'Life-altering money' to help Midland upgrade, expand infrastructure

Midlanders who spent part of this week boiling huge pots of water to sate their thirst will appreciate Friday’s major infrastructure announcement.

Calling it ‘the largest financial injection ever received from the province” in the town’s history, Mayor Bill Gordon couldn’t stop smiling after Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop announced the province would provide more than $30 million to speed up home construction by helping the municipality upgrade and expand its drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

Dunlop told those gathered at the 123-year-old Eighth Street water tower that the funds will not only better the town’s infrastructure, but also help towards the eventual building of 3,120 “housing units” as a result of expanded water and sewer capabilities.

“These funds will not only help increase the housing supply, but also attract new businesses and create jobs,” she said, adding it also ensure Midland continues to be “a community where people want to work, live and raise their families.”

While Gordon said the town doesn’t have an actual housing target, the funds will help it extend infrastructure along the Highway 12 and County Road 93 corridors.

“This is truly life-altering money,” he added.

CAO Rhonda Bunn told Dunlop the town is “truly grateful” for the major shot in its financial arm “and helping towns like ours grow.”

Besides helping expand and upgrade existing infrastructure, Bunn said the town will use part of the funding to build a new water tower in the city’s burgeoning south end along Highway 12 and replace the 60-year-old water treatment plant.

Gordon said the town staff and outside grant-writing specialists worked hard to present a solid business case to the Ministry of Infrastructure to illustrate Midland’s needs and show how the work should help the town grow as part of the provincial effort to build 1.5-million homes.

“Staff’s amazing work in submitting this application showed the province that the town is ready to grow,” Gordon said as a number of other councillors and staff stood nearby.

Gordon credited Dunlop for her strong advocacy work and continued support of Midland while “allowing us to upgrade our critical water infrastructure to build over 3,000 new homes" in the future.

“There’s a lot of work to do now to ensure our community continues to grow and thrive,” said Gordon, who noted a water main break earlier in the week that forced thousands of residents to boil their water for a day shows the need to upgrade is very real.

And like many municipalities across the country, Gordon said Midland is no different with some vital infrastructure becoming antiquated having been built 50, 75 or even hundred years ago.

He adds: “(This work) is absolutely necessary for a community’s growth.”

The provincial government funding is being delivered through the first round of  investments under the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund, which includes $970 million to help  municipalities develop, repair, rehabilitate and expand drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

The government is also allocating an additional $250 million into the fund and accepting a second round of applications.

“By investing in drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities and connecting pipes to land, we are  helping municipalities build more homes,” Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma said in a release.

"Homes can’t be  built without connections to drinking water and wastewater.”