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(File photo/paNOW Staff)
MEEP funding

Infrastructure boost for local RMs

Aug 28, 2020 | 12:19 PM

The latest installment of Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) funding has been announced and there’s good news for some local communities.

The RM of Garden River will receive $96,442 for flood mitigation. Reeve Ryan Scragg told paNOW the money will go towards protecting homes and farms on a particularly problematic flood plain.

“With the increased rainfalls in the past decade it’s put homes in danger, it’s taken out massive areas of farm land, so I’m glad we’ll be able to put this money to good use and address some of that,” Scragg said.

Meanwhile, the RM of District of Lakeland will get $75,000 to upgrade the Bell’s Beach access road at Christopher Lake, along with a further $48,740 for playground repairs and replacements.

RM of District of Lakeland Administrator Tammy Knuttila said it was nice to be able to put funding towards recreation.

“We’ve already put in the play structures at two of the busiest beaches we have in the district, there’s been a lot of use and a lot of positive comments,” she said.

Just over $200,000 has been pledged to the RM of Shellbrook to be split across a variety of projects including road maintenance. The RM of Duck Lake will benefit from a new mover, excavator and a shop compound. The Town of Spiritwood will get $131,224 towards the replacement of a sewage pumping station.

The projects announced Wednesday are the latest in a series to receive funding through the MEEP. The provincial government has pledged $300 million to the program to assist municipalities with infrastructure projects. The money, to be awarded over the course of two years, is part of a broader plan to help the economy recover from the pandemic.

Editor’s note: This story has been amended to include comment from RM of District of Lakeland Administrator Tammy Knuttila.

alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom

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