Storm warning – ‘a terrific financial crunch in the 2010 budget’

While city council dares flood-prone residents to “sue us,” officials up the road in London are stepping up a program that assists those affected by basement flooding in far more proactive fashion.
This past Monday, city staff presented an engineering report to council that addresses the impact of a June downpour that generated close to three dozen phone calls from across the city from residents who experienced an influx of water.
Getting down to the nitty-gritty, the document can best be summed up with this message to those affected – sorry about your luck.
Staff and our elected officials should take a page from the preventative strategy adopted by our northern neighbours whereby owners are urged to take advantage of city subsidies to reduce sewage backups and flooding.

Feds, Ontario ante up for city

Two long-awaited projects in St. Thomas got a green light Friday (June 5) with Infrastructure Stimulus dollars from the federal and provincial governments.
But a new home for the St. Thomas Police Service missed out, again.

You owe us an explanation, Joe and Steve

Posted by Ian:
In February, two levels of government doled out millions of dollars in Build Canada infrastructure funding and St. Thomas was shut out.
There was no shortage of cash to lavish on the rest of Elgin. In fact, Aylmer, Bayham, Dutton/Dunwich, Malahide, Southwold and the county itself hit paydirt on projects ranging from road and sewer maintenance to facility upgrades.
The exclusion of St. Thomas from the funding beneficiaries had council, city staff, Police Chief Bill Lynch and the rest of the St. Thomas Police Service scratching their heads.

Provincial funding assists Elgin municipalities with water systems

A provincial government program will assist with the operation of Bayham’s water system.

Across the province, the Ontario Small Waterworks Assistance Program Part Two will assist small communities to deliver safe and clean drinking water. Elgin County municipalities will receive $182,339 from the program, and Bayham $40,020. Funding will be provided over four years.
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Rural communities get support to improve water services

Provincial government invests in Elgin and Middlesex municipalities
ST. THOMAS – Residents of six Elgin-Middlesex-London municipalities will be getting some help from the Ontario government to improve the management of the community’s drinking water system.
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How do we get back on the A-list for funding?

Ian McCallum

A week ago, two levels of government dole out millions of dollars in Build Canada infrastructure funding and St. Thomas was shut out.
So was Central Elgin, which was looking for an investment in Port Stanley harbour.
There was no shortage of cash to lavish on the rest of Elgin. In fact, Aylmer, Bayham, Dutton/Dunwich, Malahide, Southwold and the county itself hit paydirt on projects ranging from road and sewer maintenance to facility upgrades.
What happened in St. Thomas?

St. Thomas shut out of infrastructure funds

Posted by Ian:
Two levels of government dole out millions in infrastructure funding on Friday and St. Thomas is shut out. So is Central Elgin which was looking for an investment in Port Stanley harbour. Plenty of money to lavish on the rest of Elgin. What happened in St. Thomas? Is it our elected leadership or lack of a CAO to properly administer the corporation or perhaps no concrete business plan for the future? Any money coming to St. Thomas was slated for a new police HQ.
Details of the announcement follow.
Infrastructure funding