The federal government is pitching in up to nearly $2.4 million to help upgrade Orangeville`s sewage treatment plant. This is a "priority" project for the Conservatives, Dufferin-Caledon MP David Tilson said while announcing the funds Wednesday afternoon.
"We are delivering on our commitment to help built strong, sustainable communities, which offer a high quality of life for residents," said the Conservative member. "The environment and the safety and security of the nation are clear priorities for the government of Canada."
The reconstruction of west Broadway began July 21 and is slated for completion by the end of September. The project involves a complete reconstruction of the road from a two-lane cross-section to a three-lane cross-section, to create a shared centre turning lane, from C Line to west of Diane Drive.
The remaining portion, from east of Diane Drive to Blind Line, is being reconstructed as the existing four lanes. The watermain will also be replaced; no disruption to water service is expected.
Work is expected to start at the intersection of Centennial Road and C Line later this month. New traffic signals will be installed and road improvements at the intersection, such as turn lanes, are included in this project.
Local Pan American Games proponents say Ottawa`s support of a Golden Horseshoe bid to host the 2015 games clears the way for Niagara to pump the assets it could bring to the event.
The federal government announced Thursday it will be joining the province by committing cash and lobbying for the Olympic-style games, which would be held in Toronto and also likely include Niagara and Durham regions.
In recent months, a Niagara Pan Am committee has made a pitch to the official bid group to host a series of events, including:
¦ rowing in St. Catharines at the Henley course on Martindale Pond and canoe and kayak slalom at a yet-to- be-built whitewater course.
¦ canoe and kayak sprints at the Welland International Flatwater Centre and a triathlon in Welland.
Niagara Region is moving ahead with phase two of its $16.6 million Oxford Atlas Wellington sanitary sewer project.
Construction began in December 2006 and the region expects all work will be done early in 2009. The project was originally expected to be completed in May of this year.
"The project consisted of a new 1,650 millimetre diameter sanitary sewer tunnel constructed using a tunnel bore machine suitable for earth excavation," said regional manager of design and construction Sunsil Sharma in an e-mail.
"The McMaster Avenue, Major Street section of tunnel (phase one) was completed at the end of April 2008."
Fonthill`s Legion hall will undergo "a ceiling to floor" overhaul during the next few months.
It is the first major renovation in about 20 years, said Legion president Don Cotter, and is designed to serve a growing number of hall users.
The project, financed by a $44,200 Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, will include new kitchen equipment such energy-efficient appliances.
Tim Hudak, Niagara West- Glanbrook MPP, and Trillium representative Fred Steeve formally announced the grant at Royal Canadian Legion Branch 613, Friday.
The Highway 401 eastbound service centre near Tilbury has re-opened with some services, said Chatham-Kent Essex MPP Pat Hoy.
"I am glad this project is moving forward. The new service provider will renovate this service centre to provide modern amenities for travellers and tourists," said Hoy in a release Wednesday.
All of Ontario`s highway service centres are being given a major overhaul beginning this summer.
"As leases expire, service centres along Highways 400 and 401 are being redeveloped over the next five years to provide drivers with updated facilities," Hoy said.
Sarnia`s economy continues to purr despite the cancellation of Shell`s new refinery, with more than $30 million worth of major building projects on the drawing board and near record housing sales in July.
The largest proposed building projects is a $14-million office complex at the UWO Research Park off Modeland Road.
"There`s certainly some big stuff rolling in over the next while," said Mike Schnare, the city`s director of planning and building.
"It`s a good sign."
July was the third busiest month for house sales ever recorded in Sarnia-Lambton, with 170 properties going for nearly $38 million -- only slightly below last July`s record-setting $40.03 million.
July house sales stay strong despite Shell`s pullout
The month of July was the third busiest month for house sales ever recorded in Sarnia-Lambton, quashing any rumours that the Shell refinery pullout would hurt the housing market, board president said.
The region saw nearly $38.8 million in sales, a slight drop from July 2007`s record-setting $40.03 million.
The final piece of Sarnia`s infamous Consortium lands have been sold.
A numbered company represented by local lawyer Peter Westfall submitted the top bid of $531,000 for the five-acre tract on Modeland Road, said Mayor Mike Bradley.
The city had been unable to collect four years of back taxes on the site, so the land was put up for auction, with a minimum of $200,000 required to cover liens placed on the land by the Department of Justice.
Eight bids were received, with the lowest at $200,000.
"The marketplace has set a premium on that land," Bradley said. "The bid price is almost double the minimum required bid."
Sarnia-Lambton motorists can expect to encounter more road construction on the main highway to Detroit next week.
A six-mile stretch of Interstate 94 in St. Clair Count is to undergo reconstruction between County Line Road and St. Clair Highway starting Monday, said Rob Morosi, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The $26 million project will include replacing the existing roadway along with new culverts, guardrails, fencing and signs.
"At this point in time, the road is past any maintenance repair," Morosi said.
One lane of traffic will be left open in each direction and will be shifted to the westbound lanes until late October, Morosi said. Work will be suspended during the winter and all lanes will be open.
