The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) and District of Sechelt (DOS) each received grants of $10,000 this week for infrastructure planning.
The $20,000 is a share of more than $700,000 in provincial funding awarded under the infrastructure planning grant program, announced Monday by Community Services Minister Ida Chong.
The money granted to the DOS will go towards the lower Dusty Road sewage treatment site pre-design study.
Although the news is good, director of engineering and public works Ken Tang said a lot more funds are needed."The money is just for the pre-design work, and from that an overall planning study can then be developed," Tang said. "It's a good start, but we're going to need more funds to get this facility built."
The SCRD's grant will go towards integrated stormwater management planning for East Roberts Creek, Elphinstone and West Howe Sound.
At an open house Sept. 6, a draft plan was presented to the public by Delcan, a consultant hired by the SCRD and the Ministry of Transportation to come up with a plan to address the stormwater management issues arising from the increasing development on the Coast, including erosion, flooding and cross-drainage between properties.
Many issues were discussed at that open house with two issues at the forefront - funding and government authority.SCRD infrastructure services manager Steve Lee said despite the good news of this funding, there is still lots of work to be done to resolve all the issues.
"The funding will basically cover the work that Delcan has already done," Lee said. "The consultant hasn't provided us with plans or cost estimates -that's in phase two. The money is a starting point, but that's all it really is. Someone has to take control of the issue and identify how we're going to deal with it. That still needs to be resolved by transportation and the SCRD board."
Monday's announcement by Chong follows an earlier $700,000 round of infrastructure planning grants awarded in August. Another round of grant announcements is scheduled for early 2007.
