Tight timelines for local mega-projects
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Updated: November 18, 2009 3:45 PM
The City of Abbotsford is facing a race against time to build three multi-million-dollar projects in less than 18 months, or risk paying more than its share.
The city has received provincial and federal funding for new Highway 1 interchanges at Clearbrook Road and McCallum Road.
Cash has also been pledged for a taxiway at the Abbotsford airport, situated parallel to the runway to allow planes to clear the way more quickly, shortening the time for aircraft landing and taking off.
The funding for all three has been split three ways, with Victoria, Ottawa and city each paying $8.3 million for the two interchanges, and $10 million apiece for the airport work.
The federal government’s portion has been granted as part of its Economic Action Plan, which requires the projects be completed by March 31, 2011. Past that deadline, the city will lose any of the federal money it has not spent by that date and be responsible to pay the remainder.
Despite the tight timeline, city manager Frank Pizzuto described the three projects as “doable.
“And if we have some legitimate reasons, and it’s beyond our control, we will see if we can revisit it with the feds,” he said.
To make sure the projects are completed on time, the city has created a department to oversee all three.
Grant Acheson, previously the city’s director of development services, will head up that group.
There is a further potential complication, Acheson told council on Monday, with the airport taxiway requiring land that currently sits in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Acheson hopes it will be a “formality” to have that land removed, pointing out that a previous request to remove land from the ALR – for a ring road at the airport – passed through the Agricultural Land Commission without opposition.
The city’s portion of the two interchanges is being funded by development cost charges, which are paid to the city by developers. The airport project will be paid from the airport’s capital reserve, which is funded through airport operations and not from general taxation.