If a Greater Sudbury developer gets his way, people will soon be living in an abandoned water tower on Pearl Street. Westar Investments Inc. already has permission to build office space, banquet facilities and a restaurant in the 34-metre-high tower, which oversees the city`s downtown area.But Westar now wants to add dwelling units and needs to change the old tower`s special commercial zoning to do so.
Greater Sudbury picked up 800 jobs in July, report says
Greater Sudbury added 800 jobs in July, bucking a national trend in which Canada`s job boom went bust with the loss of 55,000 jobs, the worst single-month drop since the height of the recession of the early 1990s.
The city`s unemployment rate last month dropped to 5.3 per cent, buoyed by a growth in jobs, according to an analysis prepared by the Institute of Northern Ontario Research and Development, which is based at Laurentian University. Greater Sudbury`s unemployment rate in June was 5.6 per cent.
"The first number to look at is always employment," said the report, prepared by economics professor David Robinson. "A reported increase of 800 in Sudbury is good news," Robinson said. "This is the second month of reported gains, and it occurs in a month that Canada as a whole reported small losses.
Xstrata Nickel has been given the go-ahead to spend $455 million U. S. over the next two years to expand its Strathcona Mill and also develop the new Fraser Morgan mine site, both in Greater Sudbury.
The approval, which was just given by parent company Xstrata PLC following a meeting in Zurich, Switzerland last week, will see $175 million U. S. spent to expand the mill`s capacity so it can process 3.4 million tonnes per year, up from its current limit of 2.78 million tonnes. Work will start shortly with partial completion in the second quarter of 2009. All work should wrap up by the third quarter of 2010.
The Strathcona Mill is part of the company`s West End operations, which are located in the Onaping Falls area.
The Fraser Morgan mine site, which is located about two kilometres southeast of the company`s Fraser Mine in the same geographical area, consists of two large deposits.
As record numbers of people opt to pursue a new life in Canada, Canada`s housing industry is growing from strength to strength.
New results from data issued by the Statistics Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation highlights the booming period which Canadian housing is experiencing.
With Canada emerging as a popular migrant destination, the country has highlighted skilled workers as a key group to attract and news of the housing boom will only go towards supporting this.
Greater Sudbury has been chosen to host the 2010 Ontario Summer Games, the Sport Alliance of Ontario announced Tuesday.
"Sudbury put forward a very strong written bid and then did a great job in enhancing that bid in our site evaluation of the city," said Blair McIntosh, director of games for the Sport Alliance of Ontario and site selection chair for the 2010 Ontario Summer Games.
"They really put a strong focus on creating an athletes village for the multi-sport environment that these kids will have for the first time in many of their athletic careers."
The Ontario Games is the largest multi-sport event in the province, with more than 3,500 athletes competing. The games provide athletes younger than 22 with development and competitive opportunities to prepare them for national and international competition.
Old city bylaws allowed a propane plant to be built in the Keele St.-Wilson Ave. area, Mayor David Miller says.
Speaking via teleconference from Vancouver, Miller told reporters that a propane depot that exploded early yesterday was built according to zoning bylaws that were established before the city was amalgamated in 1998. According to the city`s website, each of the former six municipalities -- which were merged into the megacity -- operated under their own zoning bylaws.
A group of Toronto youth will tell Prime Minister Stephen Harper that water is more than just a commodity.
"This is not an issue of economics, or politics, or anything like that," said Shire Brandi, 20, a member of the Youth4Water committee. "This is an issue of survival and it`s a necessity in life -- a human right." The group wants Canada to sign on to UN General Comment, No.15, which would recognize water as basic human right.
Despite Ontario-wide fears over lead in drinking water, few London residents have taken advantage of a city loan program to replace lead pipes.
Of the nearly 400 homeowners who`ve replaced their pipes since elevated lead levels were uncovered last year, only 15 have applied for a loan. With the deadline to apply for that loan program the end of August, city staff have proposed extending the program by two years.
City, region cash and hard work turning vacant building into downtown apartments
Today it`s all bare metal studs and gaping holes, but by next year, it should be a downtown home for 20 to 30 people.
The building at 21 King St. — mostly vacant or for sale much of the past decade — is undergoing a dramatic transformation, largely because of incentives offered by the City of St. Catharines and Niagara Region.
Building owner Albert Perez said the massive renovation underway at the former squash and fitness club, restaurant and banquet hall would not be possible without the $250,000 in grants from the two levels of local government.
"Absolutely not," Perez said, declining to reveal how much the renovation is costing him. "No one would be able to afford it."
Bernie and June Beleskey are pretty happy campers, despite sky-high fuel prices that you`d think would put the brakes on their usual recreational vehicle travel plans this summer.
But the retired Kitchener couple just got back from Europe with a caravan of their hard-core recreational vehicle pals and plan to hit the road again soon.
For them, and most others who prefer driving vacations and like to hang with the camping crowd, RVing is simply a way of life.
