Following their organizational meeting on Monday (October 30), the new City Council held a special meeting to hear a presentation on applications for the National Trade Corridor Fund (NTCF) grants.

The NTFC focuses on opportunities to support the movement of goods or people in Canada. During the presentation, Director of Community Infrastructure Lorne Stevens and Manager of Capital Projects Bob Neale explained that while looking at the criteria for the grants over the last year, they realized there was an opportunity to apply for funding for two local projects: The Yankee Valley Boulevard-CP Rail Grade Separation and the 40th Avenue-QE2 Interchange. Council was asked to pass a resolution and provide letters of support for applications for both projects.

Stevens explained that through the NTFC, municipal projects can qualify for up to 50 percent funding. In an interview with Discoverairdrie.com, Neale explained that would mean significant dollars if either of Airdrie's projects received the grant.

"The Yankee Valley Boulevard Grade Separation is about a $38 million project, and the 40th Avenue Interchange project is a $65 million project, so we're talking significant dollars that this grant would make things a lot easier for us."

The Yankee Valley Boulevard project is already in the budget for the next ten years, but the 40th Avenue Interchange has not been funded by the City. Neale explained that the letters of support, and the possibility of securing those grants, would make both projects more of a reality and not just items on a wish list.

"The Yankee Valley Boulevard Grade Separation was within our ten year capital plan, so for that particular project, it will allow resources to be released to do other improvements within the city. The benefit at the 40th Avenue Interchange project is that project was currently unfunded, so if you get a 50 percent injection of grant funding into that project, all of a sudden it becomes more realistic."

Neale said it is also important to manage expectations, as the grant is quite competitive and the funding is not guaranteed. In the presentation on Monday, Stevens explained it is unlikely that Airdrie will receive funding for both projects, but they feel it is valuable to pursue the opportunity just in case.

"There's significant projects that will be competing against us, so we're hopeful but there's still quite a bit of synergy that we'll need to be able to realize our hopes," said Neale.

During the presentation, Stevens also explained that one criteria of the application is that applicants must prove that 50 percent of the selected projects will be fully funded, otherwise making the applications ineligible. That is not a problem with the Yankee Valley Boulevard Grade Separation, but is an issue with the 40th Avenue Interchange. Since that project has not yet received provincial funding, the City had to decide if they would commit to funding 50 percent of that project. To do that, the City could consider three ways of funding the project: Incur additional debt, reallocate the funding from the Yankee Valley Boulevard Project to the 40th Avenue project should one receive the grant and the other not, or defer other tax and grant-funded projects to offset the cost.

Ultimately, the Council voted unanimously to endorse the submission of both proposals, and authorize a letter of commitment for the money associated with the 40th Avenue project should it receive the grant.

The City will now work to submit the applications ahead of the November 6 deadline. Stevens said they expect to hear back on the applications by April of 2018.

 

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