concession Road 7 continues to be one of our highest priorities but Clarington is unable to dedicate the necessary funding for this single project without having a significant impact on the balance of our Capital Budget This SRNLMIEprogrampro-vid_es_an xcellent opportunity to address this section of road and is consistent with the capital investments Clarington, the Province and Canada have made on this road to the west as well as Concession Road 7/8 to the north from Oshawa Townline to Hwy. 35/115. This section of Concession Road 7 continues to see increases in traffic due to its proximity and alignment to the existing 407 terminus in Pickering and it is anticipated that this traffic increase will be exacerbated with the extension of the 407 to Harmony Road. 3.4 At this time the Clarington portion of the total costs are unknown as the program may provide funding for up to 90% of the project cost up to a maximum of $2,000,000. Should the full 90% funding be approved, Clarington would be responsible for $103,000. As the amount is unknown it is recommended that the breakdown of the proposed funding sources be identified in a future report to Council once the decision on the funding by the Provincial government has been made. The Finance Department has confirmed that Clarington will be able to fund their share of the project costs. 3.5 The commitment by Clarington is a substantial but manageable one. However, the opportunity for this level of funding from an upper level government is rare and we are leveraging it to the greatest extent possible. This may have a small impact on Council's flexibility for the near future. REPORT NO.: EGD-037-13 PAGE 5 3.6 Subject to Council approval of this report, staff will undertake all necessary steps to submit all required documentation in support of our funding requests. 4.0 CONCURRENCE 4.1 This report has been reviewed by Nancy Taylor, Director of Finance, who concurs with the recommendations. 5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 It is recommended that the application be submitted for the following priority project: a) Concession Road 7 — Leskard Road to Highway 35/115 (2.35km): Major rural upgrade of high volume high float road to hot mix asphalt road including structure repair and safety improvements. Estimated cost is $1,030,000.00. 5.2 It is recommended that the breakdown of the proposed funding sources be identified in a future report to Council when a decision on the funding by the Provincial government has been made and Clarington's application is approved. CONFORMITY WITH STRATEGIC PLAN — INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE Staff Contact: Ron Albright, Manager, Infrastructure and Capital Works Attachments: Attachment 1 - Key Site Plan Location List of interested parties to be advised of Council's decision: Not Applicable CLARKE r s Concessiph Road 7 4 _ LO � x 5 \V L\LID 0 c CONCESSION ROAD 7 REHABILITATION Attachment 1 to Report EGD-037-13